Better Athlete: Lebron vs MJ

[plowking]

lol @ this

lol all you want. You have a guy who hasn't had a major injury to this point in his career, and you had one that has. Easy choice.

[Round Mound]

I still dont understand why doesnt Lebron bully more people in the way that Charles Barkley and Karl Malone did.

[305Baller]

LeBron. Jordan is neither the GOAT athlete nor the GOAT shooter but he is the GOAT ball player.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

LeBron is probably the greatest athlete that's played the game. At least in modern times.

The fukkin Bo Jackson of the NBA.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Never understand why people act like Lebron is more durable than Jordan. Jordan is one of the most durable players and greatest ironmen of all time.

Jordan played 9 full seasons of 82 games, Lebron has played NONE.

Jordan has 11 seasons of 80+ games, Lebron has 2.

Jordan played 3 straight 82 game seasons plus extended playoffs at age 33-35, plus another 82 game season at age 40.

Lebron is not "more durable" than Jordan in any way, shape, or form. This is not to say that Lebron isn't durable - he is - but stop the crazy talk.

They're the two most durable players I've ever seen. MJ was obviously more durable mentally and wasn't sitting out games resting. Or asking for seasons to be shortened by the league. Both never really had bad injuries apart from the rare outlier in MJs career when he broke his foot, or his knee woes as a 39 year old coming back from 3 years of inactivity.

[Elosha]

lol all you want. You have a guy who hasn't had a major injury to this point in his career, and you had one that has. Easy choice.

Both are incredibly durable. Jordan had a freak injury his sophomore year. It didn't effect the rest of his career once he got back in. Other than that the only major injury he had was when he was 39 and injured his knee. Take away those two seasons and you have an absolute iron man.

Lebron is also an iron man, and you are right that some of his missed games are from coaches' decisions resting at the end of the year waiting for the playoffs. (Which, by the way, I don't really agree with, that's not a strategy that the Bulls or anyone in the 90's or 80's really held to, to my knowledge. That's not to say, they went full throttle in the last few games, but Jordan and other stars still put in significant minutes in the last "meaningless" games of the season).

Still Lebron has had more "nagging" injuries year to year than Jordan in comparing their careers. Obviously missing a dozen or so for injuries/to rest last year - his own voluntary decision - is the most recent example. I would expect he may have more of those type of "durability" issues as he gets older, given his weight and the fact that he's noticeably slowed down as far he ages. Not a knock on him, just a fact.

Who's more durable? It's a fair question. Obviously, Jordan has missed more overall games due to injury, but almost all of those games came in one season in 85-86 and at the tail end of his career. Year by year, he's slightly more consistently durable than Lebron, and I expect the difference will become more pronounced as Lebron ages. Jordan's body type is probably more conducive than Lebron's to playing a full season during the latter parts of their career. This is primarily because his lighter frame doesn't take put as large a strain and physical pounding on his joints.

Both are incredibly durable and it's basically a wash. For my money, if Lebron continues to rest and/or miss games for the latter state of his career, as the trend seems to be, I'd have to favor Jordan. Better to miss lots of games in one season to a freak accident (which only affects that one season), than to spread the damage out missing games to injuries/rest over a number of seasons. Also, can't discount the possibility that Lebron could also suffer a season-ending or even career altering injury a la Kobe.

[Elosha]

Both are incredibly durable. Jordan had a freak injury his sophomore year. It didn't effect the rest of his career once he got back in. Other than that the only major injury he had was when he was 39 and injured his knee. Take away those two seasons and you have an absolute iron man.

Lebron is also an iron man, and you are right that some of his missed games are from coaches' decisions resting at the end of the year waiting for the playoffs. (Which, by the way, I don't really agree with, that's not a strategy that the Bulls or anyone in the 90's or 80's really held to, to my knowledge. That's not to say, they went full throttle in the last few games, but Jordan and other stars still put in significant minutes in the last "meaningless" games of the season).

Still Lebron has had more "nagging" injuries year to year than Jordan in comparing their careers. Obviously missing a dozen or so for injuries/to rest last year - his own voluntary decision - is the most recent example. I would expect he may have more of those type of "durability" issues as he gets older, given his weight and the fact that he's noticeably slowed down as far he ages. Not a knock on him, just a fact.

Who's more durable? It's a fair question. Obviously, Jordan has missed more overall games due to injury, but almost all of those games came in one season in 85-86 and at the tail end of his career. Year by year, he's slightly more consistently durable than Lebron, and I expect the difference will become more pronounced as Lebron ages. Jordan's body type is probably more conducive than Lebron's to playing a full season during the latter parts of their career. This is primarily because his lighter frame doesn't take put as large a strain and physical pounding on his joints.

Both are incredibly durable and it's basically a wash. For my money, if Lebron continues to rest and/or miss games for the latter state of his career, as the trend seems to be, I'd have to favor Jordan. Better to miss lots of games in one season to a freak accident (which only affects that one season), than to spread the damage out missing games to injuries/rest over a number of seasons. Also, can't discount the possibility that Lebron could also suffer a season-ending or even career altering injury a la Kobe.

So since I responded to the question of durability, (and I'm surprised to see no response to it) I wanted to add a few other points. I agree to some extent with those who say Lebron might be the overall better athlete and Jordan might be a better basketball athlete. What Lebron can do from an athletic standpoint at his size and weight is unprecedented. I've never seen anyone as fast, and as good of a leaper at his size and weight, and his level of coordination and agility for a man his size is remarkable. He's really underrated a bit in that respect.

Jordan was a very wiry and strong player for his frame at playing weight between 190-220. But he's still an order of magnitude smaller than Lebron and even though he played with an enormous amount of basketball strength, I'd suspect Lebron would have him beat in the weight room. I remember Bob Costas reported he saw Jordan benching 300 pounds in the weight room during the second three peat, which is pretty impressive if true. However, at 260-270 and with the size his arms and frame, if Lebron can't bench quite a bit more than 300, I'd be very surprised. Same thing with any weight lifting exercise, his 40-50 pound weight advantage will give him a natural edge. That would probably translate to Lebron being a superior football player in many aspects, as well as other contact sports.

Overall speed is very close. I don't think people realize just how fast Jordan was in his physical prime. But go back and watch the videos of Jordan going coast to coast, he is an absolute blur. Of course, Lebron's blazing speed is well known but if Jordan were playing today, he'd be just as well known for his speed, as well as everything else. Part of emphasis on Lebron's speed is not really just how fast he is, but how surprising it is that a man his size can move that quickly. In that respect, Lebron's speed may be a little more emphasized than a smaller player who we might more easily "expect" to be that fast.

Jumping ability has been discussed ad naseum. I'll just say they are both great. Jordan might be the more versatile leaper, in that he's great off one or two feet and comfortable jumping in a variety of ways and positions that Lebron doesn't usually demonstrate. But it terms of absolute vertical, Lebron may have a slight edge off one feet over Jordan, and when you add his height and reach advantage, objectively speaking he might be able to touch a few inches higher than Jordan could. So each player has their respective advantages, each are transcendent dunkers/leapers, and each could dunk at will.

The biggest difference to me is in overall quickness, agility, and maneuverability. Now Lebron is no slouch, he's very quick in the half court for a man his size and as I said, he really has far greater coordination and agility than he gets credit for. Watch some of his layup highlights; the way he twists, contorts, maneuvers, and generally makes beautiful shots is a work of art. Some people say Lebron is "ugly" to watch, but I absolutely disagree. He has a great level of finesse, and is just as about as graceful as a man his size and weight can be.

That said, he's still not on Jordan's level. The one area that Lebron may be the most "ordinary" is first/second steps, and Jordan clearly outclasses him here. It is true that Lebron often needs a pick to get his man off of him, and it's quite true that he can be somewhat limited by a quick and sufficiently big defender. Jordan didn't struggle in that regard nearly as much. Likewise, as agile and as coordinated as Lebron is, he's not as creative of a shotmaker and not quite as good at mid-air improvisation as Jordan. Imo, the only one who approaches MJ in that respect is Kobe.

Quickness and agility are overall more basketball related skills. Lebron and Jordan are both superb athletes with different but related strengths. Those of us who are privileged enough to watch both of their careers can count our blessings.