Michael Jordan and LeBron James have been the central figures for the NBA’s GOAT debate since LeBron won spectacularly with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
While his longevity and stats have strengthened his case, LeBron James still falls behind Michael Jordan in terms of accolades. And there’s another stat now that shows why MJ’s career might be more impressive.
During LeBron’s career on three different teams, the organizations have traded 118 players and first-round picks. This is a whopping 83 more than Michael Jordan. Some of it can be put down to longevity, LeBron has played five seasons more than Jordan did, but the difference is still too high. This shows that LeBron’s teams have made a lot of moves to help him in comparison to Jordan’s.
You can see in the picture a huge difference between LeBron James and the other three players: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Stephen Curry.
First, LeBron James created a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat, then he came back to the Cleveland Cavaliers and played with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
After a successful four years with the Cavaliers, he signed with the Lakers and during that time he created another superteam with Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, but they were a huge disappointment last season. In February, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka saved the season when he decide to trade Russell Westbrook and get players like D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt in return.
Last year, Kyrie Irving jokingly called LeBron James ‘LeGM,’ because he is known to influence trades and other such moves behind the scenes.
Even this offseason, the Lakers made a lot of free agency signings to create another championship team.
On the other side, Michael Jordan’s best teammates were Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Legendary Bulls GM Jerry Krause said that Michael Jordan never asked him to trade or draft a player.
Michael Jordan won six championships in eight years, and during the first three-peat his best teammates were Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, and during the second three-peat, it was again Scottie Pippen but this time with Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc, and Steve Kerr.
Even when you compare LeBron James to Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry, it is still a huge difference in how many players were traded during their careers with the Lakers and the Warriors.
Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James Other Head-To-Head Stat Comparisons
Other metrics show that Michael Jordan is ahead of LeBron James. Our writer Eddie Bitar did a massive comparison piece on the two. But it’s easy to see where MJ comes out ahead.
Even though LeBron is the all-time leading scorer, he has averaged 27.1 points for his career while Jordan averaged a whopping 30.1 points per game. The defensive side is also crucial, Michael Jordan and LeBron James both averaged 0.8 blocks for their careers, but MJ had 2.3 steals per game compared to the King’s 1.5.
Accolades show there is a full Hall Of Fame career’s worth of difference too. Michael Jordan has two more championships, two more Finals MVPs, and an extra MVP award as well. He also won Defensive Player Of The Year, something LeBron James has never done. A lot of arguments can be made related to these two legends but for now, Michael Jordan still comes out slightly ahead.
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