After scoring 40,000 regular season NBA points and counting, can we officially call LeBron James the greatest NBA player of all time?
I'm sure some people support Michael Jordan, who has long been considered a goat, but hear me out. First, let's find common ground. Can we agree that James has surpassed Larry Bird? Wilt Chamberlain? Magic Johnson? Bill Russell? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Kobe Bryant?
GOAT debates are held in every sport from boxing to golf, and can be heard in barbershops, playgrounds, bars, living rooms, and sports talk shows across the country. Why argue about who is the best? Well, first of all, it's fun.
As James continues to dominate players nearly half his age and rack up more milestones playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, the “Jordan vs. James” debate will only gain more momentum. But my argument that James deserves the crown centers around his accomplishments on and off the court, as opposed to Jordan.
Michael Jordan has been the undisputed GOAT for over a decade
Let's talk about Jordan, the undisputed king who put Nike on the map. I saw him live at the Bradley Center and I saw him win the dunk contest. he put on his shoes. I watched “Space Jam” a dozen times and watched him hit countless buzzer beaters. I've seen all of his commercials and have his jersey, cards, and other memorabilia.
Last February, James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time regular-season scorer, and earlier this month he became the first NBA player to score 40,000 career points in front of a sold-out Lakers crowd. Ta.
At 39 years old, James is the oldest player in the NBA, but he continues to perform at an elite level, averaging 25 points per game.
It's this statistic that makes James even more noteworthy. Of the 4,862 players who have appeared in an official NBA game through November 2023, only 10 have appeared in at least 20 NBA seasons. According to Stathead.com, this is his 0.002%.
This makes James not only a goat, but also a king.
On-court stats don't lie in LeBron James' claims
There is a saying in the world of sports that says, “Statistics don't lie,” and according to that principle, James just dribbled past Jordan. This may be hard for most people to accept, and it's hard for me to accept, but it's true.
Most people who still think Jordan is the best will note his six rings, including two three-peats. This is an incredible feat, but a ring alone won't turn you into a goat.
When it comes to rings, Boston Celtics great Bill Russell is probably the best player with 11 rings. While some may argue that Russell is one of the greatest players of all time, his teammate Sam Jones has 10 rings, his name is rarely mentioned in the “greatest” conversation. never appeared.
James has four rings, but he leads Jordan in almost every other statistic.
Jordan leads in scoring, 30.1 to 27.1, but James outstrips him in rebounds, 7.5 to 6.2. Assists, 7.4 to 5.3. Field goal percentage, 50.5 to 49.7. 3-point percentage was 34.7 to 32.7.
James also played in 400 regular season games. He had more than 8,000 points and 4,300 more rebounds than Jordan. While Jordan was a talented scorer, James was one of the greatest facilitators in the history of the game, racking up nearly 11,000 assists to Jordan's 5,633. Sharing is caring.
Jordan's teammate Scottie Pippen called Jordan a “terrible player” before the Bulls were a “team.”
Pippen said in a May 2023 interview, “He was all one-on-one, hitting bad shots, and then all of a sudden, we became a team and we started winning. And everybody knew who he was. I forgot,” he said.
Pippen added that James easily beats Jordan when it comes to statistics.
“There's no comparison. There's nothing. So does that make him the greatest player to ever play in this game? That's up for debate, because our team is a team game. Because I don't think there's a great player out there. You can't do it with just one player. I'm not going to do that,” Pippen said.
Off the court, James has far more influence than Jordan
Being a GOAT is more than what humans do in athletics. That's what they do outside of sports. Muhammad Ali wasn't great just because he defeated some of the greatest martial artists of his time. He is the greatest because he used the platform of boxing to advocate for racial and social justice.
James also uses his star power to speak out. In 2018, he criticized then-President Donald Trump as out of line, calling some of his policies “funny and horrifying.” Fox News host Laura Ingraham called James' comments “ignorant” and told him to continue his political commentary. and infamously told him to “shut up and dribble”.
But even in the face of fierce backlash, James didn't back down. I wish more athletes would speak out about injustice in America. Meanwhile, Jordan remained silent for most of his career on issues related to racism and social injustice. It wasn't until 2016 that he finally spoke out about police shootings.
James is living the true American dream with his business and foundation.
James' story is truly the American dream. He was born in Akron, Ohio to a 16-year-old single mother and his absentee father. He didn't become a statistic. Instead, he turned professional after high school and co-founded a media and entertainment company. He owns stock in professional baseball and soccer teams and founded the LeBron James Family Foundation, which provides school supplies and bicycles to hundreds of children.
He also started “I Promise School” in his hometown of Akron in 2018. He said opening the school was his most important professional accomplishment. The school received mixed reviews from critics. In Ohio, the bottom 5 percent of all black students are tested, and 15 out of 50 teachers have resigned in the past two years. James and others said it would take time to turn things around.
One supporter said success doesn't happen overnight. Many children start two or three years late. However, if the school is successful, students are guaranteed admission to the University of Akron. I have no doubt that James will lead the way and that our students and school will be MVPs.
James is a proud husband and father. He married his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, in 2013. The couple has three children: LeBron “Bronny” James, Bryce Maximus, and Zuri.
Bronny and Bryce dream of one day playing in the NBA alongside their father. For that to happen, James needs to play a few more years. That alone adds a dimension that Jordan and other players can't match. In the meantime, James is looking to break some more records and further increase his GOAT status.
Contact James E. Causey at jcausey@jrn.com. Follow him on X@jecausey.
