Lebron or Michael? Who is the GOat of the NBA?
The biggest debate in the NBA community for the past few years is who the greatest basketball player of all time is.
LeBron James and Michael Jordan are the two players most NBA fans bring up in this discussion. Over the years, the GOAT debate has become very controversial, with several sports analysts and fans giving mixed opinions on who is really the GOAT.
One side of the debate thinks that no one will ever catch Jordan as the greatest basketball player in the history of the NBA. The other side believes that James has eclipsed Jordan's career and has surpassed him in terms of greatness. Others may believe that none of these players is the GOAT but let's be honest. It's not many people.
There is a separate discussion of who might be the better player, but there is no doubt that these are the two most significant players in NBA history. So let's figure out, based on a certain number of categories which player has the best argument currently for being the greatest basketball player of all time.
Regular Season Career
LeBron James Michael Jordan
Achievements:
MVP 4 5
DPOY 0 1
ROTY 1 1
Scoring titles 1 10
Assist leader 1 0
Steals leader 0 3
All-Star games 18 14
All NBA teams 18 11
All-Defensive 6 9
Averages:
Points: 27.1 30.1
Rebounds: 7.5 6.2
Assists: 7.4 5.3
Steals: 1.6 2.3
Blocks: 0.8 0.8
Turnovers: 3.5 2.7
Minutes: 38.2 38.3
Field goal %: 50.5 49.7
3-point %: 34.6 32.7
Free throw %: 73.4 83.5
Advanced Career Stats
LeBron James Michael Jordan
PER 27.3 27.9
VORP 142.6 116.1
BPM 8.9 9.2
Win Shares 249.5 214.0
True Shooting 58.8% 56.9%
Usage Rate 31.6% 33.3%
Advanced Stats meanings:
PER = Player Efficiency Rating
VORP = Value Over Replacement Player
BPM = Box Plus Minus
Playoff Career Averages
LeBron James Michael Jordan
Points 28.7 33.4
Rebounds 9.0 6.4
Assists 7.2 5.7
Steals 1.7 2.1
Blocks 0.9 0.9
Turnovers 3.7 3.1
Minutes 41.5 41.8
Field goal % 49.5% 48.7%
3-point % 33.7% 33.2%
Free throw % 74.0% 82.8%
NBA Finals Career
LeBron James Michael Jordan
Awards:
Championships 4 6
Record 4–6 6–0
Finals MVP 4 6
Averages:
Points 28.4 33.6
Rebounds 10.2 6.0
Assists 7.8 6.0
FG % 48.4% 48.1%
3-point % 35.2% 36.8%
FT % 73.1% 80.6%
Steals 1.7 1.8
Blocks 0.8 0.7
Turnovers 3.9 2.8
Minutes 42.5 43.0