The comparison between Michael Jordan and LeBron James is nothing new. However, James has often found himself on the receiving end as he is expected to achieve more than Jordan. On a recent episode of the Nightcap podcast, retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas argued that pinning the Los Angeles Lakers‘ poor season on 39-year-old Bron is unfair citing an example of 39-year-old MJ, who wasn’t called out for the Washington Wizards‘ 37-45 record during the 2002-03 season. However, Jordan’s Wizards teammate, Brendan Hayward disagreed with Arenas, commenting on the post.
Arenas claimed that when Jordan was at Wizards, no one talked bad about him when the team failed to make it to playoffs. Putting LeBron James on a similar line, he asked then why Bron is expected to win everything at the age of 39.
“Why is he(LeBron James) expected to win, when the GOAT(Jordan) didn’t? They (MJ Wizards) had high hopes for that second year and they fell short, and no one blamed Michael Jordan for it because of his age.”
To the claims made by Arenas, Jordan’s Wizards teammate, Hayward, refuted his point by replying,
“MJ didn’t have Anthony Davis on his team or anybody remotely close to his level of talent.”
It is said that Jordan was almost carrying the Wizards alone and the stats have to say something similar. Jordan’s best teammate on the 2002-03 Wizards was Jerry Stackhouse, who averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.7 rebounds. Kwame Brown had the best defensive rating on the team with 101.5, which didn’t even crack the top 25 in the league. This season, Anthony Davis is averaging 25.5 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.2 steals. His defensive rating of 108.4 is the fourth-best in the league.
So, Hayward is on point. Davis is significantly better than any Wizards teammate Jordan ever had. In fact, Scottie Pippen is Jordan’s only teammate ever who can be considered on the same level as the Lakers forward. Davis’ presence doesn’t mean James is at fault for the Lakers’ 21-21 record. However, it does bury Arenas’ false equivalency between Jordan and James’ teams when they were 39.
LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan at age 39
The LeBron James versus Michael Jordan debate has raged on for over a decade and will continue to be a topic of discussion for years to come. However, there’s no arguing that the Lakers superstar has aged significantly better than Jordan.
At age 39, Jordan averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals. In his age-39 season, James is averaging 24.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.4 steals. While Jordan was a shadow of himself, the Lakers superstar is playing at an All-NBA level.
The Wizards finished with a 37-45 record in each of Jordan’s two seasons with the franchise. They didn’t make the playoffs in either year. Last season, James was the same age Jordan was in his first season in Washington. Unlike the six-time NBA champions, James led his team to the playoffs. The Lakers made a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals, where they were beaten by eventual champions Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers are struggling this season but are expected to reach the playoffs and potentially make a deep run. Jordan and James’ careers are comparable. However, their final years are not. James’ unfathomable numbers in his 21st season at age 39 blow Jordan’s at the same age out of the water.