King James Gospel
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LeBron James Isn’t the Next Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson

By Omar Josef Guerrero

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As the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Atlanta Hawks in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James has been treating the history books much like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan did during their playoff and NBA Finals runs.

The All-Star small forward, who would be a power forward in any other era, has been compared to both Hall-of-Famers throughout his career. James has been scoring like Jordan since his high school days and is closing in on a number of scoring records even though he constantly refers to himself more as a passer similar to Magic Johnson, according to many NBA experts.

With skills similar to both players, fans and analysts have been comparing him to them. But who is LeBron, really?

On comparisons to Magic Johnson

Image courtesy of CBS Sports

LeBron has been attacking the NBA record books the past year, leaping past notable Hall-of-Famers and all-time greats in his 12th year in the League. One of the most gifted passers in the history of the NBA, James is currently sitting comfortably in fourth place on the NBA’s all-time playoffs assist list with 1,098 for his career heading into Game 1 of the Cavs-Hawks series.

Even though he may lack the numbers necessary to be in the top 10 in regular season assists (he’s currently at number 26 with 6,301), his court vision and ability to find the open man even in crucial situations makes him the closest thing to Magic Johnson to ever come to the NBA.

At 6’8 and 270-plus pounds, LeBron has the build (Magic is 6’9) and the passing skills to be a point guard in the mold of the Magic man. He handles the ball as much as Johnson did and he initiates the offense like Magic but he does so while playing a different position on the court—as a small forward.

But he’s also unlike Magic because he tends to dominate the ball in isolations a lot more and he is just as likely to shoot the ball as much as pass it to an open shooter. It’s why LeBron demands more double-teams than Magic did because Johnson will give the ball up more easily than James will.

Johnson is a better passer, able to find more scoring opportunities for his teammates than James has ever done consistently for his career. Sure, he’s got some games where he’s had double figure assists, but they don’t come as frequently as Magic was did for the Lakers.

On comparisons to Michael Jordan

Image courtesy of NY Daily News

Ever since James came to the NBA, everyone believed he was going to be “The Next Michael Jordan.” Like Harold Miner, Jerry Stackhouse, Grant Hill, Anfernee Hardaway, and Vince Carter before him, James has been tabbed with the “Next Jordan” label for as long as we can remember.

Similar to hundreds of other NBA players, LeBron grew up idolizing Jordan and even wore his number all the way to the League as a tribute to the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All-Time). The comparison to Jordan was initially brought on by both players being high-flying swingmen who could wow audiences with their feats to the basket, wide array of dunks, and in-your-face slams.

Apr 23, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks against the Boston Celtics during the second half in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics 103.95. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

In the NBA, if you’re a swingman with a terrific game and you can soar through the air, the comparisons to Jordan will come and it’s exactly what happened to James.

LeBron has the athleticism, scoring ability (once leading the League in scoring at 30.0 ppg), size, and unstoppable-ness that defined Jordan’s play on the court. Jordan is defined by clutch shooting and his last shot to clinch the game and the championship in his last game as a Chicago Bull cemented that in our minds.

Contrary to most pundits (notably ESPN First Take’s Skip Bayless), LeBron has been as clutch as any player in his generation, even more than Kobe Bryant has been. Forget about past failures. Even Jordan missed many of them which he readily admitted in his own commercial. But he has been more consistent in making clutch shots than almost anybody in the history of the game.

LeBron’s history, by the numbers, will show that he has the same capacity to be just as efficient during clutch situations as his Airness. Witness this year’s Game 4 versus Chicago where James was shooting terribly from the field and yet he had the audacity to ask for the ball and hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer. If that isn’t nerves of steel I don’t know what is.

ESPN Stats & Info bares this truth for all to see, comparing Jordan and LeBron’s postseason clutch stats:

Okay so how about Kobe? Let’s include him in the discussion based on ESPN Stats & Info’s tweet two years ago. Jordan and Kobe haven’t been to the playoffs since so his stats are still applicable here:

Going back to the series against the Bulls, that clutch shooting from Game 4 showed that LeBron has the guts to shoot just as much as Jordan did especially since the Cavs were clearly lacking scorers with Kevin Love out and Kyrie Irving injured. Despite the missed shots, LeBron kept shooting forgetting the fact that he was one of the most efficient players in the NBA the past four years in Miami.

But LeBron hasn’t come close to Jordan’s scoring feats, rarely getting to the 40’s like Jordan did especially in the playoffs where MJ scored on that stratosphere 38 times in his career. James has only achieved that feat 12 times for his career. At the same time, LeBron has been known to pass the ball during game-winning shots more than Jordan did. MJ had shown the capacity to trust his teammates later in his career as evidenced by his assist to Steve Kerr when he was double-teamed to win the game and the championship for the Bulls but LeBron has been doing that since high school.

Does this mean that LeBron is not as good as Magic or Michael since he can’t live up to the standards set by both? Of course not.

LeBron James Isn’t Magic Johnson Nor Michael Jordan—He’s Both!

As much as we would like to compare him to Magic or Michael, he really isn’t like them at all because LeBron is an amalgam of both players. He sees the floor with a court vision like Magic Johnson and he can score in bunches like Michael Jordan. He doesn’t pass or score as well as those two did but he does both at the same time better than Magic or Michael ever did consistently in their careers.

[LeBron] doesn’t pass or score as well as those two did but he does both at the same time better than Magic or Michael ever did consistently in their careers.

When LeBron brings the ball down court, he’s looking to pass the ball or score depending on what the defense gives him. In that sense, LeBron plays like the perfect Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan hybrid, unlike any player we have ever seen before.

He is unique in that sense because he’s dangerous as a passer as well as a scorer having the ability to do either at the highest level. The reason we don’t see LeBron assisting at Magic’s capacity and scoring with Jordan’s ability too often is because he has to balance both those talents in the context of winning a basketball game.

Mirroring the Detroit Superstar

If there is a player who was a pre-cursor to LeBron, it would be Grant Hill during his Detroit Pistons days. His first seven years in the League, his numbers were very much like LeBron’s though Hill was less of a scorer but a better passer and rebounder.

Image courtesy of NBA.com

In an episode of Open Court, a show where former NBA players talk about the game, each member of the panel was asked which current player was most like him. To no one’s surprise, and validated by the rest of the panel, Grant Hill said that it was LeBron who reminded him most of himself.

An Unscripted even shared a video and blog about Hill being “LeBron James before there was LeBron James.”

The one difference between Hill and James is in outside shooting as the King shoots at a higher clip from the perimeter all the way to the three-point line. The biggest difference between the two, however, is in team success. LeBron’s teams have gone deep into the playoffs all the way to the NBA Finals (four times in the past four years with a chance to make it five this year) much more than Hill’s teams have during his LeBron-like days as a Piston.

His Own Man

James may be a combination of Magic and Jordan, but he’s neither of the two. He’s the next step in the evolution of players with complete games similar to the Detroit Pistons’ Hill, but he is the first of his kind to do nearly everything well on the court from offense to defense and everything else in between while making his teams win.

Practically nothing is mediocre about LeBron (the closest is his free-throw shooting) even if he turns the ball over way too much. He has the complete package, a physical specimen unlike any other player who’s laced a pair of basketball shoes. Check out his stats in virtually every all-time category and you will more than likely find James closing in on many all-time greats and near the top of many of them.

Just as we compared Magic Johnson to Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan to Julius Erving, LeBron will constantly be compared to Magic and Michael.

The Next LeBron?

One day, some kid will come along with a game just like LeBron’s and the cycle will repeat itself with LeBron being the one we compare that kid to. Such is life in the NBA and that’s ok. As long as we remember the greats for who they are ultimately, we can keep comparing players of different eras without pinning them as “The Next _________.”

LeBron, the First

More from King James Gospel

All-time greats will come in every generation and we will always compare them to the legends of the past. Just as we compared Magic Johnson to Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan to Julius Erving, LeBron will constantly be compared to Magic and Michael. Johnson and Jordan shed those comparisons eventually and James is slowly doing the same with every passing season.

Soon, we will stop comparing him ultimately with other all-timers and simply remember him as the first LeBron James.

Who do you compare LeBron to?

Next: Can the Cavs Keep the Band Together?