Why people comparing LeBron James to Michael Jordan are wasting their time and ours

Can we please stop?

Every year around this time we start hearing the same debate: Has LeBron James eclipsed Michael Jordan as the best basketball player to have ever played the game?

It makes my eardrums bleed. The pain isn't a result of being on one side of the fence or the other. Rather, it's the debate itself.

There are multiple factors that make the argument either way ludicrous.

First, we're talking different eras. Second, we're talking different positions and two players whose games are in no way comparable. Last, if we're talking about winning, we're leaving someone out of the argument.

The era problem

There are two ways to look at this one and the first will probably make you Jordan loyalists the least upset.

First, when Jordan played it was a different game.

Back in those ancient times, big men roamed the earth (no, not ones who stand in the corner and shoot analytic-lovers' 3s like today; those guys actually played in the post and it was actually physical).

Also, in those days there were players who were labeled as 3-point specialists (yeah, the stars weren't heaving up 10-15 treys a game; rather, the guys who led the league in 3-point percentage were usually guys who played off the stars and got open looks).

In Jordan's days, the players didn't fraternize as much (at least not for the public to see). You'd never see a guy like Jayson Tatum dunk on Jordan and proceed to shoulder bump him without there being some kind of message sent. What we saw Sunday night was LeBron with little response to it, and after the game the two shared a long hugging embrace.

I'm not saying either way is better; I'm just saying they were different.

Now, for you Jordan guys who will forever hold His Airness head and shoulders above anyone else who dares to challenge his pedestal, it's time for a little psychoanalysis. Yes, I'm going into your brain on this one.

You'll never admit it, but you've been brainwashed. Before Jordan, there was never a marketing explosion of its kind that skyrocketed an athlete's greatness straight into your subconscious mind. Hence, that's why you'll never admit it; you don't even know you know it.

Jordan, to those of us who grew up in that era, became more than a player. He was a brand. He was larger than life and perhaps even celestial. Let's face it: The guy had a second coming and a third coming.

Therefore, most people from that era will forever cling to those warm thoughts, unwilling to allow anything to be real enough to ruin that comfort zone.

Well, I'm here to admit that perhaps the reason I can be somewhat objective is I wasn't a Jordan guy. In fact, I rooted against him. So perhaps I am a little biased, but I could never be as biased as a true Jordan fan.

I'm also not a LeBron James fan. Therefore, if I didn't think the idea of comparing the two was so illogically, I believe I'd give a pretty objective look at it.

The player problem

Michael Jordan is a shooting guard. LeBron James is a small forward and, at times in this NBA, a power forward who also runs point guard.

While the NBA has evolved into a mostly positionless game, there is a distinct difference between James and Jordan.

LeBron dominates games from an all-around standpoint, often starting first with his passing skills. The way he sees the court and can manipulate a defense is different than how Jordan did it.

Yes, in their respective primes both are supreme athletes who can fly and rock the rim. Yet, when it comes to shooting the ball, Jordan was much better.

Both are solid defensively, but Jordan probably gets the edge there. LeBron is probably a better rebounder and blocked-shots artist.

So if you look at these things as a whole, it's really difficult to compare the two. You also have to take into consideration the players who they've been surrounded by. I argue that the players who accompanied Jordan (ie. Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman) were better than given credit for. The same could be said for LeBron (aside from when he had a legit Big 3 in Miami). However, what James has done with a team straight from Misfit Island this year is pretty incredible, no matter how lackluster the East has been.

So now we have more problems when trying to make the comparison.

The rings problem

Yes, Jordan has six rings and LeBron has three (and counting?).

In that light, of course Jordan has the edge.

But this is kind of like the MVP argument we hear every year: Is it about winning or best stats?

Well, if it's about winning, we have to say Bill Russell is the best ever then, right? He won 11 in 13 years in the league, almost doubling what Jordan did.

So once again here we are, of course.

Let's try stats. Well, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did score more than 4,000 more points than Jordan and is currently 7,000 ahead of James. Wait, what is that? He won six titles in addition to those stats? Well, now he has to be the best of all time, right?

Man, this is difficult. And that's exactly my point.

Can't we just sit back and appreciate the individual players for who they are instead of arguing points that will never be proven.

As much as these players are about eras, so are we. My dad tells me time and again that Julius Erving is the best basketball player he's ever seen. That's not one you hear often.

It's all subjective.

Anyone reading this now should just be happy to be able to say they got to see both Michael Jordan and LeBron James play. Not to mention Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan and . . . I could on a for a while.

The arguments can be fun and exhausting. But if we keep doing this same one year after year it's going to be just exhausting.

Let's tone it down a bit. Thanks.

This story was originally published May 29, 2018 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Why people comparing LeBron James to Michael Jordan are wasting their time and ours."