Michael Jordan Is One Thing LeBron James Will Never Be: INVINCIBLE

The G.O.A.T. debate rages on, but Michael Jordan as the favorite remains forever untouchable

It’s June, and that means LeBron James is doing ridiculous things in the NBA Finals. Fifty points in the Finals for the sixth time in NBA history? Of course. A 29-point 13-assist Game 2? An off night for the King.

This is what LeBron does. He gets his teams to June every year and puts up incredible numbers when he gets there.

But has he surpassed Michael Jordan? Is he the Greatest Of All Time?

1. LeBron improved his teams faster

Jordan had a pretty linear career path. He made the playoffs his first three seasons without winning a series, going 1–8 with teams that went 38–44, 30–52, and 40–42 and should never have been in the playoffs. In his fourth season he finally won a series. He lost the next two Conference Finals, then finally made it to the Finals in 1991, his seventh season.

LeBron missed the playoffs twice, going 35–47 and 42–40, his first two seasons. He won his first playoff series his third year, then took the Cavs all the way to the Finals in just his fourth season.

LeBron got to round two a year before Jordan, the Conference Finals two years before him, and the Finals three years earlier. Jordan was three years older when he entered the league. He played his first Finals game at age 28. LeBron led his team to the Finals as a 22-year-old.

2. Jordan won the big one faster

Of course, just getting to the Finals is not enough, and LeBron lost those Finals while Jordan won his. LeBron didn’t make it back until his eighth season and didn’t win a ring until his ninth.

Jordan won his first championship two seasons before LeBron. LeBron was technically a year younger, but it took him more chances to reach the top of the mountain.

3. LeBron’s done it longer

LeBron’s played in 237 playoff games to 179 for Jordan. MJ played only two more playoff games than Dwyane Wade, nine more than Paul Pierce. LeBron will pass Kareem Wednesday for fourth most all time and could rank first by next summer.

Round one was best-of-five for Jordan, but that’s not all of the difference. LeBron won more early, and his series lasted longer on average. And of course, Jordan took two years off in the middle of his prime.

LeBron has played 11 or more playoff games in 13 consecutive seasons. Jordan played 11+ playoff games five times, then had a two-year gap, then did it three more times before re-retiring. Choose your own conspiracy theory; whatever the reason, MJ got a massive physical and mental break LeBron’s never had.

LeBron just keeps grinding, like no one in NBA history. Russell’s Celtics made all those Finals in a smaller league with a two-round playoff. Kareem lasted a couple decades but didn’t always make a deep run. LeBron goes deep every single year. His longevity is legendary — and still growing.

4. LeBron’s slightly better as an underdog

But they’re LeBron and Jordan, so they haven’t had a ton of opportunities.

Jordan was 3–7 in playoff series as a Vegas underdog. He won 20 games and lost 30. His greatest underdog achievement was taking the 6-seed Bulls within two games of the ’89 Finals, upsetting two teams along the way. His ’90 Bulls pushed eventual champion Detroit to Game 7, and he won his first title as a slight dog to the veteran Lakers in 1991. He was never an underdog again.

LeBron is 4–6 as a series underdog, with 26 wins and 32 losses. He took the Pistons to Game 7 as a 4-seed in ’06, then upset them as a 2-seed to make the Finals the following season. LeBron has been a playoff underdog for at least one series in five straight seasons during the middle of his prime. That’s weird, right? He has a weird penchant for playing the Finals as an underdog but has two such wins, the first as a slight dog against the Thunder in ’12 and the second of course against the 73–9 Warriors.

LeBron’s underdog record is slightly better than Jordan’s, but the sample is pretty small. Both are too good to be an underdog very often.

5. Both have been excellent in Game 7s

Though again, neither has a ton of experience.

Jordan was 4–1 in Game 7s (counting one deciding Game 5). He was 2–1 as the underdog. His only Game 7 loss ever was to the ’90 Pistons — and he never lost another playoff series outside of the rusty ’95 return season.

LeBron is 6–2 in Game 7s, including 2–1 as the underdog. He’s gone to Game 7 as the favorite five times and lost once as a heavy favorite in his final game before joining the Heat.

LeBron won two Finals Game 7s, against the ’13 Spurs and the ’16 Warriors. Jordan never won a Finals Game 7 — because he never had to.

6. Jordan played on more all-time teams

Bird and Magic had the incredible Celtics and Lakers teams in the 80s. Russell had those Celtics of yore. Duncan’s Spurs had some incredible teams. Players in the all-time great discussion are supposed to play on all-time great teams.

Jordan’s ’96 Bulls are often considered the greatest team of all time. They went 72–10, an NBA record for two decades, then 15–3 in the playoffs. Their 87 total wins ranks second all time behind only the ’16 Warriors.

But that wasn’t Jordan’s only great team. All but one of his championship teams were among the all-time greats. Jordan also had a 69–13 champion and a 67–15 one, another with 62 wins and another with 61. Only 32 teams in NBA history won 75+ games in one season. Jordan’s Bulls did it five times.

LeBron only has one all-time team. His ’13 Heat went 66–16, then 16–7 in the playoffs (though they went to Game 7 twice and wouldn’t have won the title if not for a magical Ray Allen shot). LeBron won 66 games in 2009 too but didn’t make the Finals. Only one other time has he even won 60, bowing out in the second round. The ’13 Heat were one of 12 teams in history to win 80+ games, but they’re LeBron’s only team of 32 in history to win 75 or more.

If LeBron gets credit for grinding year after year in the playoffs, then Jordan gets credit for grinding out incredible runs in the postseason and in the regular season. LeBron has played on a superteam of his own creation eight straight years since leaving Cleveland but averaged just 56–26 in that stretch. Jordan’s Bulls averaged 65–17 over his title run while starting guys like John Paxson, Luc Longley, and Ron Harper.

Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan each had three 75-win teams in their career. Jordan had five. LeBron has only one.

Basketball is a team game. Where are all of LeBron’s all-time great teams??

7. Jordan defeated more all-time teams

If you’re a basketball fan, you immediately know every 75-win team. These teams are truly great. Teams don’t win 75 games very often:

67 Sixers… 71 Bucks… 72 Lakers… 73 Celtics… 83 Sixers… 84 Celtics… 85 Lakers, 85 Celtics… 86 Celtics… 87 Lakers… 88 Lakers… 89 Pistons… 91 Bulls… 92 Bulls… 93 Suns… 96 Bulls, 96 Sonics… 97 Bulls, 97 Jazz… 98 Bulls, 98 Jazz… 00 Lakers… 03 Spurs… 05 Spurs… 08 Celtics… 09 Lakers… 13 Heat… 14 Spurs… 15 Warriors… 16 Warriors… 17 Warriors… 18 Rockets

It’s not entirely fair to the older teams since the playoffs expanded to four rounds in 1984, so let’s focus on the 27 teams since then, 20 of which were champions.

Only seven teams (in italics) won 75 games without winning a title — and MJ was responsible for four of them. Jordan’s last four Finals opponents all hit the 75-win mark, but he beat them all anyway. LeBron’s defeated just one 75-win team. Jordan went 4–1 against 75-win teams. LeBron is 1–4.

Michael Jordan played on and defeated some of the greatest teams in NBA history. LeBron James has barely ever done either.

8. LeBron defeated THE all-time team

Only 12 teams have ever won 80+ games in a single season. Jordan has three of those all-time greats seasons with 82-, 84-, and 87- win champions, more than anyone in history. LeBron has just one — but he is responsible for the only 80-win team not to win a title.

Beating those Warriors, whose 88 wins were the most in NBA history, is one thing LeBron will always have over Jordan. MJ never defeated such a dominant team.

Though, that’s a bit of twisty logic. Of course Jordan never beat a massively dominant team — Michael Jordan was the dominant team.

Why does it feel like LeBron is always the underdog when it matters most?

9. Jordan’s teams dominated the Finals, while LeBron’s always seems to fight an uphill battle

Jordan played in six NBA Finals. He was the favorite five times and a slight underdog in one, his first. He went 6–0.

This is LeBron’s ninth Finals. It’s his seventh as the underdog. Can you imagine Michael Jordan being an underdog in the NBA Finals once he reached peak cutthroat Jordan, even once? Let alone seven times?

Jordan was the favorite in the Finals, and he played like it. His team only ever trailed in the series in two of his six Finals. Both times were an 0–1 deficit, and his Bulls went a combined 8–1 after falling behind. Jordan went into a Finals game with a series lead 22 times. He played from behind only twice.

LeBron has only led in the series in three of his nine Finals, and he’s trailed at some point in every one of them. Crazy, right? LeBron’s played a Finals game with a series lead only five times ever. He’s played from behind an incredible 24 times. LeBron’s held a Finals series lead as a Cavalier for one game ever.

Jordan played with a Finals series lead 79% of the time. LeBron has trailed in the series in 61% of his NBA Finals games! Underdog or not, that is an incredibly damning comparison.

LeBron tells us every year that only four wins matter. His teams play the entire regular season like they believe that, loafing through games, saving their energy for June. If LeBron says and acts like only June matters, doesn’t it matter that he usually fails when he gets there?

10. Michael Jordan was invincible as the favorite

As a series favorite, Jordan played 81 games with a series lead. He only played five playoff games his entire career while trailing as a favorite, and his teams won all but one of them. Favored MJ only trailed after two games once. They didn’t lose another game that series. Jordan as a favorite never trailed a series after four games. He never lost as a favorite, ever.

LeBron’s played 110 games as a series favorite (68% of his playoff games, compared to MJ’s 79%). He’s played 23 games while trailing a series as a favorite. LeBron as a favorite has trailed after three games ten times.

Jordan as a series favorite lost three Game 1s. LeBron’s lost nine. In fact, favored Jordan trailed at any point in a series three times ever, just 11% of them. LeBron as a favorite has trailed in 12 different series, a whopping 35% of the time! Favored LeBron is over three times as likely to need a comeback as Jordan. LeBron is incredible with his back against the wall — but why is his back against the wall so often?

Of course, LeBron is not exactly a loser. He’s an incredible 29–3 all time as a series favorite. That’s really, really good.

Michael Jordan as a series favorite is 27–0. TWENTY-SEVEN AND OH.

LeBron lost three straight years as the favorite in high profile upsets. The first was in the Conference Finals to the ’09 Magic. He lost to Boston in the second round in 2010 before leaving Cleveland, then as a Finals favorite against the Mavs in 2011. He didn’t even make it to Game 7 in any of them.

Michael Jordan never lost a playoff series as a favorite. Not ever.

LeBron James is immense. He is incredible. He has the all-time NBA Finals upset. He did it faster than Jordan and he’s done it longer. He’s unlike any player we’ve ever seen on a basketball court.

But Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. winner. He was invincible.

And no matter what LeBron does next, he can never match that.

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