By Xavier Cromwell-McDowell
Stratford High School
Is LeBron James the best player ever? That is a question that has been asked for about 10 years. To me he is the best player ever, but to an older person Michael Jordan is the best player ever, to some other people Kobe Bryant is the best player ever.
So what makes these three guys the greatest players in the world? If the best player to you is based on how many championships, a player won, then Bill Russell is the best player to ever live.
If it’s based off how many points a player scored in their career, well Kareem Adubl-Jabbar is the goat because he has the most points in the NBA.
So if we can say Lebron, Jordan and Kobe are the greatest but they don’t have the most rings or the most points scored, why are they the best and not Kareem and Bill? So that brings up the question, what makes Lebron, Jordan, and Kobe the “Greatest of all time”?
Well let’s look at it like this Lebron is second all-time in points behind Kareem so if he’s second behind Kareem in points doesn’t that mean he’s better than Jordan and Kobe because he passed them in points already? But people use the excuse that since Lebron has been in the league for so long, 20 years to be exact, that of course he’s gonna pass Jordan and Kobe.
But Lebron passed Kobe in rings and MVP awards, so does that make Lebron better than Kobe because he has more awards than him? So then Kobe has dropped to third. Now let’s compare Jordan to Lebron. Jordan has more rings, same amount of MVP awards. So then what separates Jordan from Lebron or Lebron from Jordan? Well Lebron has more points, rebounds, assists, blocks, minutes, and has a better shooting percentage.
So what’s the debate? The stats prove that Lebron is better right? Not really, because Jordan won 6 titles and every time he went to the finals he won the championship, whereas Lebron has been to the finals 10 times and has only won 4 times. But Lebron again has the better stats in the playoffs, but he has also been in the playoffs more than anybody ever. So Lebron has better stats but he has less championships.
So what else is there to see who’s better, because they didn’t play in the same era Lets see what each player did for the game.
Well Michael influenced players in the 80’s and the early 2000’s, while Lebron has influenced players since he was in high school, leaving high school to go straight to the league.
So if they both influenced the game what separates them. I don’t know and nobody really knows either. Old people will say Jordan and Kobe. I will always say Lebron because,
A. he made me love the game and
B. he really is the best player. He passes the ball, he can score at any point, he can score from anywhere, and he plays defense and gets assists, and he also is a team player.
Jordan will go and give you 61 points, while the rest of the team has like 10 points. Whereas Lebron will give 40 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds, and the whole team will have like 15-20 points. As well, Jordan has never came back to win a finals down 3-1. Lebron did it and he made history. Did he have help? Of course, but you need help to be able to win championships.
So will Lebron ever be the goat? Will Jordan ever be the goat? Will Kobe ever be the goat? I guess we will never know.
