Neither here nor there observation relating to MJ / LeBron comparison. A couple wks ago Stephen A. & Max were discussing this and that re: LJ & MJ, but failed to mention several differences in their careers.
First let me say the obvious ~
Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time.
But in terms of longevity and playin' at a high level at the end of your career this must be taken into consideration re: wear & tear.
LeBron went directly from hs to the NBA so instead of playing 30+ games a year for (3) years in college like MJ did, LeBron was playing an 82 game schedule plus pre-season games against NBA competition. Also MJ was injured his second year missing (64) games. And of course his baseball "vacation" where he missed an entire season '93/'94 and (65) games of '94/'95.
And actually, taking into consideration these missed games it makes MJ's stats all that more impressive, but still a lot less wear and tear on his body.
MJ also played in 179 playoff games.
LeBron is currently at 199 and
assuming the Cavs make the finals again this year probably add at least another 20 this year:
MJ =
1271 total NBA games finishing his carreer at age 40 and also missing the 1998/1999 ~ 1999/2000 ~ 2000/2001 NBA seasons before finishing up his career w/Washington for two seasons averaging 22.9 and 20 pts. respectively. And yes, averaging
20 pts. at age 40 is pretty damn impressive after another (3) year hiatus.
LeBron after this year, barring injury, will be at approx.
1282 total NBA games and he will be 32 on Dec. 30. So he will have already played more NBA games than MJ at age 32.
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Re: passing Karreem's all-time scoring record of 38,387, ***if*** LeBron averages 1,900 pts. his next (5) seasons he'll be at 36,333 at age 36.
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MJ averaged 30.1 pts. in 1,072 regular season games.
Kareem averaged 24.6 pts. in 1,560.
LeBron so far has averaged 27.1 in 1,002.
Kobe averaged 25 in 1,346.
btw, Wilt also averaged 30.1 pts. a game.
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So re: wear and tear imagine if MJ had gone straight from hs to the NBA and not missed a season to injuries and not have got bored w/basketball missing a couple more years playing baseball and played 'til 40 also missing (3) more seasons before finishing his career w/Washington. Could anyone, even Michael, play 22 straight years in the NBA without skipping a beat.
Yes Virginia MJ was a freak of nature, but LeBron's longevity is also impressive in today's NBA.
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Kareem said his secret to playing so long was yoga and luck.
I yield back the balance of my time ...