Michael Jordan’s Finals Stats vs Other Greats

Let’s do a very short comparison of Michael Jordan’s Finals stats versus other NBA greats. Disclaimer: Stats only tell half of the story. It is more telling to watch each of their games to have a better context of how they got their numbers, the competition, the rules, and the system their coaches used.

This article is just for educational purposes. How do Jordan’s Finals resume stack up against others? This article does not provide a concrete answer to why Michael Jordan or somebody else should be the GOAT. Since Jordan is currently the most widely accepted consensus when it comes to being the greatest thus we decided to use him as the main subject of comparison against other players. Just read and enjoy!

Players being compared should have at least played two Finals series and has won at least once so you won’t find guys such as Elgin Baylor, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Anthony Davis on this list for now. This comparison comes in no particular order. Credits to Statmuse for the numbers, the images, and the design ideas. The graphics were edited by the author of this article.

Michael Jordan vs Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Michael Jordan vs Magic Johnson

Michael Jordan vs Larry Bird

Michael Jordan vs Kobe Bryant

Michael Jordan vs Shaquille O’Neal

Michael Jordan vs Tim Duncan

Michael Jordan vs Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem only made one 3 point attempt in the Finals and hit it right on Shaq’s face

Michael Jordan vs Wilt Chamberlain

Other stats were not recorded during Russell and Wilt’s playing days

Michael Jordan vs Bill Russell

Michael Jordan vs LeBron James

The comparison that everyone wants to see

Michael Jordan vs Kevin Durant

Durant is the most efficient offensive player in Finals History

Michael Jordan vs Stephen Curry

This Curry guy should have won at least 1 Finals MVP

Michael Jordan vs Scottie Pippen

Having gone to as many Finals as MJ himself, Pippen deserves an entry here

Michael Jordan vs Kawhi Leonard

Kawhi is underrated when it comes to offensive efficiency

Michael Jordan vs Dwyane Wade

Michael Jordan vs Dirk Nowitzki

Michael Jordan vs Jerry West

The logo has been into the Finals nine times yet only won once.

Michael Jordan vs Clyde Drexler

Clyde was an underrated all-around player and probably one of the best rebounding shooting guards ever. He was also an underrated passer in his prime.

Michael Jordan vs Isiah Thomas

Michael Jordan vs David Robinson

Unfortunately for the Admiral, he was already past his prime and Tim Duncan was the best player of the Spurs on the former’s only two Finals appearances

Conclusion

Again, this graphic is not meant to say that Michael Jordan is better or the other player is better than him. It’s only meant to show how each legend stacked against Jordan’s Finals. Usually, we see that from a certain fanbase especially those from LeBron’s camp where they would cherry-pick a certain Finals series that show very good numbers which they can use as an argument for LeBron’s case as the GOAT. This argument is flawed in so many ways because:

• Players such as Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell have no available data on steals, blocks, turnovers, and three-point field goals during their era.
• Michael Jordan holds a 5–4 statistical advantage against LeBron but Kevin Durant holds a 6–3 statistical advantage against Jordan, does that mean that Kevin Durant is better than LeBron?
• Comparisons can only be valid when comparing players playing the same position. Comparing MJ to Kobe, Clyde, or Wade can be used to gauge who was the better shooting guard overall.
• Certain numbers depend on your position on the court. Centers always grab more rebounds than guards and guards always dish out more assists than centers, vice versa.

I think it’s safe to say that nobody is the real winner here, for entertainment and educational purposes only! 😃