Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: The key stats you need to know in the GOAT debate | Sporting News (2024)

FAQs

Who is statistically better, LeBron or Jordan? ›

Jordan was the flashier scorer – 10 scoring titles and the highest career scoring average in NBA history – and the better defender (leading the league in steals three times), while James has been the better playmaker with 106 career regular-season triple-doubles to Jordan's 28.

The results of a new poll conducted anonymously among active NBA players show that Michael Jordan is still regarded as the greatest player in the sports history -- no doubt a byproduct of his six championship wins with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, as well as his five MVP awards and career scoring average north of 30 ...

Throughout his career, Jordan's stats show a 50% success rate in clutch shots, while LeBron, for now, has a 29.6%.

The Chicago Bulls great Jordan took the lead with 45.9% of the votes, while Los Angeles Lakers star James got 42.1%. This is the first time in the poll's history that Jordan has had this narrow of a lead. The poll began in 2019, with His Airness receiving 73% to King James' 11.9%.

Jordan won six NBA championships, while James has won four. Jordan also won all six of his championships with the same team, the Chicago Bulls, and was the Finals MVP in each of those championships. James, on the other hand, has won championships with 3 different teams, and has not always been the Finals MVP.

In an anonymous poll by The Athletic surveying 142 NBA players, results found that the majority consider Michael Jordan the greatest player of all time (GOAT). And for the third consecutive time.

According to an anonymous NBA Player Poll, via The Athletic, MJ was voted the GOAT. Similar to LeBron, Jordan averaged 20 points per game in every professional season.

Michael Jordan explains why he would never call himself the GOAT.

From 1985 and onward, Jordan made the playoffs every year with the Bulls, while Lebron missed the playoffs 3 times over his career. Jordan's passion and commitment to basketball inspired an entire generation of players and fans alike. Jordan has won 5 MVP's while Lebron has won 4.

Michael Jordan edged out LeBron James as the greatest player in NBA history, according to a poll of 133 players conducted by The Athletic. Jordan received 45.9 percent of the vote, while James came in at 42.1 percent.

Why did Michael Jordan retire? ›

Jordan said he'd lost the “sense of motivation” to keep playing. “It's not because I don't love the game,” he said during his news conference. “I love the game of basketball. I always will.

We all also know MJs game winning playoff shots. MJ has also hit 28 game winning shots while Kobe has hit 27. Two of Jordan's most memorable game-winners he hit Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1989 playoffs, where he sent the Cavs home with his legendary free-throw jumper over Craig Ehlo.

LeBron James is still one of the NBA's most clutch players: Three reasons Lakers star dominates crunch time.

Legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain will always have their names thrown into the hat, but for the most part, former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James are the two players that receive the most consideration for being basketball's GOAT.

Michael Jordan's ability to manufacture motivation was unmatched: The combination of Jordan's remarkable competitive drive and his extreme sensitivity to insults, slights, or snubs -- whether real or, more common, imagined -- helped him become arguably (especially if I'm doing the arguing) the greatest NBA player of ...

Michael Jordan is widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time. In fact, he's arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time.