The debate
Long-form pieces on the greatest-of-all-time argument: the numbers, the eras, the rings, and the cases each side actually makes. New pieces are added as the vote evolves.
The case for Michael Jordan
Six trips to the Finals, six titles, six Finals MVPs, and a decade in which nobody else won a scoring title. The argument for Jordan is about peak, and about never losing when it mattered.
5 min readThe case for LeBron James
The all-time leading scorer, a top-five all-time passer, 23 seasons without a decline that anyone could call steep, and titles with three different franchises. The argument for LeBron is about doing everything, and doing it longer than anyone.
5 min readScoring: 30.1 a game or 40,000 in total?
Jordan owns the highest scoring average ever recorded. LeBron owns the highest total. Both are true, and which you value says a lot about how you think greatness should be measured.
5 min read6–0 and 4–6: what the Finals records do and don't tell you
Jordan's perfect Finals record is the single most cited fact in this debate. It deserves to be taken seriously. So does the context around it.
5 min readLongevity: fifteen seasons against twenty-three
LeBron has played eight more seasons than Jordan did, and he is still going. How much should that count, and how much of it is the era?
5 min readDefense: a Defensive Player of the Year and a chase-down block
Jordan is the only guard in the modern era to win Defensive Player of the Year while leading the league in scoring. LeBron has guarded all five positions in a Finals. Which defensive résumé is stronger?
4 min readTwo different leagues: hand-checking, pace and the three-point line
Jordan and LeBron never played against each other, and the leagues they played in had different rules, different tactics and different numbers. Any comparison has to account for that.
5 min readPlaymaking: the passer and the scorer who learned to pass
LeBron is one of the five greatest passers ever. Jordan was a scorer who ran the triangle. The gap here is real, and it is the one Jordan's supporters find hardest to argue around.
4 min readHave an argument we haven't covered? Pitch it. The best reader submissions get published with full credit.