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Lebron vs Jordan

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Lebron vs. Jordan
As long as there is sports talk radio and avoidable TV programs like “Sports Nation,” there will be a debate on who is the greatest basketball player who ever lived. LeBron James now has two NBA titles over the first 10 years of his career, with four NBA Finals appearances over that span. Jordan won three championships in as many Finals appearances over that same span. A decade is a nice point to look back and compare to give the audience a nice break from the season previews and preseason hype.
Right off the bat, there’s some really bad news for people looking for a definitive answer on which player is better. It’s really, really, really close. Lebron started his career right out of high school, so there was an inherent learning curve right out of the gate. The Cleveland Cavaliers missed the playoffs in James’ first two pro seasons. He also didn’t have much talent around him at the time. The Cavs went 35-47 in his rookie season with Carlos Boozer and Ricky Davis playing major roles along with Drew Gooden and Jeff McInnis. James’ 2004-2005 seasons, Cleveland managed to go 42-40. James finally reached the playoffs in his third season after the team added a new coach in Mike Brown and complementary players Larry Hughes, Flip Murray and Donyell Marshall.
Jordan entered the NBA after his junior season at North Carolina. The Bulls made the playoffs in his rookie season at age 21 despite a 38-44 record and Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Dailey being the team’s second and third offensive options. The next season, the Bulls got a rookie bruiser named Charles Oakley and a breakout season from Sidney Green, but went 30-52 because Jordan played just 18 games due to a broken foot. This was somehow good enough to reach the playoffs anyway, but the team was beat by the Celtics despite Jordan averaging nearly 44 points per game. A Michael Jordan team did not clear .500 in the regular season until his fourth season in the league, 1987-1988, when Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant came aboard and Doug Collins was coach.
So it could be argued that James’ early seasons were more successful right away despite being younger, especially after the Cavs reached the NBA Finals in just his fourth season. James was just 22 at the time. After being ousted from the playoffs by the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” in three straight seasons, Chicago finally got over the hump and reached the Finals in 1990-1991, Jordan’s seventh season. The difference between their first Finals appearances is that Jordan’s Bulls won in five games as he was named MVP, while LeBron’s Cavs were SWEPT by San Antonio. THE OLDEST TEAM IN THE NBA
After seven seasons, things appeared pretty even. James and Jordan both had just one Finals appearance each, with LeBron losing to Boston twice and Orlando once. In his eighth and ninth seasons, Jordan won two more NBA titles and Finals MVPs before announcing his first retirement. His 10th year was the truncated 1994-1995 season, during which he announced a comeback in March.

After his seventh season, James left Cleveland for Miami and has reached the Finals in all three years, winning twice. Through 10 years, Jordan has won 3 out of 4 finals appearances and Lebron has won 2 out of 4. When Jordan played basketball, he played ferociously. His legendary killer instinct may be overstated don’t forget, he once shot a free throw in a game with his eyes closed while teasing Dikembe Mutombo but watch any old Jordan playoff game and you’ll see his constant action, constant involvement and constant expenditure of energy.

JORDAN WON THE SCORING TITLE 7 YEARS IN A ROW 1987-1993 then after a few years he won 3 more in a row. Lebron James is supposed to be in his “PRIME” right now. The last time he won a scoring title was in 2007. In 2013 Carmello Anthony won it. Then 2009-2012 Kevin Durant won them. People say Lebron is more athletic? That depends on your definition of the word. Jordan went pro in two different sports. Baseball and basketball. This takes multiple different skills to accomplish.
Sources: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html http://www.nba.com/history/players/jordan_stats.html http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/player/lebron-james/careerstats/139949?q=lebron-james http://www.theguardian.com/sport/poll/2013/oct/03/michael-jordan-lebron-james-who-is-better http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1821640-lebron-james-why-he-cant-be-compared-to-michael-jordan

“I watch Jordan more than anybody, for sure. But I'll watch tapes of AI [Allen Iverson] too. I don't take anything from him. They say he was six feet, but AI was like 5'10½". Do we even want to say 160? 170 [pounds]? Do we even want to give him that much weight? And he played like a 6'8" 2-guard. He was one of the greatest finishers we've ever seen. You could never question his heart. He gave it his all. AI was like my second favorite player growing up, after MJ.”

-LEBRON JAMES

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