LeBron James and Michael Jordan are constantly pitted against each other. The King and His Airness are probably the two greatest basketball players of all time after having impressive careers that made them the best of the best.
However, their fans are always trying to win debates about who is the best player. Some defend Jordan to death, while others go all the way to make a case for LeBron. In recent years, this situation has gotten more intense, with people trying to make a case for their favorite player.
In recent days, a Jordan fan account tweeted something that sparked a big debate among the community. He compared Jordan’s competition to LeBron’s using two examples that raised many eyebrows on Twitter.
For Jordan’s competition, they selected Karl Malone working out. As for LeBron, they went with Zion Williamson, who’s been heavily criticized for his weight. This was enough for fans to give their two pennies and bring more examples of who had the harder or softer competition.
https://twitter.com/ChrissElSalvaje/status/1449591270591156225https://twitter.com/SAVEBERGA/status/1449558363956817920https://twitter.com/Dr__Evil16/status/1449503690566488066
Zion would literally shit on 90% of the players that played in MJs era. Please don’t even try to compare competition it’s laughable. Teams 4th and 5th best players nowadays would be stars in MJs era.
— Mendo🦈 (@Mzndoza) October 17, 2021
— 🌵 Joey 🌵 (@LtBobRoss) October 17, 2021
— 🅉🄸🄾🄽🅃🄾🅆🄽 (@BronZionx) October 17, 2021
Clyde Drexler, Ron Harper, Alvin Robertson, Marques Johnson, Byron Scott, Danny Ainge, Reggie Miller, Mitch Richmond, Glen Rice, Steve Smith, etc. People only name the SGs that he played in the Finals because they lack knowledge. MJ came into the league in 1984, not 1990.
— Najeero (@Najeero) October 17, 2021
MJs Comp: LeBrons Comp: pic.twitter.com/W4oPCNLgHe
— 𝓩𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓜𝓪𝓷 🏀🏈⚾️ (@ZachTheSpursFan) October 17, 2021
Hope this a joke. 3 straight MVPs in the league with Magic Kareem Barkley MJ and others. Stop it 😂
— John (@Da_Chos3n_O1) October 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/YoungMexicanBoi/status/1449780132420341764https://twitter.com/yohanuchiha/status/1449882779022462976
How is malone competition who miked faced in the finals but zion is lebron competition who he hasnt even seen in the playoffs 😂
— JB (@Jbdapapi) October 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/APhilly8ted_215/status/1449719149853396993https://twitter.com/YoungMexicanBoi/status/1449780790359846912https://twitter.com/TheyLoveMyEther/status/1449916595158011904https://twitter.com/SnipeTeamONEx/status/1449809281382035457https://twitter.com/Capp_Kirk/status/1449738080953331716
MJ’s teammates vs LeBrons teammates pic.twitter.com/GfKTK3fxct
— TimmySmokes (@taketalker) October 17, 2021
https://twitter.com/ripBoxout/status/1449601131529834496https://twitter.com/BM____21/status/1449805648364032003https://twitter.com/Odilon83885756/status/1449933974592233473https://twitter.com/jmunderwood64/status/1449832823771308040
As several people have stated in the past, it’s hard to compare eras. Michael Jordan and LeBron James are great at what they do, but saying that one would thrive today or the other would dominate in the 80s and 90s is unfair.
We always hear that it’s time to appreciate these two legends and stop comparing them, but this gets harder to accomplish every day. LeBron fans will always find a way to praise their idol over MJ and it’s the other way around with Jordan’s admirers.
Still, if we talk about competition in the Finals, LeBron had to face more rivals than His Airness. He currently has a 4-6 record in the final series. At the same time, MJ retired undefeated, winning his six titles without playing a single Game 7.
Things have changed since those years and the competition has gotten harder today. Still, everybody will have something to say to elevate or discredit LBJ or MJ. That won’t ever change.
