It was massive news when LeBron James passed his idol Michael Jordan in regular-season scoring on March 6, 2019. The King passed the legendary Chicago Bulls star thanks to an and-one layup that gave him the base to pass Jordan, eventually finishing the game against the Denver Nuggets with a 31-point outing. James only needed 12 points to pass Jordan. In the end, LeBron passed MJ in one of the most important categories: scoring. Michael Jordan had 32,292 total points before that game, and LeBron started out with 32,280 points. He only needed 13 points to pass Michael to have a total of 32,293 points. Of course, The King wasn’t only going to end his night with 13 points, and he achieved that feat with an and-one opportunity with 5:38 left in the second quarter.
- 117 More Games
- 4,942 More Minutes
- 868 More Free-Throws
- 3,202 More Three-Pointers
- 1,300 Fewer Shots Attempted
- LeBron’s Longevity Is Unprecedented And Could Be A Better All-Around Player Than Michael Jordan
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LeBron James is not known as a score-first player and is usually considered a player similar to Magic Johnson and not Michael Jordan. But James’ all-time great longevity and ability to score the ball is a major reason why he passed the GOAT in scoring. Even when considered a pass-first player, James has to be ranked among the top 10 players of all time when it comes to the offensive side of the floor. In his career, James is averaging 27.1 PPG on 50.5% FG, 34.6% 3-PT FG, and 73.4% FT.
James started out his career as an inconsistent shooter but eventually blossomed into a reliable perimeter shooter from deep. Shooting close to 35% for his career is decent, especially for a locomotive that can get any shot around the rim with ease. No player does everything on the floor perfectly, so James’ shooting has steadily improved over his career. At the rim, James might be the greatest driver of the basketball we have ever seen.
But somehow, James only has 1 scoring title despite having 18 seasons of averaging at least 25 PPG. The only season when he didn’t average at least 25 PPG was his rookie season when the King dropped 20.9 PPG. Alternatively, Jordan has a career average of 30.1 PPG on 49.7% shooting from the field, 32.7% from three, and 83.5% from the foul line. Clearly elite scoring numbers, comparisons between him and James have been getting more and more pronounced over the past decade.
But James will soon become the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar well in his sights. Of course, James is already the all-time greatest scorer in the regular season and playoff history combined. But James passing MJ in scoring during the regular season was a hallmark achievement, as that gives The King ammunition in his GOAT argument. While most people do not give the edge to LeBron, there is no doubt that passing Jordan in scoring was a massive achievement.
It is time to go into detail about how James managed to pass Jordan in scoring, and what it took statistically before The King overcame his idol. It will be interesting to see how James used his longevity and incredible efficiency to pass MJ because very few players can ever match the Akron-born star in both aspects.
117 More Games
Since LeBron James is not a score-first player, he needed more games to pass Michael Jordan in scoring because the shooting guard put up insane scoring numbers as soon as he stepped foot in the NBA. The King has been a steady scorer for much of his career, using his gifted athleticism and basketball IQ to get good shots on the court and also shoots a high percentage. James’ career FG% of 50.5% is very impressive, especially considering he averages 27.1 PPG.
The fact that Jordan needed 117 fewer games to score as many points as he did is a testament to the shooting guard’s incredible impact as a perimeter scorer and sublime athlete. As the point guard for his team for most of his career, James did not have the gunning urge of his idol, which is why he needed over an entire season’s worth of games to equal him. LeBron’s longevity is unprecedented because he should have lasted 19 seasons as a superstar player, but somehow, he has.
4,942 More Minutes
LeBron James is not considered a natural scorer, which is why he probably took longer to pass Jordan in scoring. It took over 4,900 more minutes before The King would usurp the GOAT, an indication that James has generally been a pass-first player throughout his career. It is also widely accepted that James is a better all-around player than Mike, something that is very reasonable to accept.
Jordan was a monster scoring the ball, as he won 10 scoring titles and had 8 seasons of posting at least 30 PPG. That kind of scoring production is unlike anyone not named Wilt Chamberlain, and not even LeBron James can compare with him. Jordan’s seemingly unlimited scoring potential allowed him to accumulate an incredible amount of points through 15 seasons, which included 4 seasons where he retired. Had Jordan stayed playing for those 4 years, his legacy would have been even greater.
868 More Free-Throws
LeBron James was lucky enough to play in the modern era, where fouls are called more often. That gave James the extra points via free throws because, as a 6’9” locomotive, he was often fouled to prevent an easy layup. Most times, James would also finish around the rim with a chance to get an extra free throw. James was never shy about using his size, and that gave him an incredible amount of free throws.
LeBron James made 868 more free throws before he was able to pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list. The King is a driver of the basketball unlike anyone we have ever seen, as probably only Giannis Antetokounmpo can compare to him in terms of size, athleticism, and explosive force. Jordan was another all-time great attacker of the basketball, but he did not have LeBron’s sheer mass, which is why The King was able to make more free throws than MJ when he passed him up.
3,202 More Three-Pointers
Since LeBron James was part of the new era of basketball where the three-point is heavily utilized, he was able to accumulate more points via 3-pointers than MJ ever could. LeBron is not considered an elite shooter by any means, but he has a higher career 3-PT percentage than Jordan, nailing 34.6% over his career compared to 32.7% for Jordan. That is quite a significant advantage because shooting 32.7% in today’s game as a shooting guard essentially means he is a poor shooter.
Of course, to put this in context, Jordan played in an era where the three-point shot was not useful because of the lack of analytics driving the sport. As expected, the increase in technology has allowed teams to discover the effectiveness of the three-point shot, a tool that has transformed the game entirely. No doubt about it, based on stats and evidence, James was a more consistent three-point shooter than MJ ever was. That is why it took James 3,202 more three-pointers which gave him the advantage of scoring more points quicker than MJ.
1,300 Fewer Shots Attempted
By far the most impressive statistic is the fact that James passed MJ in scoring while taking over 1,000 fewer shots. James is not known as a score-first player and not known as a high-usage scorer either. Barring the 2022 season when James was unapologetically taking any shot he wanted to get closer to passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in scoring, LeBron never took a massive amount of shots to score points. That is where James differs from other elite scorers, including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
Jordan took the bulk of the shots, and nobody could question him on that. Michael is the greatest scorer ever when looking at his 10 scoring titles compared to LeBron’s 1 scoring title. But Jordan chucked a ton of shots up, something he will never have a problem with. Michael was not quite the chucker that Kobe Bryant was, but he was certainly one of the most iconic shot-takers in basketball. LeBron is not that and still managed to pass MJ which is a testament to his all-time great longevity. Only James could accomplish this feat as a pass-first player because it takes iconic longevity to achieve this.
LeBron’s Longevity Is Unprecedented And Could Be A Better All-Around Player Than Michael Jordan
Ultimately, LeBron’s incredible longevity gave him the time and opportunities he needed to pass Michael Jordan in scoring. His next target is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because James has the chance to surpass the legendary center as soon as next year. With the all-time scoring record in his grasp, James has even more ammunition to defend himself against Jordan lovers and other critics of his game. No matter what anyone says, passing MJ in regular season (and playoff) scoring is an extraordinary achievement.
But when looking deeper at the numbers and analyzing both players’ careers, it is obvious that Jordan was the more skilled and gifted scorer. For one, the shooting guard captured 10 scoring titles and needed over 100 fewer games than James to score 32,292 points. Not to mention, Jordan averaged at least 30 PPG 8 separate times in his career, while James has only done it 3 times. LeBron only managed 1 scoring title as well, which pales in comparison to the greatest scorer of all time. But that should not take away from James’ career because he is a better all-around player due to his ability to rebound and assist the basketball. Due to his size and natural position, James was able to do more than score the ball.
James’ longevity gave him the opportunity to pass MJ in scoring because we will most likely never see a player play at a superstar level for that long again. LeBron is more of a consistent scorer, as he averaged at least 25 PPG 18 times out of his 19 seasons played. It should be finalized that Jordan is the better scorer, and James is the better all-around player. The King also has incredible longevity to have been able to be put in a position to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the top scorer in NBA history, in due time.
