The GOAT of Basketball
As I’m sure all of you know, LeBron James just surpassed Michael Jordan as the all time scoring leader in the postseason, and will be making his 7th consecutive Finals, which is unheard of unless you’re a Celtic from the 60s (or James Jones). While some may discredit these statements by saying LeBron didn’t play as hard of competition as Jordan did, and that he had to play 33 more games than Jordan to get that scoring title, here’s why what the King did is still impressive.
LeBron has definitely had to face his fair share of top level competition, so it’s not fair to criticize him for something that’s not all that accurate.
All time points (playoffs)
LeBron James: 5995
Michael Jordan: 5987
More in depth look at those stats
Total Field Goals Attempted in Playoffs:
Michael Jordan: 4497
LeBron James: 4361
Total Field Goals Made in Playoffs: Michael Jordan: 2188
LeBron James: 2103
He passed MJ in less shots made and attempted. LeBron James isn’t even the scorer that MJ was. He’s a pass first player.
All time assists (playoffs)
LeBron James: 1439
Michael Jordan:1022
All time rebounds (playoffs)
LeBron James: 1862
Michael Jordan: 1152
All time steals (playoffs)
LeBron James: 382
Michael Jordan: 376
All time blocks (playoffs)
LeBron James: 204
Michael Jordan: 158
Would you look at that? LeBron has eclipsed Jordan in all 5 major statistical categories. But we still got to keep in mind lebron has a really big size difference and also theres no hustle and dangerous play that players would use to get rebounds anymore like in MJ’s era.
Now while many people still aren’t impressed due to the games played part, let’s view their career postseason stats
LeBron James is currently averaging 28.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.0 blocks, 48% FG, 33% 3PT, 74% FT
Michael Jordan would finish his career with postseason averages of 33.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.9 blocks, 48% FG, 33% 3PT, 83% FT
Those averages speak for themselves. Even if the amount of games played would’ve been closer or the same, LeBron would still have more assists, rebounds, and blocks, while only having a little bit less steals than Jordan.
Here’s how their advanced stats pan out
Advanced stats for their careers
MJ: 27.9 PER, 56.9 TS%, 214.0 WS, .250 WS/48, 104.4 VORP
LBJ: 27.6 PER, 58.4 TS%, 205.4 WS, .239 WS/48, 115.9 VORP
When looking at these stats,the two players are very similar. While Jordan has a slight edge here, LeBron certainly has made sure to play his role to the best of his ability as well.
Here’s how calculated USG rate and other advanced stats by their best seasons respectively goes
MJ(1990–91): 31.6 PER, 60.5 TS%, 20.3 WS, .321 WS/48, 9.8 VORP
LBJ(2008–09): 31.7 PER, 59.1 TS%, 20.3 WS, .318 WS/48, 11.6 VORP
Michael Jordan 1990–91 Adjusted USG%:
32.086
LeBron James 2008–09 Adjusted USG%
35.407
Again, the stats are very similar. This time however, LeBron gets the advantage, although it’s still very close. Both players just knew what to do when they got to the postseason.
So who’s really the GOAT
Now, while LeBron still has a lot of work to do in order to achieve all the accolades that Jordan won (3 more rings, 3 more Finals MVPS), he’s most definitely proven that he deserves to be in the discussion of the greatest of all time. Quite frankly, if he manages to beat this year’s Golden State superteam that has a lineup consisting of 4 all stars (Jordan never faced more than 2 in a Finals series), it would definitely help his case for him to finish his career with the title of the basketball GOAT.
Source- ESPN AND Other stat sites.
Motivation- GOAT talks
