LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Comparing Their First 9 Seasons in the NBA | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

LeBron James:

James won the MVP and he had another great regular season. This time he won the Finals MVP, and had one of the greatest postseason runs in NBA playoff history.

In Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers, a must-win for the Miami Heat, James scored 40 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and dished out 9 assists. Then, in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics—another must-win for the Heat—James scored 45 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.  He became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964 with at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in a playoff game.

After the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 1 of the NBA Finals, James scored 32 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists to help his team tie the series. James averaged 39.0 points, 13.7 rebounds and 6.3 assist per game when his team was trailing in a series. He also averaged 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in the Heat’s 4 clinching games and he had a triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists) in the title-clinching game.

James’ Finals averages:

28.6 ppg (47.2 FG percentage), 10.2 rpg, 7.4 apg, 1.6 apg, 0.4 bpg

Michael Jordan:

Jordan didn’t win the league MVP, but he led the league in scoring and steals. He won his third straight Finals MVP with another dominant finals performance. In Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, Jordan scored 55 points, which is tied for the second most points in a Finals game. Jordan would average 41.0 points per game in that series, which is still the NBA record. He scored 40 or more points four times in that series.

Jordan’s Finals average:

41.0 ppg (50.8 FG percentage), 8.5 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.7 bpg 

Advantage: Jordan

It’s close, but I’m going to give it to Jordan because he averaged 41.0 points per game in the Finals.