This past week, Michael Jordan made a comment that would again fuel the Jordan and LeBron James dispute.
After being asked who he would like to play one on one against in his prime, MJ responded by listing some of the all-time greats he believed he would beat, including James.
For whatever reason, our society has an obsession with predicting possible outcomes to a completely impossible scenario. As usual, every sports fan went to their nearest social media platform and publicly weighed in on the debate.
Every time this happens, I can’t help but think how pointless of an argument it is.
First and foremost, Jordan and James both may have played in the NBA, but they didn’t play the same game.
Jordan was part of the “mid-range” jump shot era, as I like to call it. The NBA revolved around physical, fundamental basketball. It was a time when Reggie Miller gave a new meaning to smack talk and Patrick Ewing perfected the shot block. Historic rivalries ran wild and tough defense was the best offense.
The game couldn’t be more different today. When players aren’t launching 3-pointers, they’re isolating their best scorer. The art of a good team defense is nearly lost, and to all but few, the mid-range jumper is extinct.
“Super” teams are being assembled and players are traded too frequently to create any rivalry to match the likes of Boston and Los Angeles in the late 1980s.
It truly is a different game, and to compare two players from two different eras just wouldn’t be right.
Secondly, Jordan and James played with different supporting casts. A player’s individual success is strongly correlated with the quality of his teammates.
Just take a look at James. He was unable to get a championship in Cleveland, but with the help of superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he snatched two rings in three consecutive finals appearances with the Miami Heat. Teammates can affect individual points, championships or any other statistic over the course of an entire career.
Often times Jordan and James are compared by championship rings. Is it really fair to determine individual talents by comparing team achievements? Did Scottie Pippen have nothing to do with the triumph of Jordan? I don’t think so.
Despite everything that I’ve said so far, people will still hold up Jordan’s statistics next to James’ and attempt to make an educated decision about who’s better.
If you were to do this, you would see other than championship rings, they have near identical statistics and achievements.
Furthermore, nobody can predict the future. James is still in the midst of his prime, and his future is unknown. Who knows what could happen to him to shape his remaining years in the NBA.
Maybe at the end of his career we can speculate as to who would win in a one on one game, but until then, let’s give it a rest.
The fact of the matter is that a one on one game between Jordan and James in their primes is not possible, and never will be. Both are tremendous athletes that have become the best players of their times, so let’s leave the debate at that.
Do you think LeBron James and Michael Jordan should be compared? Let Blake know what you think by sending an email to sports@dailycardinal.com.
