Michael Jordan Comparison

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Few professional basketball athletes’ names are recognizable to the avid, diehard basketball fans and the uninterested layman alike. One of the first, if not the first, athlete to pop up in anyone’s head is the legendary Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan, also known as His Airness, MJ, and Air Jordan, is widely considered the greatest basketball players of all time. Throughout his professional career, Jordan kept changing the game and redefined the entire sport of basketball. However, in 2002, an aspiring athlete by the name of LeBron Raymone James, also known as King James or simply LeBron, immediately rose to prominence and caught the attention of the entire NBA community. The young star quickly proved his tremendous skill, receiving the hype of being the next Michael Jordan. Looking closer, I found that the similarities between the two players are striking.

LeBron James started his career playing for the Cleveland Caviler and is currently playing for Miami Heat, while Jordan spent the majority of his career playing for the Chicago Bulls. In terms of physical attributes, Jordan is 1.98m tall and weighs around 98kg. One the other hand, King James is 2.03m tall and weighs around 113.4 kg.

Although Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, he attended Emsley A. Laney high school in Wilmington, North Carolina. Jordan’s basketball career started playing for the Emsley A. Laney high school basketball team. In addition to basketball, Jordan played baseball and American football during his high school years. In comparison, LeBron was born in Akron, Ohio. He attended St. Vincent – St. Mary high school in Akron, where he also played for the school’s team. LeBron was highly publicized as a future NBA superstar by numerous national media outle...

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...MVP twice, NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA scoring champion, All-NBA First Team six times, All-NBA Second Team twice, NBA All-Defensive First Team 4 times, NBA All-Rookie First Team, 2012 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year, 2012 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Cleveland Cavaliers all-time leading scorer, Naismith Prep Player of the Year 2013, and USA Mr. Basketball for two consecutive years.

Since neither of the players was active during the same era and never went head-to-head during their primes, we cannot conclusively decide who is best. Clearly, as evident from the huge list of awards both players have complied, both Michael Jordan and LeBron James have forever changed the game of basketball. Granted, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. I believe that both Jordan and James are two of the greatest basketball superstars to have ever lived.

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