1 Kyle Ramos 12/05/13 ENG 111

The Greatest

Its one of the greatest arguments right now in modern time sports. Who is the greatest basketball player to ever hold a basketball? Is it Air Jordan, or is it King Kames? The debate on whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest basketball player ever is a ubiquitous topic in sports news today. Many People believe that LeBron James is the greatest basketball player to be currently playing, and also the greatest player to have ever played in the NBA. However, my opinion is that the greatest basketball player to have ever played the game is Michael Jordan, rather than LeBron James. In spite of the fact that I agree with the claim that LeBron James is the best current player in the NBA, I dont believe he will top Michael Jordan to become the best player of all time.

Some people may challenge my view that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever play the game, and was a better player than LeBron James is today. It is very noticeable to tell just by watching career highlights of Michael Jordan that he was a dominant figure on the court. One of the considerable reasons given by people who support King James as the best player ever is that even though he is able to dominate games by himself; he isnt selfish. He is better at getting his teammates more involved, and also better at making his teammates improve.

2 Scottie Pippen, a former teammate of Michael Jordan on the Chicago bulls, was interviewed by ESPN in May 2011. He talked about how LeBron may be a better overall player than Michael Jordan. He said, LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so dynamic offensively that not only he can score at will, but he keeps everybody else involved. Scottie probably stated this because he paid attention to the numbers. Over their respective careers, Michael Jordan averaged only 5.3 assists per game, while LeBron James averaged 6.9 assists per game.

Although Scottie Pippen implies that LeBron has been a better distributor of the ball and getting assists, James has caused a decrease in productivity of some of his teammates, including Dwyane Wade. In the first two seasons that LeBron has spent with the Miami Heat playing with Dwyane Wade, ESPN stated that Wades averages in scoring have decreased in both seasons going from 26.6 points per game to 25.5 points per game, and then it even lower to just 22.1 points per game last season (ESPN). These statistics given by ESPN show that LeBron James caused a decrease in productivity in the play of Dwyane Wade, rather than improve his play and make him better. Also, even though Jordan had a lower average in assists per game, he did not have this negative effect on his main teammate, Scottie Pippen.

LeBron James won his first NBA championship at the age of 27, and Michael Jordan won his first championship at the age of 28. This made many people assume that LeBron James must be the better player. Although I applaud King James for winning his first title at a younger age than Jordan, I still support the idea that Michael Jordan was the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. It could be like this because of a number of reasons. It is possible because

3 Michael Jordan attended the University of North Carolina for three years before becoming a professional. LeBron James however, bypassed attending and playing in college and went straight into the NBA. It took LeBron James nine seasons to achieve his first championship, and it took Michael Jordan only seven years in the league to achieve his first championship. This information can prove that it took Jordan fewer years of NBA experience to attain a title than LeBron.

Many believe being considered one of, if not the best basketball player to ever play means that the player must be very popular internationally and have off the court success with endorsements. Although I agree that James has had great success with endorsements with Nike, State Farm, as well as other companies, his jersey wasnt even the highest selling jersey at some point last year. The honor of the highest selling jersey belonged to Derrick Rose. According to NBAStore.com, Derrick Rose took the top spots as the NBAs most popular jersey based on sales. LeBron James came in at number four on the list of top-sellers.

I also accept the fact that LeBron has had extreme success with his shoe line, The LeBron Collection. But the success that LeBron has had with his Nike shoe deal is nowhere close to that of Michael Jordans shoes. The Jordan shoes are also a part of Nike. Not only have they been used strictly for basketball, but also are popular casual street shoes that many people wear. This proves that the shoe game battle between LeBron and Jordan, Jordan clearly wins.

Recently, a new argument has been brought up that LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan because LeBron became the youngest player to score 20,000 points throughout his career.

4 I congratulate LeBron on his great achievement, but it does not make him a better player than Jordan. Michael was able to reach 20,000 points in fewer games. It is possible because Michael went to college for three years and LeBron went straight into the NBA upon graduating high school. According to NBA.com, it took Michael Jordan 106 fewer games than LeBron James to score 20,000 points. Of course, LeBron James achievement on being the youngest player to reach 20,000 points is outright phenomenal, and I will take no credit away from him. But it cannot be used as an argument to state that he is a better player than Michael Jordan.

I can certainly agree that LeBron James is the best current basketball player in the NBA, and in the world, but he should not yet be in a conversation for the greatest basketball player of all time. That one of a kind title is secured to Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time. Call him clutch! Throughout his career, Jordan dominated the basketball court with his amazing, quick moves, offense, defense, and his ability to dominate every game. Along with his talents, he brought in six NBA championships, ten scoring titles, and fourteen all-star game appearances. Throughout time, he revolutionized the way the game was played with his explosive style. I support the idea that no one will ever have as big of an impact on the NBA and the game of basketball everywhere as Michael Jordan. He will forever be considered as the greatest basketball player of all time.

5 Works Cited

ESPN.com. "One-on-one: Jordan vs. LeBron, Kobe." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 01 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-130910/could-michaeljordan-beat-lebron-james-one-one

"Lebron James." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebron_james "Michael Jordan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan

McIntyre, Jason. "Michael Jordan vs. LeBron: Who Faced Tougher Competition in the NBA Finals?" The Big Lead. Jason McIntyre, 26 June 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. http://thebiglead.com/2013/06/26/michael-jordan-vs-lebron-who-faced-tougher-competition-inthe-nba-finals/