Three Reasons LeBron James is No Michael Jordan
3. Free Throw Shooting- LeBron James is great at getting to the line, but he just doesn't convert nearly enough of his free throws. According to ESPN.com career statistics, James is shooting 74% from the free throw line for his career thus far. In his career, Jordan shot 84% from the line. Jordan was remarkably consistent from the line each year, never shooting below 78.4%. James best season is 78% and his worst is 69.8%. While it may not seem like a huge difference between 74% and 84%, that is a whole lot of opportunities missed for LeBron.
2. Settles for the Outside Shot- Michael Jordan was never a prolific three point shooter in his career, and he knew that. LeBron James is not that great of a three point shooter, but he tends to settle for the trey far too often. Take a close look at the statistics and you'll see that Jordan averaged 1.7 three point attempts per game in his career, while James is at 4.3 so far in his career. In 2009-2010, James actually attempted 5.1 three pointers per game. James and Jordan both shoot 33% from distance for their career, but Michael Jordan knew his strengths better than LeBron does.
1. LeBron Doesn't Have the Same Fire- Michael Jordan was the most competitive person I have ever seen play a major sport in my life. MJ simply did not let his team slack off in an important game, ever. Even if his shot wasn't falling, he was doing everything else and leading his team with every ounce of energy he had. LeBron James is a great team player, but at times when the team needs a win badly he has seemed lackadaisical. Michael Jordan was the ultimate winner, who simply didn't take losing well at all. Teammates of Jordan have often spoke of his tough treatment of them, because he expected huge things from every player. LeBron doesn't have the same "it" factor that Jordan had, at least not yet.
LeBron James is a tremendous basketball player and some of the plays he makes are ridiculously amazing. Michael Jordan was an even better basketball player, especially when it came to crunch time!
Sources:
LeBron James Career Statistics ESPN.com
Michael Jordan Career Statistics ESPN.com
Published by Aaron Smith - Featured Contributor in Sports
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8 Comments
Post a CommentI would just make the distinction that Lebron doesn't have the fire when things matter. For the first three quarters this guy is just dominating. Put the ball in his hands when his team is down by one with a few seconds left and the guy acts like he's playing hot potatoes.
The number one reason Lebron can't touch MJ, that no one has yet to mention, is that....HE'S FROM CLEVELAND!!! Ain't nothing EVER came out of Cleveland that was worth a damn. To quote the great Joachim Noah (by the way...his team is better than Lebron's in the SAME Eastern Conference last I checked) "ain't nobody trying to get to Cleveland!" LeBron is a LeBuster.
this shouldn't even be a discussion. When you look at the history of sports and the greatest ever, think about this - There are only a few that truly dominated the games they played - i.e. being so much better then everyone of their day. Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Gretsky, Wilt, Tiger Woods (for a few years). Even Jack Niclaus, as great as he was had serious competition in his prime. Lebron will never be MJ, because he's not even in the top 10 of all time.
Maybe it's my fault.
Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn't.
Maybe made you think my highlights started at the free throw line, and not in the gym.
Maybe I made you think that every shot I took was a game winner.
That my game was built on flash, and not fire.
Maybe it's my fault that that you didn't see that failure gave me strength;
That my pain gave me motivation.
Maybe I led you to believe that basketball was a God given gift, and not something I worked for... every single day of my life.
Maybe I destroyed the game.
Or maybe... your just making excuses.
-- Michael Jordan
Remove the fabricated hype, analyze the stats and there are several players currently better in the NBA than Lebron. Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzky, Tim Duncan for example. Lebron will never be as good as MJ because he didn't get the same foundation. MJ was cut from his 9th grade HS team, Lebron was already thinking about NBA. MJ lived and succeed and matured in college. Lebron skipped college. MJ faced defeat several years before winning his first championship in Chicago. Lebron is going to bolt Cleveland because they didn't win. Lebron has potential. But potential only gets you so far. Like the hot girl you take on a date as a kid, only to find out she has no personality and you are bored to death. All the tics but no dog!
Jordan did it all. He was the best player on both sides of the ball. He combined power with finesse and creativity, with a killer instinct never seen before or after in the NBA. We can all look at Lebron and say he is a physical specimen and a dominating force, but MJ was simply the best basketball player to ever play the game...period.
Kwabena,
Thanks for the comment. Yeah his size and strength are terrific. I think he has Jordan beat in leaping ability, but Jordan was such an amazing competitor and an extremely skilled basketball player. Michael Jordan was playing on a whole different level than LeBron is.
I wouldn't even say he has much more raw ability. He's just bigger. Jordan was among the best raw athletes to ever play sports and he was technically unbeatable.