Braeden Kimball

Jordan VS. Lebron

In the last decade, the debate as to who shall be crowned the greatest basketball player of

all time has become more confusing and heated than ever, now a battleground for passionate fans

to decide, Jordan or Lebron? To answer, it is important to understand, this is an extremely

multifaceted and nuanced debate, strewn with countless factors that at the end of the day, could

be construed by anybody in a way which supports his or her standpoint. The basketball world is

at a standstill, still trying to find an answer, while truly, there will never be a definitive one.

However, it is the job of this essay to convince and hopefully reassess the standpoint which some

may believe to be set in stone through a variety of metrics to determine the greatest basketball

player of all time. While the basketball “GOAT” debate is complicated and greatly decided by

personal bias, it is possible by scientific evaluations of vast evidence and in depth data analysis

of each players gameplay to reach the ultimate decision that at this point in time, Michael Jordan

is, and will stand as the greatest basketball player of all time over Lebron James.

The sport of basketball is played in pursuit of victory or at the very least, a level of

success based on the goals of a franchise. In the NBA, it is extremely important as a strongly

narrative driven league for players and teams to achieve the ultimate goals which award

recognition and respect. So accolades are an important factor in attempting to scale the greatness

of Jordan and Lebron against each other. At a surface level comparison, Jordan obviously boasts

6 championships, hoisting up the Larry O’Brien in two consecutive three-peats through 1991-98

with a 2 year hiatus in the middle, while also winning finals MVP (Most Valuable Player) in all
6. Lebron has lifted 4 championship and finals MVP trophies so far in his ongoing 20 year career

on 3 different teams. Jordan won the league regular season MVP award 5 times to Lebron’s 4.

Jordan was an 11 time All-NBA player, while Lebron has been 19 times. Jordan won 10 scoring

titles while Lebron did not win any. Jordan was picked on all defense 9 times in his 15 year

career as well as 1 DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) to Lebron’s 6 all defense selections in

19 years with 0 DPOY’s to show for it. It could keep going, though when just looking at the

numbers on a page there is little meaning to these impressive accolades. Jordan had a 10 year

stretch where it was clear there was no other player that could even be mentioned next to his

name in any kind of comparison of skill and or greatness. He was by far and away superior to

any other player by a gap that could not be spanned. He is the winningest basketball player of all

time and his impact has been felt until today by impacting and creating the culture we know

today around basketball. On the other hand Lebron is what the majority of fans today have

grown up with. Every modern NBA fan does not know an NBA without Lebron and he took the

league and the world by a storm in his own way. Coming into the league he was already one of

the best players. In his early years he led the Cavs to multiple finals though couldn’t finish the

grand accomplishment until his later years with the Heat. Overall Jordan’s accolades beat those

of Lebron’s

When players are asked about encountering Michael Jordan, they describe the fear that

they felt. Jordans’s presence alone was enough to shake opponents before the game even started.

On the other hand Lebron is respected by his opponents, though players were never actually

afraid of him as they were of Jordan. This is in large part due to Jordan’s reputation on the

biggest stage and his consistent playoff elevation. Jordan never lost a finals, let alone even let it

ever go to a 7 game series. Lebron made many finals in his early years though fell apart when it
really mattered the most. People will often counter this by saying he didn't have a competent

team around him and the competition was tougher in most notably the golden state warriors

dynasty. What is failed to be realized in this rebuttal is the Jordan’s bulls were the dynasty, they

were the juggernaut not to be reckoned with and that was all at the forefront of Jordan’s

greatness as a player and leader. Jordan never fell apart like Lebron did against the Mavericks in

the 2011 finals. He was shut down in a way that was shocking to fans. On top of this if it were

his team mates that were holding him back and that was the case then why with a top 20 of all

time player in Dwyane Wade and then Chris Bosh forming a super team couldn’t they get the job

done. It took Jordan about 7 years to have a competent team built around him that could

legitimately compete for the championship. He stuck it out and did eventually get a winning

team built around him. Lebron left and joined a super team before there was even a chance for

that. The argument that the lack of continuity in Lebron's career is the reason he couldn't get

some of the accomplishments that Jordan had done earlier are immediately overshadowed by the

fact that it is directly related to Lebron’s decision to leave for a super team.

Finally, it’s important to realize debates like this can’t be so heavily weighted by what-ifs.

Those who believe that the GOAT is Lebron love to imagine scenarios that if would've occurred

slightly differently would have undoubtedly crowned Lebron. However the answer is rooted in

truth and objective reality. What occurred in each player's career is set in stone and will never

change. Sure, Lebron maybe didn’t always receive the best luck. But if nitpicking, the same

could be said for Jordan. Lebron’s deficiencies as a player early and into the late years of his

career have been able to be exploited time and time again while Jordan had seemingly no flaws

on the court. Playoff series were lost due to Lebron’s inadequacies while Jordan never seemed to

shy away from the brightest lights and had no holes to be picked in his game. Players tried and
 failed every time. It’s also true that while Jordan never faced the equivalent of the Warriors

dynasty team, that is only because Michael Jordan’s bulls were the dynasty. As mentioned before

there was not a single player even close to what Jordan was. Lebron was only the undoubtable

best player in the league for a few years. It was always arguable, especially when in the playoffs

you would see him underperform and single handedly lose a finals for his team, it became hard

to definitively say he was the best.

In conclusion, both players boast impressive accomplishments and resumes. They were

both extremely important to their respective generations in overall influence and changing and

impacting the game. Basketball is a forever evolving sport and it is likely in 50 years we will be

having these same conversations with whole new players. However, it is impossible to overlook

in the present day that Jordan simply outmatches Lebron in nearly every category. It is for this

reason he is the Greatest basketball player of all time.

H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic claim Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments
 Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of
Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, anecdotes, previous column) that
each claim; may all be survey, research etc.) supports each claim;
personal experience to support each claim different types of
evidence in each body
paragraph

Use of reliable outside

sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how
supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and offers
response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument effective
which: counter-argument
Mentions the which:
opposing argument, Establishes an aspect
some mention of how of the opposing
opposing argument argument, clearly and
may be disproven logically disproves the
argument
Some elements missing Heading is correctly No errors in MLA
MLA Format or some errors in MLA formatted format
format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

 source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly
Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading

Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs