The Lebron and Michael Jordan Comparison: There is None

Until recently, there have been very few people who would ever argue about the NBA exaltation of Michael Jordan. His Airness seemed to have converted all NBA fans to his unprecedented legacy. A few years back, when Kobe Bryant was building his own legacy, there were some, like former NBA point guard Mark Jackson, that wanted to assert Michael had been surpassed; however, very few people in the media ever latched on. Now, the media hype for Lebron James is on steroids, as there is another push to denounce the thrown of Michael Jordan. The only difference: more people seem to be latching on this time. Is Lebron better than Jordan? The Lebron and Michael Jordan comparison reveals an interesting contrast. According to the history on NBA.com, the following Basic facts should dissuade any from dethroning M.J. just yet:

1. After eight years in the league, Lebron James has won two MVP awards and has been to the NBA finals twice--failing twice. Although many will argue Lebron's first trip to the finals was without much help, clearly in 2011 his associates of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Mike Bibby should have more than sufficed. By Jordan's 8th season he had won three MVP awards, both for the regular season and the finals, and he had nabbed two NBA championships. There's more.

2. Both Lebron and Michael Jordan are considered dominant scorers. To be fair to Lebron let's continue to only compare the two based on their first eight years in the league. After completing the 2011 season, Lebron James had a very respectable 17,362 career points in 626 games played. After the 1992 season, Michael Jordan had a staggering 19,000 points in only 578 games played. In Lebron's first eight years he has achieved a high scoring average of 31.4 and a second place high of 30.0. For Michael, an incredible high average of 37.1 and a second high average of 35.0. As for career highs, Lebron's is 56 points and Michael's is 69. On one last note for this part, Lebron on average has shot a decent .479% from the field compared to Michael's incredible .514%. Shall we go on?

3. At the eight year mark, Lebron does lead M.J. in assists with 4,364 versus 3,507; however M.J. played 48 less games than Lebron at this juncture in his career. Similar to assists, Lebron has the edge in rebounds with 4,451 versus 3,697. With steals and blocks, despite playing less games, M.J. has a significant edge on Lebron. Lebron comes in with only 1,079 steals against M.J.'s 1,594, and with blocks Lebron has 532 against M.J.'s 623. Based on numbers, Michael would take the Defensive edge.

So, when comparing Lebron and Michael Jordan is Lebron better? Let's let Magic Johnson give us the answer: "There is Michael Jordan and then there is the rest of us." Lebron James certainly has a lot of talent, but his story has yet to compare to that of Michael Jordan. The above facts only tell a small portion of the legacy of Jordan, and yet, they alone stack pretty strongly against Lebron. Referencing the above, the argument that Lebron hasn't played as long as Michael isn't sufficient. The facts of the first eight years of Lebron against the first eight years of Jordan are easy to compare. Jordan was far more accomplished and far more proficient as a player. It's been almost a decade since Michael Jordan called it quits for good, and maybe that is why it is easy for people to forget how great he truly was. The truth of the matter is, no matter how hard the media tries, there really is no Lebron and Michael Jordan comparison according to NBA history.