TL;DR — Michael Jordan stands apart from any contender to his crown

As is the case when assessing an athlete’s legacy, the first port of call is the statistics. Jordan won 6 NBA Championships and 6 NBA Finals MVPs, the last of which remains the record with LeBron James’s 4 the next closest. The 6 championships alone are impressive but Jordan won the title each time he reached the finals. These titles came as part of two separate ‘three-peats’, something which only the 2000-2002 Los Angeles Lakers have done since.

Outside of the NBA Finals, Jordan won the MVP 5 times, tied for second behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, having also won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. He was an All-Star on 14 occasions, made the All-NBA First Team 10 times, the All-Defensive First Team 9 times (the all-time record) and led the league in scoring 10 times (the all-time record). An additional note to Jordan’s scoring is that he still holds the all-time record for points per game (ppg) average at 30.12. Other all-time records Jordan holds include the record scoring average in an NBA Finals series (41.0), ppg in playoffs (33.4).

Some have a claim to be in the conversation for the greatest basketball player ever, such as LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan to name a few. James in particular is in the conversation but his record in the NBA Finals is a knock on his resumé. In short, a few can challenge Jordan in certain areas, but none have such a complete resumé as Jordan.

[Michael Jordan Records] (https://www.michaeljordansworld.com/records.htm)
[Michael Jordan Statistics] (https://www.nba.com/stats/player/893/career/)

TL;DR - There is a case to be made for LeBron James.

When he entered the league in 2003, James was one of the most hyped rookies in league history. He has lived up to all the lofty expectations. Jordan [has won] (https://www.nba.com/player/2544/lebron_james) 4 NBA Championships and 4 Finals MVPs with 3 different teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers). He has also won NBA MVPs, has been an NBA All-Star 17 times, has been an all-NBA selection 16 times and has been selected to the NBA all-defensive team on 6 occasions.

Like Jordan, the numbers tell of the greatness of James's career. However, where James excels is his longevity. As of the end of the 20/21 NBA, James has played 18 season, competing in 10 NBA Finals, including 8 consecutively. These achievements, his longevity and also the consistency of James's career in terms of scoring, rebounds and assists means he is in the GOAT conversation. Some will knock his win/loss record in the NBA finals and compare that to Jordan's 100% success rate. James cannot escape this. That said, James's legacy, when his career is done, will be far more than just finals results. He has a chance to finish as the league's all-time leading scorer for example. To that end, many can (and justly do) argue for James to be considered the GOAT.