Amick: While LeBron adds to the legacy, the age-old GOAT debate has shifted
The story of this author’s childhood obsession with Michael Jordan is not unique.
If you grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, you couldn’t help but be fascinated by the mystique of MJ. As a kid from the San Francisco Bay Area, I would copy every article about the Bulls star and organize them in a three-ring binder thicker than the King James Bible. The local “Run TMC” Warriors were fun and all, but nothing came close to the basketball magic that Michael provided from the time I was seven to the time he retired in that Wizards jersey when I was 26. In fact, he provided one of my fondest family memories, albeit unknowingly, when my late mother drove me all the way to the University of Kansas for a high school camp with then-Jayhawks coach Roy Williams and his guest – MJ himself.
Seeing him from hundreds of feet away as he sat in those Allen Fieldhouse stands, and then getting an autographed photo delivered by a camp staffer, was almost as good as meeting the man himself. He was nothing short of a basketball god, then and now.
But watching LeBron James surpass 40,000 points on Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets made you realize that he truly stands alone in the annals of basketball history. Jordan, nor anyone else in the field of 4,890 players who have been on the court since the NBA’s inception in 1947, can speak to this legacy he leaves behind.
The scoring is of course just one part of James’ sublime skills, but the significance of this latest absurd achievement can best be understood by taking a moment to appreciate the elite company he has now left behind. Only seven players – LeBron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Jordan (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) and Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) – have ever reached the highest level. the NBA club with 30,000 points. To call this group the cream of the crop is a gross understatement, as they represent just 0.0014 percent of the players who have ever played in the association. And now, with James’ left-handed layout in the second quarter, he stands alone in this 40k club.
Achieve 40,000 points for your family. Congratulations, King. pic.twitter.com/iGPUZ234uv
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 3, 2024
This effusive praise for James’ resume comes from a Jordan loyalist, mind you, one who is the “Come Fly With Me” video, the Poster ‘Wings’ on his bedroom wall, the Jordan shoes, the “Michael Jordan to the MAX” DVD that remains in our home collection to this day and even a sign that reads “You miss all the shots you don’t take” in his office, inspired by Jordan’s epic “Failure” commercial from 1997. Over my 20 years in the league, I have always believed that Jordan’s Finals perfection and post-Larry-Magic impact, especially globally, on the NBA put him on a pedestal that could never be reached.
But this final chapter that James is putting together, this cry for the ages that is destroying the record books, is enough to convince me that the age-old GOAT debate is over. Not because James is the winner, but because their stories have become so different that the endless comparisons become more pointless every year.
Jordan’s two retirements – the first after his father, James, was murdered in July 1993, and the second after winning his sixth title in 1998 – left him missing a total of four seasons in the 19 years of his career. We can play the what-if game from here until eternity, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jordan’s body of work is very different from James’s when it comes to staying power and longevity.
James, meanwhile, has somehow managed to comply with all of this “Chosen one” hype while surviving the increased scrutiny that came with the Internet age – for two consecutive decades. He took a very different path from Jordan, becoming one of only four players to win titles with three different franchises in the Cavs, Heat and Lakers (and none of the others – John Salley, Robert Horry and Danny Green – were leading men , so speaking).
Furthermore, the GOAT construct is tired and flawed in ways that do them both a disservice. Contrary to popular belief, it is okay to appreciate Picasso And Da Vinci at the same time and leave it at that. There are enough flowers to go around.
Unfortunately, even with these disagreements that should silence this discussion, the debate that typically inspires two distinctly different camps will rage on. On the one hand, there are those who focus purely on championships when comparing the two. Jordan’s six eclipses eclipse James’ four, And he has the best playoff scoring average of all time (33.45 points per game; James is sixth at 28.45), so there’s that.
On the other hand, there are those who look at the entirety of James’ resume and ultimately give in to the truth he makes so impossible to ignore. No one – Air Jordan, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Kobe or anyone else – has ever played the game at this level for so long. Just take a quick look at this season as the final proof.
Only nine players ever have averaged at least 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a season – 32 times in total – and James is on pace to do so for the 12th time in his career. Jordan did it once.
From this vantage point, though, it’s James’ continued impact as a historic playoff performer that has earned him so many GOAT points over the years. His last playoff game, for example, was a 40-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist, two-steal masterpiece against the Nuggets in the Western Conference finals, in which he played all but four seconds. That’s a far cry from late 1930s Jordan missing the playoffs with his Washington Wizards in his two seasons there (they went 37-45 in both seasons). And just look at the overall post-season work.
James holds the all-time record for playoff games (282, with Derek Fisher second at 259 and Jordan 19th at 179). He is in first place (8,023 points, while Jordan is second with 5,987). He is second in assists (2,023; Magic Johnson is first with 2,346; Jordan is 12th with 1,022). He ranks fourth in rebounds (2,549, with Russell first at 4,104 and Jordan 45th at 1,152).
More importantly, he ranks third in Finals appearances with 10 (behind Russell and Sam Jones of the Celtics). His finals percentage of 50 percent (starting this season) surpasses Jordan’s (42.8 percent; six of 14), for what it’s worth.
It’s that unprecedented durability, combined with the continued excellence that earned him his record 20th All-Star Game appearance in Indianapolis last month, that boggles the mind more than anything. Like the Lakers recently sharedhe has played against 35 percent of all players who have ever played in the NBA. By the time he takes the floor next season, after turning 40 on December 30, he will tie Vince Carter for the longest career of all time (22 seasons) while having significantly more impact.
The list, like LeBron himself, goes on and on. Even MJ must be surprised at this point.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” James told reporters Thursday evening.
Me too, LeBron. I also do that.
(Photo: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)