Michael Jordan is widely agreed upon as the NBA's GOAT.
The one NBA player most believe is the closest to His Airness is LeBron James, once proclaimed as The Chosen One coming out of high school.
Both these players boast historic careers, with James' career obviously not over yet. The comparing of these two players at their peaks will go on for years to come, and while most will take the creator of the most popular shoe brand on the planet, the conversation isn't going to end anytime soon.
Really, there is no way to perfectly compare these guys across generations. However, what may be easier to do is ask a less serious and more fun question: Which of these two players had the better rookie season?
Michael Jordan came into the league as a rookie in 1984 as a 21-year-old out of North Carolina. He was drafted to the Chicago Bulls with the third overall pick.
LeBron James, however, didn't go to college. James came straight from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and was drafted with the first overall pick by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, at just 18 years old in 2003.
Some believe the age difference should matter when comparing rookie seasons, but that doesn't make sense because both players were playing their first real games against NBA players and had no previous experience doing so (MJ did play in the 1984 Summer Olympics). The “well, you're older” argument for basketball stops being accurate in like ninth grade.
Anyway, both players went on to have nice rookie seasons. Both LeBron and MJ won Rookie of the Year for their respective teams.
James put up some stellar numbers for a rookie, averaging 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals, but he also shot just 41.7 percent from the floor. Along with this, James shot 29.0 percent from beyond the arc and 75.4 percent from the free-throw line. This was easily the least efficient season of James' career, as he had a true shooting percentage of 48.8 percent.
LeBron's Cavs missed the playoffs his rookie season, but it was obvious they had found their franchise cornerstone. Overall, James had a typical Rookie of the Year type of season. He put up decent numbers on a bad team and struggled from the floor in terms of efficiency, but he flashed his potential throughout the entire season.
Jordan, though, wasn't just a typical Rookie of the Year.
As a 21-year-old, Jordan came into the league and was immediately a scoring machine. Jordan averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.4 steals per game.
While also scoring more points than James, Jordan was also much more efficient as a rookie.
Jordan shot a robust 51.5 percent from the field. While he only shot 17.3 percent from 3, he also only took 0.6 attempts a game from deep. Combine all this with 84.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line, and this comes out to an absurd true shooting percentage of 59.2 percent.
For comparison, James' career true shooting percentage is 58.6. Jordan wasn't just widely efficient for a rookie, he was wildly efficient for any NBA player. This is especially true given the lack of 3-point shooting back in those days.
Unlike James, Jordan also made it to the playoffs in his rookie season. In his first-ever playoff appearance, Jordan did not disappoint. In four first-round games, Jordan averaged 29.2 points, 8.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.8 steals. These are video game-type numbers for a player in his prime … Jordan was a rookie!
The Jordan vs. James debate as the GOAT will go on for years, and it seems like the majority of most people would give Jordan that crown.
When comparing them as rookies, Michael Jordan also takes the win here.
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