Jordan is still the GOAT. He has the moments that will be forever remembered, the impressive stats, the wins, and the undefeated record in the finals without ever having to play in a Game 7. He benefited from a perfect window of opportunity for a new face of the NBA as Bird and Magic were on the back ends of their careers. It was a time before social media captured your every waking move. Jordan is the first athlete I can recall who became a brand/icon above anything else. He was truly bigger than his team and perhaps even bigger than the game of basketball at his peak.
However, like a few posters have stated, some people aren't old enough to really remember what it was like to watch Jordan. I argue that this both helps and hurts his legacy. The "newborns" who want to believe that LeBron is the best simply because that is all they have seen are incorrect. You have to do your research and understand that basketball began well before the 2003 draft. However, I'll take a particularly famous performance from Jordan's, like his 63 point outing against Boston in the '86 playoffs and argue that the fact that most don't remember the specifics of the game, only the outcome and his gaudy numbers play to MJ's advantage. If you go back and watch the game, Jordan took 41 shots while also attempting 21 free throws. This day in age, because of guys like Iverson and Carmelo those numbers don't seem so crazy. But consider this, the next highest amount of individual free throw attempts for either team? 9. Jordan had 63 points, 19 coming from the line. Larry Bird in the same game had 36 points while taking 14 less shots and 14 less free throws. Not to mention, the Bulls lost that game in double overtime. Yet this is one of those games that has been glorified and iconicized throughout the years. We are all quick to remember MJ's game winner against Byron Russell and the Jazz. Or his massive dunk on Patrick Ewing. There's the "spectacular move by Michael Jordan" play against the Lakers. These are all great moments for Jordan as well as the game of basketball. But there's a lot more to his career and not all are good, or even as impressive as we recall.
Some on here are calling LeBron a stat stuffer and I have to disagree. He loads up on points, rebounds, assists that few players in history have been able match. And he gets those stats by increasing the performance of every player around him. Hell, the guy took guards like Mo Williams and Mario Chalmers to the finals. Even when he was on the Heat, there was some telling stat about the Heat's record when either Wade or Bosh missed a game. The Heat were still something like 8-3. But when LeBron missed a game and both Bosh/Wade played the Heat were 1-4.
The season before LeBron was drafted to Cleveland they were 17-65. LeBron's first season, the Cavs went 35-47. LeBron's final season in Cleveland the first time around they went 61-21 (1st in Eastern Conference) only to drop to 15th (last) the next season with a record of 19-63. The year before LeBron's return to Cleveland? 33-49. Since then they have gone 53-29, 57-25, and 51-31 including three consecutive trips to the NBA finals and their first World Championship in almost their 50 years of existence.
In contrast to that, the two years that MJ was playing baseball the Bulls won 55 and 47 games those seasons. Each season making it to the playoffs.
As I initially stated before all of this blabbering, Jordan is still the Greatest of All-Time...but that title is always subject to change. To those claiming LeBron has already surpassed Jordan, while I disagree I do believe there is a discussion to have. For those claiming LeBron "sucks, is overrated, chokes, etc."...to me those all sound like personal critiques instead of objective takes on one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. My two cents, I'm out.
