Standing three inches taller and weighing nearly 30 pounds more than Michael Jordan, LeBron James is clearly a monster on the court. While Jordan dominated the ‘90s, the title “Greatest of All Time” shouldn’t be determined based on rings or points. It requires a lens that considers adaptability, strategy and impact. This is where James stands alone.

Jordan fans hesitate to admit that NBA players have improved over time, increasing the level of competition. Modern NBA athletes are 4% to 7% better than the average NBA athlete from a decade ago, according to Dr. Marcus Elliot, founder of the sports science company Peak Performance Project. P3 has assessed 1,000 NBA players over the past 19 years and has worked with the Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks teams. This improvement is because of advanced training, new analytic technology and increased development of youth players. James has excelled and dominated in an era with players who are objectively stronger and faster than they were in the 90s.

Many ignore his achievements because of his longevity, but don’t realize that he was the youngest player in NBA history to reach major milestones and many career-scoring accolades. From the moment he was drafted to the Cavaliers, James improved the roster by a magnitude that was never seen before. At just 22 years old, he scored 25 straight points late in the game against the Detroit Pistons at the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavaliers, long an NBA joke, went on to finish with a record of 66-16 in the 2008-09 season. James made the NBA Finals in nearly half of his playing seasons, while Jordan only made it in 40% of his career.

Although James, unlike Jordan, did not win every NBA Finals match he played, half of his losses came against juggernauts like the Golden State Warriors. Even then, his 2016 championship run against the Warriors alone could cement his GOAT status. On the brink of elimination that was down 3-1 to a 73-9 Warriors team that included the unanimous MVP Stephen Curry, Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green and one of the greatest shooters of all time Klay Thompson, James led both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in the series — a feat never seen before in NBA history. This finals comeback was huge: it was not just a championship, but a promise fulfilled to a city that had never known one.

After all of his accomplishments, James still has multiple seasons left in him. With every record he shatters, every precedent he sets and every year he outlasts the unthinkable, the argument for the James fanbase only strengthens. It is but a matter of time before the castle gate bursts open under the unrelenting battering of undeniability.

In the early ‘80s, the Chicago Sting, a professional indoor soccer team, sold more tickets than the Chicago Bulls, the now-popular team in the NBA, selling 13,000 tickets per game compared to the Bulls’ just 9,000 during the 1981-82 season. Then, Michael Jordan came along in 1984. During his 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan almost single-handedly elevated the city, the team and the NBA to new heights of popularity. For instance, when the Bulls played the Atlanta Hawks in 1998 at the Georgia Dome, a record 62,046 fans were in attendance to see Jordan play. On the court, Jordan was the most dominant player and remains the greatest basketball player of all time, gaining some of the most impressive accolades ever with his competitive mindset.

Jordan’s long list of achievements reads like a fantasy: six NBA championships in six Finals appearances, five MVP awards, 10 season-scoring titles and 14 All-Star selections. He also has the highest average points per game of all time at 30.1. With these statistics, LeBron James’ resume pales in comparison, with only four rings in 10 Finals appearances and just one season-scoring title.

While every single NBA player exemplifies discipline and hard work, Jordan’s intensity is unmatched. On the Chicago Bulls’ documentary, “The Last Dance,” former NBA star James Worthy recalled that when they played in college together, Jordan immediately sought him — the best player on the team at the time — out to play one-on-one every day after practice. According to Worthy, he was better than Jordan for only about two weeks. Over his career, this mindset of being the greatest led him to domination and two three-
peats, and is a major reason he is definitely the GOAT.

Even when Jordan faced stiff competition, he
still managed to dominate: during his renowned
playoff runs in the 90s, Jordan faced countless NBA legends. To list a few, in the playoffs, he faced Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton, Karl Malone and John Stockton. He toppled all of them, leading the Bulls to secure half a dozen championships for the city. In a time of such extreme competition, Jordan excelled in every single series, averaging an NBA record of 33.4 points per game in the playoffs. Jordan never backed down from a challenge, and in the end, his stories, combined with his awards, prove that he is undoubtedly the greatest player to ever have walked the court.