LeBron James is now officially ahead of Michael Jordan in terms of overall career points scored during their illustrious basketball careers.
Congratulations to LeBron James on a remarkable feat.
That said, I will not lie: I still think that MJ was the better overall player, and his dominance far exceeded what James managed to do.
I know, I know, this is up for debate. Plus, there are arguments in favor of James, because he became the first player in modern NBA history, and indeed modern major North American sports history, to have qualified for eight straight championships. Jordan obviously never did that.
True, but Jordan retired in the middle of his peak in the mid-1990's. But the level of dominance that Jordan displayed literally put all other NBA stars in his shadow at his peak. There was Jordan, and there was everyone else. Everyone wanted to challenge Jordan's supremacy, but he kept putting up incredible numbers, and he kept leading his Chicago Bulls to championship after championship. MJ's Bulls won the first modern day three-peat in NBA history from 1991-1993, before Jordan's first retirement. When he came back, they became the second team in modern NBA history to achieve that feat, going 72-10 in 1996 and winning the NBA crown, then winning the next two NBA Championships in 1997 and again in 1998.
Indeed, there were plenty of great players, and great teams, trying to win even a single NBA title during that time, who were denied because they could not get past Jordan. There was Ewing and the Knicks, Reggie Miller and the Pacers, Clyde Drexler with the Trailblazers (although he did win it with Houston, but with the asterisk of it having happened in Jordan's absence), Charles Barkley and the Suns, Gary Payton and the Seattle Supersonics, Karl Malone and John Stockton and the Jazz. Jordan was the main guy who would push the Bulls to a higher plateau, and it is impossible to think that the Bulls would have been anywhere near as successful without Jordan's incredible, and unrivaled, will to win, and even to dominate.
James might have reached eight straight NBA Finals, and nine overall NBA Finals appearances, but other teams often imposed their will on LeBron James and his teams. The San Antonio Spurs swept the Cavaliers in the 2007 NBA Finals. Boston beat Cleveland in 2008, en route to a dominant NBA Championship season. The Cavs went 66-16 in 2008-09, yet the Orlando Magic knocked Cleveland off in 2009. The Cavs went 61-21 in 2010, but against lost to the Boston Celtics. Then, a frustrated LeBron decided to join a super team in Miami, a team that had already won the NBA title in 2006, and which had added huge name talent to get more titles. They made it to the NBA Finals in 2011, but lost to a favored Dallas Mavericks team. They did win two straight NBA titles, but then they lost again to the underdog San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals. LeBron then returned to the Cavaliers and led them to four straight NBA Finals, and they did win the whole thing in 2016 over the favored Warriors, but they lost three of those four to the Golden State Warriors.
Frustrated again, LeBron then joined the Lakers, hoping to attract still more big name talent, and collect some more rings. As of right now, the Lakers are 30-35, and are well out of playoff position. It is not impossible that they qualify for the postseason, but it seems unlikely. And the chances that he will make it to a ninth straight NBA Finals really looks bleak, because there are many talented teams in the Western Conference, and most look better than LeBron's Lakers do at this point in time.
So, Jordan at his best is far better than LeBron at his best. When Jordan was playing at his very best, with a decent team around him, he was unstoppable. Literally, nobody could beat him. When LeBron was at his peak (and I think it is fair to say that he reached that when he finally made his first Finals appearance in 2007 (12 years ago now!), plenty of other talented teams and players got the best of him. And much of it was LeBron's fault. He assumed that he was :"the greatest," yet Kobe seemed to be more dominant at times. He showed immaturity in taunting Dirk Nowitzski and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, and they bested him. He showed a lack of leadership when facinbg adversity against San Antonio in 2014, and he showed the same lack of composure when bested by Golden State numerous times in their numerous NBA Finals meetings. Remember when he punched the lockers and broke his hand after Game 1 of last year's NBA Finals? Sure, he was frustrated after losing Game 1, but could you imagine Jordan having lost his cool and done something that so dramatically hurt his team's chances in such an important series?
Indeed, LeBron can boast an impressive, even legendary career. But whether he scored more points than MJ or not, he simply cannot rightly claim to have had a better career than Jordan did. Ultimately, Jordan stuck with one team and pushed that team to get better and better. Without Jordan, the Bulls might have reached an NBA Finals or two, and maybe even could have won one. With him, they won six, were the team of the decade, and are widely seen as one of the most dominant teams in basketball, and indeed in sports, history.
Sorry, but no comparison there.
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