LeBron James: Could He Take Michael Jordan One-On-One?

Well, here we are. It’s August and in the basketball world that means there are bound to be some wickedly silly and trivial storylines floating about. This time? It’s about one-on-one basketball, specifically pitting the G.O.A.T and King James against each other.

Recently, during a Q&A at his Flight School in California, Michael Jordan was asked if he could take Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James one-on-one.

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Knowing that his response would flood the Internet and probably cause some less-than-safe riots in barber shops all over the planet, Jordan decided to light the fire anyway, saying that he thought it was “no question” he could beat LeBron.

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When asked the same question in an interview with Today, James said that he could beat Jordan and then jokingly added that “they’re going to have to have a few wheelchairs and a couple ambulances to get us off the floor.”

Ha. Ha. Couple of jokers, they are. But now they’ve got the question creating a stir and the pot is reaching a boiling point. So who would win in a game of one-on-one? Remember, one-on-one is much different than team basketball. It’s just you and one other guy, which is why guards almost always excel at this type of competition.

Allen Iverson in street ball? Kyrie Irving in street ball? Forget about it. You’ll be on your butt in seconds and trying to figure out how they went left when two seconds before they were going right.

But we’re talking about Jordan and James here. So if they’re having fun with it, why shouldn’t we? What the heck, let’s break it down and see what happens. A couple of rules: the game is to 12, the ball is cleared at the three-point line, and both of the players are in their primes.

What do I mean by prime? Let’s start with MJ, because he’s easier. The greatest version of Jordan we ever saw was probably in 1995-96, when he led his Chicago Bulls to a historical-best 72-10 record at the age of 32.

His skill was as good as it gets and his athleticism hadn’t deteriorated much. It wasn’t his best statistical season on the surface (it was still a monster season of 30/7/4), but his shooting had much improved and everything else was still there while he also learned to use his mind as often as his talent to push his team to extraordinary heights.

As for James, his prime is a bit harder to judge since he’s only 30 years old now. His best season may be yet to come and we saw in The Finals this past year how good he currently is. Is this currently the greatest version of LeBron? He thinks so, but I’m inclined to disagree for now.

I am partial to the 2012-13 version of The King, who won 66 games with the Miami Heat. Despite a hobbled Dwyane Wade (who played 69 games that season), the Heat went on a 27-game win streak (good enough for second-best in NBA history) that season that was spearheaded by James.

At that time, LBJ still seemed untouchable athletically and was able to play Atlas without his knees bowing to the weight.

So there you have it, 1995-96 Jordan versus 2012-13 LeBron.

I feel like there should be some Mortal Kombat music or something starting here. Ready … FIG–err, BALL!!!

Physical (and Mental) Gifts

Let’s get the mental part out of the way first–both of these players were/are basketball geniuses. They play at the highest level and know how to read opponents, figure out situations and do what’s best in their own unique way. In this manner, they cancel each other out.

Now on to physical gifts. LeBron is the obvious choice here, just look at the man! He came into the 2014-15 season slimmed down, but back in 2012-13 he was a bit bulkier. He weighed around 250 pounds then, and is 6’8” of muscle.

The fact that he was able to move around like a guard at that weight and height is incredible. We have perhaps never seen a physical specimen like James. At the age of 28, LBJ never looked tired. Like, ever.

But His Airness isn’t entirely outmatched here. Sure, he’s shorter at 6’6” and was only listed as 195 pounds in 1995-96, but he always had another gear that no one seemed to be able to match. When opponents went high, MJ went higher. He made dudes look like fools with lightning quick moments of, “How the heck did he just do that?!?”

Still, that’s a lot of weight for Jordan to overcome. You could argue that speed would be in his favour, but LeBron is no slowpoke.

Advantage: LeBron

Shooting

This one shouldn’t be too much of a debate. It’s true that neither Jordan nor James were/are great three-point shooters (they both only had one season each where they shot over 40.0 percent from deep; 1995-96 for MJ, 2012-13 for LBJ). But Jordan’s mid-range game far exceeds James’.

He was just a better threat from all over the floor; not that James is zero threat, but Michael was someone you had to be up on all the time or he’d bury every look in your grill.

It is important to note that during the seasons we’re using, James did shoot 56.5 percent from the floor, while Jordan shot 49.5 percent taking one more shot. We don’t have the same statistics on shooting we do now, so MJ’s more precise numbers aren’t available until his 2001-02 season.

But even if we believe that he drove as much as James, the game was more physical in the ‘90s with a different hand checking rule than in the current era which might have affected his percentage.

We do know, however, that the overwhelming majority of 2012-13 LeBron’s shots came from within 0-3 feet of the basket (37.3 percent) and that he shot 41.5 percent from 10-16 feet and 44.7 from 16+ feet, respectively. This shooting is also thanks in part to Erik Spoelstra’s system in Miami (his percentages dropped significantly this past year, his first back in Cleveland).

It would be somewhat tough for Air Jordan to get shots up on LeBron, since we’re talking strictly one-on-one coverage. When locked in, James is a fear-inducing defender (which we’ll get to later on). Still, Jordan was great at creating his own shots, so getting looks probably wouldn’t be the hard part–it’d be draining them.

But as we all know, Jordan wasn’t too bad with a hand in his face. Gotta give this one to the better all-around shooter.

Advantage: Jordan

Post Game

Jordan was probably more skilled in the post than James. That’s not surprising, he’s a smaller player so he had to use wit and agility to finish down amongst the trees. His footwork meshed seamlessly with his athleticism to create a terrifying threat down on the block that was almost as hard to guard as his perimeter style.

But here again comes LeBron’s overwhelming physique and power. While he may not be as skilled down there, James can play bully ball with the best of them when he’s so inclined. He has mentioned many times that he doesn’t love going down in the post, but he’s willing to do it when necessary and in a game against Jordan, one might consider it so.

There is no doubt that James would be stronger than Jordan could handle down there (don’t yell at me internet, just look at their weight difference!). It would be extremely tough for MJ to keep LeBron from backing him down and making a forceful move.

Sure, His Airness played in a tougher, more physical era, but players today are more focused on body building and strength training than they were in Jordan’s day. James is a freak even by those standards.

Jordan would waste a lot more energy and effort trying to back down James (which he likely couldn’t do), and would instead have to rely on turnaround moves and multiple fakes, which are far less guaranteed to work than simple bully-ball.

Advantage: LeBron

Defense

I said we’d get here! Defense is a huge factor in one-on-one basketball, since you’ve obviously got no help defender waiting behind you to save the play in case you mess up or simply let your man blow by you.

We saw some of that from LeBron this past year (although far more often when he was playing injured), where he let opponents get past him without trying to defend them. But don’t let recent history fool you, The King was a beastly defender in his younger days and still is when he locks in. In a matchup against MJ, you’d have to believe that he’d be on his best defensive behaviour.

LeBron’s made the All-Defensive First team five times to date, while making the All-Defensive Second team once.

As for Jordan, he’s one of the greatest perimeter defenders to play the game (along with his acclaimed partner Scottie Pippen). Getting off the perimeter was a nightmare against Jordan, and his quickness allowed him to snatch the ball away with ease. His rather wiry frame made him sneakily long, and thus tough to drive by.

He made the All-Defensive First team nine times, with his last selection being in 1997-98, when he was 34 years old.

Again, LeBron’s size would make him a suitable defender for Jordan, while MJ would probably have no problem holding his own on the perimeter with James.

This one’s a tough call. Really tough.

Advantage: Neither

Competitive Edge

No matter what he does, even if he goes on and wins five straight titles, LeBron will never able to shut up those who will remind the world how he wilted in the 2011 Finals. By the year we’re looking at, James has already been through that and won one title (and would go on to win another).

Indeed, he had a moment of weakness in that Finals. He melted under the pressure of the moment and although the opportunity was there, he just couldn’t quite grasp it firmly enough to hold on. The entire time he looked tentative and uncertain, clearly over-thinking everything he did.

But give credit where credit is due. The next season LeBron took the loss personally and drove his team to a title (not to mention the aforementioned 27-game win streak). His mental toughness improved and his desire to win became even stronger.

LeBron James is no quitter, and he’s not as fragile-minded as the general basketball public would have you believe (I’m talking to you, Skip Bayless worshippers).

Michael Jordan would never have had that moment, though. That’s safe to say. His six trips to The Finals are matched by his six victories in them. MJ thrived in the big moment and that was always the way it was. It never changed; never got stronger or weaker. It just was.

His Airness was a stone cold killer with ice in his veins. He didn’t just want to beat you, he wanted to crush you so badly that you were afraid to ever play him again. He wanted to humiliate you and drain shot after shot in your face so many times that your mind crumbled to dust. He wanted to talk trash so much that you began doubting yourself.

He wanted you to know that you couldn’t beat him and would never beat him.

Jordan was (and I’m sure still is) insanely competitive. I’ve never seen any basketball player (probably not even any athlete?) with the same psychotic willpower as Michael Jordan. In this regard, he is forever in a class of his own.

Advantage: Jordan

Result

Whew. So there you have it, the key parts of a one-on-one matchup broken down to a fine powder. So who takes all the marbles?

It’s closer than some may think. People hear the name “Michael Jordan” and their mind instantly turns to mush. It’s true that MJ is the G.O.A.T, but he’s become the stuff of legend so much so that he’s often built up as a god-like figure these days.

Jordan wasn’t unbeatable. He was at times (admittedly very few times) a mortal man. LeBron would stand a good chance, what with his size and strength being two giant boons in his favour. But Jordan just has more tools to score and what ultimately makes the checkmate inevitable is the willpower of His Airness.

You just aren’t going to beat Michael Jordan in a game of basketball if he wants to win. His competitiveness literally won’t let him lose.

That’s that, folks. Feel free to let me know if I’m wrong, or (unlikely though it is) marvel at my deductive skills and proclaim that I’m correct in the comments below.

You gotta love August, man.

Final Score: 12-10, Jordan

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