Is Michael Jordan or LeBron James the ultimate NBA superstar? When it boils down to it, the driving force behind sports is competition. And fans love pitting their favorite players against each other to determine which one is the best.

In many sports it can be hard to do this, but not in basketball, where individual players have to play both offense and defense. And, since there are only five players on the court per team at any given moment, it makes comparing them that much easier.

Two players that basketball fans are always comparing are Lebron James and Michael Jordan. James is considered to be the best in the league now, but in the 90s, it was Jordan that was dominating the courts.

But, who is the better of the two? We’re obviously never going to be able to answer that question but as LeBron steadies himself as the next player to score 30,000 points, the discussions about MJ or LBJ will come up.

Keep reading to learn about the key differences between the players to help you make the determination between Michael Jordan Or LeBron James — who do you consider to be the ultimate NBA superstar.

The Resume

With Jordan retired and LeBron turning 31 later this year, we can only compare the two players to this point in their career. At 30 years old, Lebron has 7 All-NBA Selections, 4 MVP awards, 5 All-Defensive first team selections, 10 selections to the All-Star game, as well as two championship rings. Alternatively, when

Jordan was at this point in his career, he was an 8 time All-NBA first team, 10-time All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year, Four time Finals MVP, Four time MVP, 7 time All Defense first team, and Four time NBA champion. And to top it all off, Jordan missed two years while dealing with the murder of his dad.

Plus, there’s the fact that Jordan has never ever lost a game in the finals. You heard it right, he has a 100% success rate in the game’s biggest arena. Lebron has bombed out on two occasions so, no matter what else he accomplishes, he can never beat Jordan in this area.

The Importance of Ego

It’s been often said that Jordan’s unrelenting drive to win, although it has many positive benefits, has hurt him in his dealings with others. Even in his heyday, he was known for his cutting remarks that defeated his opponents psychologically before one point was made, so it’s not surprising that he retains this personality trait off the court.

Though he declared himself “the best player in the world” during last year’s finals, LeBron puts up a more “humble” facade, and generally “not selfish enough”. It’s tough to see that competitive spark unless its crunch time. This in itself is an admirable trait to have for Lebron James the human being, not so much Lebron James the basketball player.

With all that in mind, it’s no easy decision to determine the G.O.A.T. Really, so much can happen between now and when LeBron James decides to hang up his sneakers. Only when LeBron finishes his career can we accurately reflect on how his achievements stack up with Jordan’s.

Or we might be stacking up Jordan’s accomplishments to LeBron’s.