LeBron James Is Better Than Michael Jordan (At Something)
For some reason or another, the readers on DimeMag.com think we either have an institutional bias towards Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, making note whenever they can when we “jock” either guy. But stats don’t lie, and the one I’m about to tell you is kind of eye-opening. Fair warning: Anyone that loves The King is going to love this stat.
LBJ’s triple-double against the Pistons on Tuesday moved him into the third slot among active players, behind Jason Kidd (104) and Grant Hill (29). James has 28. Additionally, with 23 triple-doubles of at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, he topped Michael Jordan (22) and ranks third behind Magic Johnson (40) and Larry Bird (29). Not bad company if you ask me.
The all-time mark of career triple-doubles is 181 by Oscar Robertson.
What do you think? Will LeBron pass Kidd? Will he pass the Big O?
Other Must-Read Articles About LeBron:
- The NBA’s Top 10 Fastest Players
- The 10 Luckiest Players In The NBA
- Pass The Mic: LeBron James Isn’t Going Anywhere
Source: The Akron Beacon Journal
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March 19th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
yoda says:
too bad there wasn’t triple double stats when wilt played. that would be amazing
March 19th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
RC says:
Lebron James will pass Jason Kidd for sure for second all time (this is if he does not get injured a lot and decides to play till he’s mid 30′s at least). Although Oscar Robertsons record is almost untouchable. And plus the Big O averaged a triple double for a whole season! that’s just too much for anybody to do nowadays.
Wow Grant Hill could have been in the top 5 in this list if he didn’t get injured a lot.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
BRUCE says:
When Lebron passes Jordan 6 titles, then we will talk!
You can keep your stupid stats, 6 titles rule supreme!
March 19th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
SparkyJ23 says:
Lets just get 1 ring first lol
Average 20/10/5 for multiple seasons then we’ll talk – I think he has a shot of this for the rest of his career
March 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
JH says:
Lebron might make a move for 3rd…but until J. Kidd retires, he’ll always be a triple double threat. Bronze ain’t bad though.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Marcus says:
actually 11 titles rule supreme.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
LakeShow84 says:
Just by math it wouldnt happen unless he starts dropping them at a faster clip..
8 years in the league and he has 28.. If you go 8×3 (which would mean 24 years in the NBA lol) he would still “only” come out with 84.. 20 short of Jkidd..
But he’ll pass Magic’s mark forsure with the 25+ list forsho.. and probably rule it forever lol..
March 19th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Bones Justice says:
Who do you think would have had more triple doubles? Wilt or Russell?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Detroit Dave says:
As long as LeBron plays on a contending team like his current Cavs he wont have the need to get triple doubles. If he goes to New York next season without another marquee free agent then he will probably put up 10-15 triple doubles because that team is gonna need him to do EVERYTHING.
March 19th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
KWAME says:
who cares…OSCAR ROBERTSON IS KILLING ALL OF EM GODDAMN
March 19th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
bubeezy says:
I believe he will. He is a walking triple double. Kind of scary to imagine that he may not even be in his prime yet?
March 19th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
tblack says:
@ lakeshow….this is only lebrons 7th year…but I do agree with what you said. he MITE catch magic…theres no tellin though cuz unfortunately all the 30/9/11-type games he puts up all the time. that one rebound/assist will always be the difference-maker. But nobodys gonna catch the BIG O! the most underrated hall of famer (to me anyway…)
April 1st, 2010 at 4:21 am
Denjin says:
Curious as to “why” everyone keeps comparing Lebrong to Jordan. I guess it’s because MJ is THE Measuring Stick, however I’ll get it out now. Lebron is NOT as good as Michael was.
Firstly, Michael was a much better and more well rounded player then Lebron is. There is absolutely nowhere in MJ’s game to where you can say he has a “glaring weakness”.
One huge problem I see with Lebron is his Free Throw Attempt %. I’m sorry, but but a 74% FT is not consistent enough, and it’s shown for his gameplay before. While MJ has a whopping 84%, you add the fact that MJ shot at a spectacular 50% while Lebron still shot good, but only at 47%, while both were equal at 33% at the 3pt line.
However, other subtle things that MJ is vastly superior at Lebron at. Defense…nobody 1 on 1 was as good as MJ arguably besides Pippen. You don’t see Lebron dominating as defensively as MJ ever did.
You take in their first step, Lebron has a very good first step, however MJ has the absolutely most dangerous first step for a NBA player of his size. MJ was also much better with his choices of shots (as indicated by his Shooting %) where as Lebrong imo is better then Kobe’s choices of shots, he’s not “MJ Level”.
MJ arguably the greatest fadeaway shot in NBA History (Sorry Big-O), and this shot when mastered is almost near impossible to defend, and this along with MJ’s first step, along with his better choices of shots, already makes him much better then Lebron.
You take inside game, and it’s without question, Michael is hands down the greatest of all time here. I’m sorry, but the Defenses of Today going up against Lebron are just absolute garbage.
This necessarily isn’t because the Defense is “terrible” however it’s because of the Rule Changes that it greatly helps out Lebron Alot.
Look at how many times Lebron will drive in, with absolutely no defenders there, simply because of all of the Rule Changes, Defensive 3-Sec violations and more. This Allows players to easily get to the basket, because these Rules were intended to make, remember here…Intended to make it Easier to Drive to the Basket.
So in contrast to MJ who Had to struggle against the most Defensive Dominated Era, as well as the most defensive powerhouse Teams, and still come out with a better overall Average in practically everything is testament to Michael’s Abilities and intelligence involving Basketball.
People simply just look by “points” and see some “MJ” like qualities to Lebron, however he is far from being as good as MJ. Fact is, Lebron plays in a weaker league, with rules that benefit easier access to the BB and easier scoring.
Just look at it here…in one game…Lebron got 25 FT attempts. That’s as much as what Michael got in the Entire Series vs the Boston Celtics in 1986. It’s not even the same in contrast, heck, if MJ got that many FT attempts in that many occasions, he’d average nearly 50 ppg.
I’ve also read in some of these statements that it took MJ “6 yrs” to get a Title where as Lebron took them to the Championship in less then that, although they didn’t win.
My refute to that is this…Look to what MJ had to face back in the 80′s in contrast to what Lebron Had to face in the 2000 Era. It’s not even close…the Eastern Conference today pales in comparison to the Eastern Conference in the 1980′s.
Boston, Detroit, New York, Atlanta, Milwaukee, 76er’s in MJ’s era were Vastly Superior to the any Eastern Rival Lebron has had to face. Put Lebron to go up against a Eastern Conference that had a Bird, Mc Hale, Parish Celtics Team, or a Julius+Malone combination, or the Bad Boys of Detroit.
Absolutely no way he even makes it to the Championship against those teams period.
Like I said, there is no comparison, MJ’s #’s were achieved in a much stronger era, in fact, the most heavily talented, and defensive dominated era might I add. Lebron’s numbers are being achieved in an era in which the Center or the defenders can’t even truly contest you for the ball unless second guessing if a whistle will be called.
If people still try to dispute the “rules” just go look to when before the Rules weren’t change, to when they were…before hand, only like 4 or 5 people were averaging close to 25ppg. However once the Rules changed…the list went from 4-5 to nearly 20, basically more then doubling that list!
Imagine if Clyde, Bird, Magic, Ewing, Dominique, Malone, Barkley, etc, etc were playing with these Rules in their prime…their PPG Average would shoot up astronomically as well, and would easily be able to hit the 25-30 ppg. However MJ himself would have easily, and I mean easily averaged 45-50 ppg with these rules.
Just take the Playoff’s for example…all of Michael’s Stats shoot up, while in Lebron’s case, only his ppg go up, from 27 ppg to 29 ppg, all the while his shooting % drops from 47% to 45% and 3pt % from 33 to 30%. So during the PO’s when you need to elevate your game, Lebron actually dips, while MJ does even better.
MJ would destroy Lebron if he was playing today in his mid-20′s. No questions asked, MJ is a much better BB player, offensive, defensively (<— Everyone forgets this, but please remember, Lebron's Def. game pales in contrast to MJ's) and mentally (Lebron has shown to make big mental mistakes, even costly easy ones like dribbling the ball out of bounds out of nowhere during the Championship matches against San Antonio…we never saw MJ do this). I've seen Magic, Bird, MJ and Lebron through my life, nobody today, not even Lebron was as good as Mike was. To me, Lebron has yet to even prove he's as good as the Magic Man, who's stats were shortened due to the fact he had to leave the game at the mere age of only 31.
Michael "Air" Jordan was the Greatest BB of All Time, and he is still Head's and Shoulder's above everyone else, including Lebron. To me, it's ridiculous to compare Lebron to MJ, when he should be compared to other NBA Greats first before even mentioning his Airness.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:02 am
flash1049 says:
@Denjin
Dude? Necessary?