Recently I watched a video of analysts debating if LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan. This has been a popular debate ever since James won the championship this past June. Whether James is better than Jordan is still up in the air, but that is not the focus of this article. I want to prove how awful some of the counter arguments are for Jordan being better than James.
The first counter argument is that LeBron has never had to face future Hall of Famers throughout the playoffs, unlike Jordan. Well, that argument is invalid. James had to face Chauncey Billups, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Carmelo Anthony. Even Paul George and Dwight Howard could also have an argument made for themselves. So the idea that James has never had to face Hall of Fame players in the playoffs is false.
Another knock people are putting on James is that he allows Kyrie Irving to close out a game. The one shot that is on everyone's mind is the three Kyrie hit in the NBA finals that basically clinched Cleveland their first championship in franchise history. But for those that always point that out, check out game 6 of the 1993 NBA finals. It wasn't Jordan who hit the game-winning three to win the Chicago Bulls a third straight championship. Nope, it was John Paxson. And how about 1997 NBA finals game 6 when Steve Kerr hit the game-winning shot. Once again it was not Jordan taking the big shot it was his teammate. Seems like these situations are lost in these debates, but clearly not taking the last shot does not make someone any less of a basketball player.
Whether people like it or not LeBron is a great player. Trying to find every reason to make him seem like the inferior player is just ridiculous. If you are still not convinced LeBron is in the same room as Jordan read my article Michael Jordan and LeBron James. I compare James career so far to Jordan's whole body of work. LeBron is on track to pass him in a lot of categories if he stays healthy. The truth is James and Jordan are two different players and both play in different eras. That is why the only comparisons that can be made are their career accolades.
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