Originally posted on 05/08/2018:

Lebron is a better basketball player than Jordan. The original post is an exercise in spin, largely just a collection of cherry-picked stats, many of which are splitting hairs or flat out redundant.

One of the biggest myths is that Lebron's teams were more talented than Jordan's. That simply isn't true. Jordan was never rostered with another prolific scorer because Jordan couldn't coexist with that type of player, whereas Lebron's game is more fluid and adaptable, therefore able to accommodate a myriad of different role players, including guys like Kyrie who can score in bunches.

Building a championship roster is like piecing together a puzzle, not just simply lumping a bunch of guys with impressive PPG averages together and then rolling the ball out. In Jordan's championship years, he always had the right pieces around him to compliment his particular style. That's what matters... Just because Chris Bosh, for instance, is a "name" guy doesn't mean Lebron should just auto pilot his way to multiple championships. How does one particular piece round out the entire picture?

Jordan always had Pippen during his title runs and that cannot be taken for granted. Pippen was a very capable scorer, an All-Galaxy defender, and just a great all around asset for any team. You really can't even quantify Pippen's value on defense... I mean isn't two points stopped on a defensive possession just as valuable as two points scored on offense, or a rebound to secure possession in the first place? So while you marvel at Kyrie Irving's PPG exploits, you should also note that he was a massive liability on defense and not of much worth in general without the ball in his hands.

I mean I could go on for days, but I'd rather not. Jordan supporters just fall back on the fallible "rings" criteria over and over again, or the equally flawed "never lost in the Finals" assertion.

Bottom line is Lebron's versatility trumps Jordan's by a country mile and without his presence most of his teams are utter trash, including the present one.