By Seametrus Battle Jr.
If you ask the typical basketball fan whose the greatest player to step foot on the NBA court, they’d probably say Michael Jordan because of his championships and the many different ways he affected the game, and many players like Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade.
Lebron James on the other hand is usually referred to as a guy who had to leave to win multiple championships and to some people will never be close to Jordan because of that reason alone. However, Micheal Jordan only had the best team out of the two, and also the better front office as well.
For example, The 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers roster was full of role players that averaged less than twenty points per game. On the other side, the 1991-1992 Chicago Bulls had Scottie Pippen, who was an All-American coming out of college and arguably one of the best players in the NBA during that time.
However, there are many comparisons and scenarios that could be brought to the table but James allocates and diversity shows he’s better than Jordan.
James is the first and currently the only player to lead both teams in all five statistical categories for NBA finals, and the youngest player to surpass the 28,000 career points
Lebron James has been to six straight NBA finals. Starting at 2010 and finishing last season with the 2016 NBA finals losing three (Mavericks in 2010, Spurs in 2014, Warriors in 2015) and winning three (2011 vs. The Oklahoma City Thunder, 2012 vs. The San Antonio Spurs, and 2016 vs. The Golden State Warriors). However, his most recent finals appearance was record breaking as he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship and also becoming the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit over the 73-9 Defending Champion Golden State Warriors.
Nevertheless, Michael Jordan went to three straight championships retring after the third title then came back to return to three more finals. Jordan, nevertheless, won all six of those appearances, received six finals MVPs, and has the highest points per game averaged.
Here’s the difference, when Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers the following season the Cavs went from 61-21 to 19-63. This was the worst record since their 2002-2003 season, which is the year before they drafted James. When Micheal Jordan left the Bulls for retirement in 1993, the Bulls went on to win 55 games, but lost in the Eastern Conf. Semis.
Many go against James because he had to leave Cleveland to get help and pursue an much needed championship plus the Cleveland front office gave him little to nothing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up only three players during James first six years in Cleveland. Those players were 34 year old Ben Wallace, 26 year old Mo Williams, and a declining 37 year old Shaquille O’Neal.
These players did little to nothing as Wallace didn’t see the floor, Williams didn’t average more than fifteen points or five assist per game, and O’Neal averaged 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.
As stated before there are many comparisons and scenarios that could be stated, but the focus here is the difference between a player with help against another player without help. James still has years to go and the currently has his team number on in the east with three games ahead of the Boston Celtics.
Seametrus Battle Jr. 