LeBron James is one of the best competitors the NBA has ever since. Throughout his 20-year career, Bron has always expressed how important winning is to him. Lately, he has not been able to achieve that but James continues to win hearts. The King is the greatest player of this generation but does he qualify as the greatest ever? Let us take a short look at some career statistics and milestones.
Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers vs Memphis Grizzlies was LeBron James’ 267th playoff matchup. Throughout his entire career, the former 4x League MVP has played more playoff games than 10 active franchises. Incredibly, he has also appeared in 10 NBA Finals, which no other franchise besides the Lakers, Warriors, and Celtics has done. It is safe to say, Bron’s career is better than the journeys of most NBA teams.
The 2022-23 campaign has been one of his best seasons as well. LeBron James became the all-time leader in regular season points passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The former Lakers himself held the record for nearly four decades. These are a few career features that even Michael Jordan has not been able to achieve. This brings us to the ultimate debate of whether Jordan is better than James.
A comparison between LeBron James and Michael Jordan’s NBA Finals record
LeBron James has surpassed Michael Jordan in several milestones such as most points averaged as a 37 or 38-year-old. He also passed up MJ in career points back in 2019. James also became the only player to record more than 35,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and assists. Despite all these things, Jordan still had a comparatively better playoff career.
This LeBron stat is WILD 😳 pic.twitter.com/dN6EfVvyoy
— ESPN (@espn) April 16, 2023
LeBron made 10 NBA Finals appearances but only managed to win 4 titles. On the other hand, Mike has a 100% record winning all six of his finals appearances. On the contrary, only Bron has been able to compete with franchises in most Finals appearances while Jordan is nowhere near to compare. To add to Mike’s list, Bron has 33 final losses, which is almost as many finals games as Jordan has played.
LeBron James has successfully one a title with every franchise he has played with. Jordan averaged more points and steals during the finals and shot far better than Bron as well. MJ averaged 33.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. LeBron put up 28.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists. To some Bron may have averaged better numbers but Jordan has the overall trophy in this case.