In the recent past, sports have become one of the most extraordinary careers around the globe with athletes becoming one of the well-paid professionals. This has seen the entrance of many talented individuals into the sport. Football is to date the most popular sport in the world with its main areas of success being Europe. Following closely though at a far distance in popularity is basketball. Not much of attention was given to basketball in the earlier days of its invention. It was until the recent past that basketball started receiving the increased media attention that brought it to the attention of the public and individuals started following making follow ups on the game. The growth and expansion of the game over the years which has also been improved by the consistently increasing number of fans and media coverage have consequently resulted in the identification of key figures that are associated with the game. Michael Jordan and Lebron James have been the two iconic figures of the generation with each tremendously recording success in their work.
Although they are not age mates, Michael Jordan and Lebron James followed a common path towards their stardom. Michael Jordan, described as the legend of basketball, was born in the year 1963 on February 17th in Brooklyn, a town in the American state of New York (Notable Bibliographies, 2017). His parents were James and Deloris Jordan. As a young child, Michael had shown interest in sports, basketball specifically, but had failed in his early attempts at the game. According to Diffen (2014), once he got to high school, he tried out to make the school's team as a sophomore, but his attempt did not turn out successful. In the following year, Michael, however, made it to the team and ended up receiving a basketball scholarship upon completion of his high school studies. On the other hand, Lebron James was born in the year 1984 in a town called Akron in the state of Ohio. His basketball career started blossoming while he was in high school just like Jordan’s and was foreseen to be the next legend in the game (Diffen, 2014). In the year 2013, Lebron made basketball history by being the youngest athlete in the NBA to have 20,000 points under his belt. He was only 28 by then. From high school, Lebron joined the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars where Lebron played as an amateur. He was, however, a media favorite and was depicted as one having a bright future in the game (Diffen, 2014).
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Both players had unique playing styles that attracted big crowds in the sports entertainment, more so, basketball. James played as an instrumental part of the University of North Carolina’s basketball team for three years and led the team in the 1982 victory of the Tar Heel’s national championship (Diffen, 2014). The Chicago Bulls signed him on in 1984, and his career kicked off. His teammates felt disturbed that he was a rookie and was receiving too much attention, but this did not deter him from becoming the legendary player he is recognized as being today (Notable Bibliographies, 2017). Nevertheless, Jordan was a player for the Chicago Bulls between 1984 and 1993 after which he took a break and resumed from 1995-1999 as Diffen (2014) points out. He then came back in the year 2001-2003 but played with the Washington Wizards. He finally retired and is today the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. James started portraying excellent skills in the game when playing for his high school St. Vincent—St. Mary High School (Diffen, 2014). Upon joining college, James did not follow on his basketball career and he thus never participated in college basketball. It was until his graduation from college that he acceded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 that he returned to active basketball playing. He led the team to the NBA finals in the year 2007 which they lost to San Antonio Spurs. In the 2010-11 season, James left the Cleveland Cavaliers and joined Miami Heat. Upon joining the team, James managed to take them to the NBA finals where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks.
On the other hand, Michael Jordan's style of playing has been described as one of the best depicted. He is said to have used a total body awareness style (Notable Bibliographies, 2017). He used to engage all of his body muscles in his game and was thus able to make way in the court in the same way a fish does in water. His landmark style was the slam dunks that he is famously known for till date. They saw him earn his famous alias ‘Air Jordan.' James is known to be a very aggressive player on the pit (Diffen, 2014). He plays by mowing down the opposing members of the team and finding a way through the court (Zucker, 2016). His style is viewed as different from that used by Jordan in that he does not fluidly work his way on the court.
The pair has won several awards. Jordan is a six times NBA champion, which he won while playing for the Chicago Bulls. He also received the award for being the most valuable player in the NBA five times (Diffen, 2014). Moreover, Jordan was also awarded 14 times as the NBA All-Star. He also bears a ten times award for being the NBA Scoring Champion. Additionally, he was also awarded the greatest athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN. James was awarded the NBA champion in 2012 as well as the NBA Finals MVP in the same year. He is also three times NBA, MVP (2009-2010, 2012), a nine times NBA All-Star (2005-2013), a two-time NBA and All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008). Moreover, James is an NBA Scoring Champion (2008), NBA Rookie of the Year (2004), six times All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008-2012), and a four-time NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009-2012). In the year 2012, James was also awarded as the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year as well as the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
In an analysis of the successes that are recorded by both players, Michael Jordan stands out as the better player compared to Lebron James. Though both of their careers started on a high note, Jordan seems to have been more into the game than Lebron was. Jordan had a very successful career at his college level whereas Lebron did not engage in college basketball. Again, Jordan has six NBA championships under his name whereas Lebron has only three. Jordan also has more awards than Lebron despite the fact that Lebron is still playing and could earn more in the coming years. Undisputedly, Jordan is described as the greatest player in NBA history to date, meaning that his records are still unmatched, not even by Lebron himself.
References
Diffen. (2014). Lebron James vs. Michael Jordan . Retrieved on 9 June 2017 from http://www.diffen.com/difference/LeBron_James_vs_Michael_Jordan.
Notable Bibliographies. (2017). Michael Jordan Biography. Retrieved on 9 June 2017 from http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Jordan-Michael.html.
Zucker, J. (2016). LeBron James comments on similarities to Michael Jordan style of play at age 32. Bleacher Report . Retrieved on 9 June 2017 from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2684314-lebron-james-comments-on-similarities-to-michael-jordan-style-of-play-at-age-32.
