For those of you that are looking for the short answer, LeBron James is a better and more complete basketball player than Michael Jordan. I'm sure some of you are shocked to have read that, but let's be honest here. The only reason anybody in 2018 would say that Michael Jordan is the GOAT is that they feel nostalgic or they place more value on championship rings than they should. I'm not throwing shade at Michael. I do not think there is anything wrong with being the second best basketball player of all time. But if we look at both of these players with an unbiased point of view, LeBron is the clear GOAT.

There are very few statistical categories where Michael leads LeBron. Michael averaged 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for his career. LeBron is averaging 28 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists in his career so far. LeBron has a career PER of 28.6 while Michael's is a little bit lower at 27.9. Michael is also dragging in win-shares, at 214 to LeBron's 219. LeBron has a field goal percentage of 50.4% a 3 point percentage of 34% and a free throw percentage of 74%. His free throw percentage is easily his greatest black mark as far as statistical categories go. Michael on the other hand averaged 49% from the field, 33% from behind the arc and 84% from the charity stripe. There shooting averages are pretty close, but LeBron has a minor lead in two of the three here(granted Michael has a huge lead from the free throw line.)

As far as accolades go, Michael Jordan has a more decorated resume. He has 3 more rings, 1 more DPOY, 6 more Finals MVP and 1 more MVP just to name a few. It is no secret that Jordan has accumulated many more personal achievements. My response to this is pretty controversial in the NBA fan community. LeBron is playing in a league that is significantly more talented than the league that Michael Jordan played in. There are plenty of fans that watched the "Bad Boy" Pistons and the older Celtics, Lakers, Pacers and Knicks teams that would love to tell you about how much tougher the league was back in the day. They may have a point as far as raw brutality goes. You don't tend to see many events in today's NBA that compare to "The Malice at the Palace." You had some of the most talented players the NBA has ever seen playing in Jordan's NBA. Stockton, Johnson, Bird, Kareem, Hakeem, and Iverson just to name a few. However, the NBA currently has players like Kevin Durant who may go down as the purest scorer to ever play in the league. Steph Curry is the best 3 point shooter in NBA history. Russel Westbrook is the only player in history to average a triple double in two consecutive seasons. Players in the league today are more dynamic, versatile, talented, faster and stronger.

Time for a very unpopular opinion among Jordan fans: LeBron is a better defender. It is usually after saying this that Jordan fans remind me that he has a Defensive Player of the Year award and LeBron does not. What most of these fans do not realize is that LeBron and Michael have an identical defensive efficiency rating. Both players allow 103 points per 100 possessions. What gives LeBron the edge defensively is his versatility. LeBron is a freak of nature that can guard any position on the floor, from point guard to center. LeBron is also leading Michael in defensive win-shares.

An argument I hear all the time is actually pretty laughable. "Jordan spent four years in college and LeBron went straight to the NBA from high school. If Jordan had done that and he hadn't retired to play baseball, his stats would crush LeBron." The thing here is that nobody actually knows. Maybe he would have, maybe we would have seen him reduced to his Wizards level of talent a few seasons early. You never know what kind of toll the hardwood is going to take on a player and the argument of "Well maybe this" is just silly. Maybe if Derrick Rose or Tracy McGrady or Alonzo Mourning or any number of players may have been the GOAT if they each didn't get hurt or sick. It's silly to pin GOAT status on somebody based on hypotheticals like that because nobody ACTUALLY knows.

So the short story is pretty much this: LeBron is a more complete and talented player than Michael. LeBron is a more efficient scorer in a variety of ways. LeBron is a better passer, a better rebounder and defender. LeBron leads Michael in almost every statistical category which is far more important to this conversation than accolades. LeBron faces much more talented talent in the league than Jordan had to play(i.e Golden State) than Jordan had to play. The closest thing Jordan has that can be compared would be the Celtics of the mid/late 80s, which is why Jordan lost in the first round of the playoffs, something LeBron has never done. All in all, LeBron has a much more grounded claim to GOAT status than Jordan.