On Feb. 7, 2023, Lebron James made NBA history by becoming the all-time leading scorer. With this new achievement, the debate over who is the best NBA player of all time has been reignited. Lebron or Jordan?  

“How could Jordan be the greatest,” senior Muhammed Najam said. “Lebron is the best all around NBA player because of his new scoring record and his dominance in the league especially at his age. To win four rings with three different teams is impressive, and … I’ve been able to see the greatness of Lebron in my life; never have I watched Jordan play.” 

“The Lebron-Goat wave has to stop. Jordan went six for six, with two three peats. [That] is way more impressive than a four for 10, in a much different more physically [competitive] time in the NBA [than] Lebron,” senior Nick Beck said.

The case for Lebron is his new scoring record. Although this is impressive Lebron has over 200 games on Jordan making it much more likely to break the record as he has had more time on the court. Being 38 years old and still dominating the league is still impressive but Lebron’s longevity is not as impressive as people make it out to be. 

Starting at 18 years old, Lebron had a head start compared to Jordans 21 year old debut. To be playing over twenty years and still averaging the amount of points he does is impressive. But he has never played over 70 games in the last 5 seasons. Jordan’s longevity is underrated; Jordan played 82 games in nine out of his 15 seasons in the NBA. Even in his last season he played all 82 games averaging 20 points per game, which is more impressive than Lebron’s 30 points per game average.

When it comes to accolades, Jordan has Lebron beat: ten scoring titles to one. Jordan’s defensive player of the year award to Lebron’s none, and Jordan’s five MVP awards compared to Lebron’s four. All this without mentioning how much the league has changed defensively from when Jordan played to now, there is not a doubt in my mind that the league has become way softer on defense than when Jordan was going six for six. Even with his impressive all time scoring record, Lebron was and will always be second to Michael Jordan.