LeBron vs. MJ who is the Real G.O.A.T.?

The LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan argument about who is the Greatest of All Time has been going on for a long time and it still seems that MJ is winning this argument. This season has been really big for LeBron due it being his best and most efficient season of his career at the age of 32. LeBron’s stats for this season have been 26.4 point per game (PPG), 8.7 assist per game (APG), 8.6 rebounds per game (RPG), and a player efficiency rating (PER) of 27.11. LeBron’s APG and RPG were both career highs, and during the Triple-Double season of Russell Westbrook, LeBron had a career high of 13 Triple-Doubles which was not a big story due to Westbrook’s season. Even though LeBron and MJ played at different time periods, I grew up watching LeBron play but at the same time one of my favorite movies when I was younger was Space Jam which featured Michael Jordan. When I was growing up I was just watching LeBron play his game even with his controversial move to the Miami Heat he was still the best player in the world.

The argument continued to grow but I believe that this season really proved that LeBron should be considered in the conversation about the G.O.A.T. with Michael Jordan. I think that there is a different perspective to what the G.O.A.T. should mean in the history of the NBA. LeBron and MJ both have different styles of plays and that is why it makes it difficult to decide who is the real G.O.A.T. During Michael Jordan’s time he was more a "killer," a scorer. While MJ played in this style LeBron had a different type of game, he was more of a facilitator, a passer, making sure he gets his teammates involved as well. I believe that due to LeBron’s size and style of play, LeBron could be a Triple-Double machine every year however, the way his mindset is to make his players better and not a ball centric guy he doesn’t get a Triple-Double very often. With these different types of game style, both MJ and LeBron have different types of bad games. A typical bad game for MJ is scoring around 20-25 points like his game on June 8, 1997 vs. the Utah Jazz. In Game 4 of the 1997 NBA Finals MJ scored 22 points on 11 for 27, he also had 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 turnovers. When LeBron has a bad game he is usually close to getting a Triple-Double because of his size and his passing ability. An example of this is when LeBron and the Cavs played the Boston Celtics on May 21, 2017 for Game 3 in the Eastern Conference Finals. During this game LeBron scored 11 points, going 4 for 13 and at the same time having 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 6 turnovers.

The interesting part of this is that even though LeBron’s game is considered more of as a facilitator he passed Michael Jordan for all-time leader in points per game in the postseason during the Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Boston Celtics. With his win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday May 25th LeBron is on his way to his 7th straight NBA Final, and the 3rd consecutive against the Golden State Warriors, but that is another story by itself. If LeBron and the Cavs are able to beat the Golden State Warriors, arguably they are the greatest shooting team in the history of the NBA that featured 4 All-Stars this year. If LeBron is able to do this, I think that this season LeBron will be able to pass MJ in the discussion for the G.O.A.T. But with this I think there are a couple of meanings for the G.O.A.T. One being which player influenced the game either during or/and after they retire from the game and the second being statistically the best player to ever play the game.

When Michael Jordan played the NBA was growing and whenever he played in the NBA Finals, the ratings for those games were huge just because of MJ’s influence on the game. During MJ’s time of play, everyone wanted to "Be Like Mike," MJ was a superstar and was loved by everyone and he still is. When LeBron came into the league, the league was not as popular and they were waiting for another big star to take over the league and then the kid from Akron, Ohio got drafted by the Cavs and the league exploded. LeBron became the face of the NBA as he continued his NBA career. But even with this I think that right now MJ had a bigger influence on the game then LeBron does now but LeBron still has 5-6 or so "good years" left in the league and I think that he can pass MJ in this part of the G.O.A.T.

I think this argument also depends on what type of player you like to watch, I personally like to watch a player score and at the same time make his teammates better with his play so the game is overall better. Most of NBA fans like the player who is able to be an amazing scorer who is able to be the main guy like Russel Westbrook this season, who is most likely the MVP this season. LeBron is not like this, if he sees a teammate with a better final shot than what he has he will pass it to that teammate so they can score the final shot. One example of this is March 1st, 2017 when the Cavs played the Celtics and with 5 seconds left down by two, LeBron gave up the opportunity to score by passing the ball to Deron Williams in the corner, who eventually missed the 3-point shot. LeBron James is more related to Magic Johnson than MJ, but LeBron passed Magic due to his size and his scoring. Kobe was more related to MJ than LeBron is. I believe that LeBron will be able to pass MJ for G.O.A.T. because his game incorporates his passing ability, his size, and his scoring ability.

Let me know what your thoughts are.