Ever since boxer Muhammad Ali dubbed himself The Greatest in 1964, the term G.O.A.T. has succeeded. There are G.O.A.T. debates in nearly every sport; some have been put to rest, and others still a burning flame like Djokovic vs. Federer in Tennis and Woods vs. Nicklaus in Golf. The most contentious G.O.A.T. debate remaining is basketball, between Michael Jordan and Lebron James. 

Below is a table of some accolades and statistics we considered in evaluating this debate 

Ipswich High School Senior Zach Marionopolous claims that Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. Zach argues that the defense in the ’90s was more challenging and more physical, claiming that “over the years, players have gotten better offensively, but now they don’t play defense.” Zach also argues that Jordan’s perfect finals record is better than Lebron’s 10 appearances. Jordan also has nine more scoring titles and won Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. Another factor he considered is finals MVPs because “(you are the) best (player) of the best team.” Jordan holds 6 of them compared to Lebron’s 4. Because Lebron is still active, we asked Zach what LeBron James would need to do to become his G.O.A.T. He said that Lebron needs to win one more championship. Some other accolades in Jordan’s favor are that he has 38 games with 50 or more points, which is a long-standing NBA record; Jordan also has a higher true shooting percentage than Lebron at .569. 

We believe that LeBron James is the G.O.A.T. Over LeBron James’s career, he has proven to be more efficient and valuable to his team. LeBron has a better +/- than Jordan, which means his team is better when he is on the court. In 2007, LeBron proved this by bringing a weak Cavaliers team (the second leading scorer on the team averaged a marginal 15 PPG) to the NBA Finals against a strong Spurs team led by hall-of-famers Tim Duncan and David Robison. Although the Cavs were swept, two of the four were one-possession games against a team far more significant than them. At the same time, Michael Jordan is 0-3 in the playoff series with zero final appearances without the iconic duo of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. The strongest argument is the longevity of LeBron’s career, which began in 2003 after graduating from high school. The 2003-2004 season was the only season in which he was not an all-star. Due to his continued all-star-level play, he is the only player ever to eclipse 40,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 10,000 assists in a career. LeBron’s scoring record of 41,531+ points is practically untouchable. According to chat GPT, it is nearly impossible to match with less than a 1% chance of a player breaking the record.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s 32,292 points are way more achievable, surpassing it by 4 NBA players already. For a more human analysis, we talked to Ipswich High School Senior Nick Hawes, a lifelong basketball fan; he claims that “Lebron James, well, first off, he may not have as many championships, but he has better longevity and is a more well-rounded player.” Nick goes on to highlight the fact that Lebron averages more rebounds and assists than Jordan, making him more valuable to a team; this is further reinforced by Lebron being the NBA’s all-time leader in wins above replacement (WAR) with 417.69 WAR compared to Jordan’s 313.47 WAR.

In conclusion, no other G.O.A.T debate is like the one shared between Lebron James and Michael Jordan due to James’ historic 20+ year dominance and Jordan’s unmatched championship success.