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
Michael Jordan vs Wilt Chamberlain
Michael Jordan vs Bill Russell
Michael Jordan vs LeBron James
Michael Jordan vs Kevin Durant
Michael Jordan vs Stephen Curry
Michael Jordan vs Scottie Pippen
Michael Jordan vs Kawhi Leonard
Michael Jordan vs Dwyane Wade
Michael Jordan vs Dirk Nowitzki
Michael Jordan vs Jerry West
Michael Jordan vs Clyde Drexler
Michael Jordan vs Isiah Thomas
Michael Jordan vs David Robinson
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! 😃