23 Reasons Why LeBron James Is Better Than Michael Jordan

June 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) leaves the media press conference following the 93-89 victory against the Golden State Warriors in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
June 19, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) leaves the media press conference following the 93-89 victory against the Golden State Warriors in game seven of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
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Jun 22, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; A fan sits atop a tree in front of the LeBron James mural during the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade in downtown Cleveland. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; A fan sits atop a tree in front of the LeBron James mural during the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade in downtown Cleveland. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The debate between LeBron James and Michael Jordan is always controversial, and here are 23 tremendous reasons why James is the GOAT.

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all-time. Though there is no definitive answer to who the greatest ever, many see Jordan’s scoring prowess and team success as ample reason to crown him the “GOAT”.

Many people outside of Ohio also laugh at the notion that LeBron James could be better than Jordan. James is seen as a player who does not have quite the killer instinct or finesse that Jordan had, despite having the better physical frame. “He’s too scared,” “he’s too soft,” “he’s too weak”–all things you will hear Jordan apologists say about James.’

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It is easy to point out areas where Jordan has had objectively more success than James—his scoring titles, championships rings, etc. But there also are enough stats out there that show James has been more successful than Jordan in some ways.

With the help of Basketball-Reference.com, I found several statistics where James has an advantage over Jordan. I chose 23 of these stats—the number which Jordan and James share– and made a list of areas where James has achieved more than Jordan.

This is not an argument that James is better than Jordan, or that he is the GOAT. Rather, this is an illustration that there is debate worth having.

Here are the 23 statistics I chose. There are 10 regular season stats, 11 for the playoffs, a couple miscellaneous ones.