Why LeBron James is the undisputed G.O.A.T.

On June 19, 2016, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers walked into the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California where they faced the 73-9 Golden State Warriors for a Game 7 contest. This same Warriors team held the best record in NBA history and held a 3-1 lead against the Cavs in the finals.

This Cavs team had an impossible mission to complete, finishing the 3-1 comeback. It had never happened before. Following an incredible play by Kyrie Irving, crazy defense by James and some luck, the Cavs completed this century’s greatest underdog story in American sports. James fulfilled a promise he made when he re-joined the Cavaliers in 2014; he brought Cleveland a championship.

Many fans will point and say Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time. I mean six championships (two three-peats) speaks pretty loudly, doesn't it? However, when you dive a little deeper, the play of basketball during James’ tenure in the NBA is much more competitive than it was when Jordan was active.

According to ESPN, Jordan was drafted third overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 draft. According to BasketballRefrence, the 1983 Bulls won a measly 27 games. The next season, they improved 11 games, winning 38. James went first overall in the 2003 NBA draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 17 games. They improved 18 games in the 2003-04 season with 35 wins.

During Jordan’s first couple trips to the postseason, he had to share the Eastern Conference with the Larry Bird led Boston Celtics. If Jordan really was the goat, as the sole leader of the Bulls, don’t you think he’d exit Bird’s shadow and not allow two more Celtics championships during his tenure? Jordan didn’t start winning championships in Chicago until the Bulls traded for Scottie Pippen on draft day from the Seattle SuperSonics.

When Pippen took a bigger role in the Chicago offense, the Bulls made and won their first NBA championship in 1991. They then won two more back-to-back. I say all of this to say, when Jordan surprisingly retired from basketball in 1993, the Bulls still won more than 50 games that season. When LeBron left the Cavaliers in 2010, they went from 61 wins to 19. Jordan was a great player yes, but that Chicago team did not rely on him like Cleveland did.

During the sole NBA Finals appearance from the first tenure with Cleveland, LeBron was the only player with an All-Star. For the six championships Jordan won, four of those had more than one all-star on the team. Even if we’re playing the ring game, Jordan only faced three MVPs in the finals: Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson and Karl Malone. LeBron faced seven total MVPs in the finals: Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitizki, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and James Harden.

Jordan may have the stronger peak in basketball history, but when it comes to overall offensive and defensive efficiency, LeBron is the most valuable NBA athlete ever. He peaked at a .565 field goal percentage while Jordans peak is .538. LeBron played more than 600 more games than Jordan, averages two more rebounds a game, averages more than five more assists per game and averagesfewer personal fouls per game.

During 23 years of NBA play, LeBron has made 21 All-NBA teams, four MVPs, four Finals MVPs and claimed the All-Time Scoring Leader title from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Jordan only edges out LeBron in the MVP section with one more regular season MVP and two more Finals MVPs. LeBron has also made 10 NBA Finals, with one being the sole 3-1 comeback in NBA Finals history as mentioned above. Jordan made six with weaker competition, and after 1997-98, he didn’t make the playoffs again. LeBron has made the playoffs 19 times in a row, compared to Jordan’s 13.

During Jordan’s era of basketball, the game plan did not relyon deep shots to maximize the number of points per possession. Field goals ran the league, as evident by the totals of Jordan during his career.

Jordan leads the NBA all time in free throws with 8.2 per game while LeBron averages 5.5. LeBron played primarily during the 3-point era where his attempts per game nearly double Jordan’s. LeBron averaged 4.7 3-point attempts per game while Jordan averaged 2.5. LeBron also faced the Golden State Warriors four times in the Finals, a team with two lethal 3-point shooters in Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry leads the NBA in 3-points and 3-point attempts all time.

While the G.O.A.T. debate in basketball is a long and never-ending point of conflict, the LeBron vs. Jordan talk has been quite strong recently, especially when James announced his signing with the Philadelphia 76ers last month.

Jordan may have more MVPs and more championships, but winning isn’t everything in basketball. LeBron has played some of the most efficient and dominant basketball of all time, not to mention playing high level basketball in his 40s. In my humble opinion, LeBron’s longevity and efficiency, offensively and defensively, leads me to believe he is the greatest basketball player of all time.