By Donovan West, Sports Editor
@DWest_courant
When Lebron James passed fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to take first place on the NBA all-time points list, the classic debate of basketball was reignited: Lebron James or Michael Jordan? Quality or quantity? The six rings of Michael Jordan, or the sustained dominance of Lebron James for 20 years? The Jordan-Lebron debate to decide the greatest basketball player of all time has been going on for years, and it seems it will continue until the end of time. Those that are willing to change their minds and crown Lebron as the best have already done so, and those that still side with Jordan will never change their minds. So, let’s look at the stats and truly decide who is the NBA Goat.
38,387
The point total that LeBron James surpassed on February 7th to become the NBA’s all-time point scorer.
30.1, 6.2, 5.3
The career points, rebounds and assist numbers of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. Those 30.1 points per game slot Jordan at number one in this category on the NBA’s leaderboards.
19
The number of consecutive All-Star games that Lebron has participated in, with the lone season he did not make it being his rookie year. From being drafted at 18 out of high school to his 20th season at age 38, Lebron has been dominating his competition.
100
The percentage of championships Michael Jordan won when his team made the NBA finals. The man went six times and won six rings. Oh, and those six championships? Split into two three-peats that were two seasons apart because Jordan went to play baseball.
8
The consecutive years in which Lebron James took his team to the finals. James won three rings throughout this stretch, adding one more in 2020. For nearly a decade, the performance of this one man propelled his team to near perfection every year.
5
The number of MVPs that Michael Jordan won throughout his career. Receiving five of the most prestigious award that a single player can receive ranks second all time, only falling short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s six MVPs. Jordan was so good that they now call the award the “Michael Jordan Trophy.”
Those six stats are not nearly enough to definitively decide who the best basketball player of all time is, but they certainly help in giving us some background. However, when stating who ranks number one on our list, we must separate this debate into two questions: Who is the best versus greatest basketball player of all time? To answer that, I would say that the man to sustain complete and utter dominance over a 20-year career, ranking first all-time in scoring and having the ability to completely take over a game at any moment, is the best of all time. However, the man that never lost in the NBA finals, the man that was so good the slogan “Be like Mike” was created, and the only man that you felt confident would score when the game clock read zero, is the greatest of all time.
