"Being 6-0 in the Finals is the cherry on top" - Kevin Wildes asserts that LeBron James is long way from catching Michael Jordan as the GOAT
The case for LeBron James being the GOAT is heavily underscored by his longevity - he's been extremely good for an extremely long time.
Charles Barkley on "The Draymond Green Show" put it best:
"When you look at Kobe (Bryant), Kevin Garnett, guys like that, they were not good players when they first got to the NBA.....LeBron is the only player in my forty years in the NBA who played great from day one"
This is one of the biggest arguments for LeBron James being, as he likes to call it, "The Chosen One." When James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, he immediately became a franchise star and took the subpar Cavaliers team to five playoffs, and after his return from Miami, gave Cleveland its only NBA championship.
Michael Jordan, who is widely accepted as being the greatest NBA player of all time, took a different route to greatness. While Jordan made it to many play-offs early in his career, it wasn't until the 1990-91 season that he made it past the Eastern Conference - he lost in the Eastern Conference play-offs for six straight years.
Kevin Wildes on FOX Sports' "First Things First," commented on what made Jordan greater than James:
"I think being 6-0 in the finals, is the cherry on top of the greatness sundae that is Michael Jordan"
"And even if LeBron does get to six rings, unless he gets into a time machine and erases the losses I think he's going to have a hard time being in the same category as someone who never lost in the finals"
Wildes also sounded off his opinion on what James needs to do in order to be the greatest:
"It made me think, watching him break Karl Malone's second place record, you know what? LeBron needs to make consistency cool"
"Being 6-0 in the Finals is the cherry on top of the greatness sundae that is Michael Jordan. Even if LeBron gets to 6 rings, unless he gets in a time machine, he's going to have a hard time being in the same category as someone who never lost in the Finals." — @kevinwildes https://t.co/6k9DpMRSeL
LeBron is averaging 29.8 points per game in his 19th season, the highest by anyone in their 19th season, and the highest by anyone aged 37.
How does LeBron James fare against Michael Jordan?
While a number of arguments can be made for either LeBron James or Michael Jordan being the G.O.A.T., how do the two fare, head-to-head? The following table compares the two across various accolades in the NBA:
(*Denotes active player)
Some of their miscellaneous achievements include: 3 All-Star game MVPs for both, one assist title for James, three steals titles for Jordan, Rookie of the Year honors for both.
Rich Paul on LeBron James' and Michael Jordan's paths to greatness
“The road for LeBron was just as hard, if not harder than the road was for Michael.” lakersdaily.com/rich-paul-comp…
LeBron James has led the win-share percentage 15 times in his 19 year career, and Michael Jordan has led the win-share percentage 11 times in his 15 year career.