Settling the LeBron James versus Michael Jordan debate

LeBron James (middle) and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate after winning the 2016 NBA Finals. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
LeBron James (middle) and the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate after winning the 2016 NBA Finals. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Pictured here is Michael Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls legend. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

MJ’s GOAT case

Like I did mention, MJ’s stats do have a bit better look to them. He has also made the All-Star team 14 times in 15 years, and if he played more games in the 1994-95 season, he could’ve made it then. He also would’ve made more appearances if he didn’t retire twice in the midst of his prime.

Also, he was a tremendous defender, winning DPOY as a guard, and making an All-Defensive team 9 times. He also was the NBA’s scoring leader 10 times. In his rookie season, he was already on the All-NBA’s second team.

His PER is the highest of all time for a career, at a 27.9. The amount of stats for MJ’s GOAT debate is lengthy, so long that I probably couldn’t list every single stat. For the sake of the article, those were the main stats, and I’ll keep it at that.

Jordan also was a legend off the court, having one of the league’s best worth ethics. His desire to win was also literally insane. One time, Jordan lost a game of ping-pong to former NBA player Christian Laettner. That may not sound awful, but to Jordan, it was. He spent a few days practicing table tennis, just so he could rematch Laettner in another game after, because he wanted to win against him that badly. Another time, Jordan cheated in a game of cards against his own mother.

With all of that said, let’s look at the reasons against Jordan. First off, he only played 15 seasons, which is a lengthy NBA career. However, he played minor league baseball for one year in 1994. Also, he retired for three seasons, right after his second three-peat with the Bulls. Also, Jordan had a serious gambling problem. This addiction was so problematic that he had to pay his ex-wife $168 million dollars after their divorce. The reason for their divorce was because of his gambling issues.

To be honest, the only problem with his basketball game is that he really wasn’t a distance shooter. Sure, his mid-range shot was literally one of the NBA’s best of all time, but he never could really shoot the 3-point shot. There is also the factor that the NBA was not really focused on the 3-point shot, so he didn’t shoot a lot of them. But, he was in the 3-point contest once, and he scored five points in total, one of the NBA’s lowest scores of all time in the 3-point shootout.

Now, with Jordan’s case aside, I’ll go over LeBron’s GOAT debate.