Did Michael Jordan Get To The Finals Easier Than LeBron?

With the NBA Finals opening on Thursday and LeBron James about to climb another legacy-shaping mountain, the requisite media breeze-shooting comparisons between James and NBA all-time greats – namely Michael Jordan – jordan 12 og obsidian.

But beyond the banter is FiveThiryEight.com’s numbers-driven analysis purporting that LeBron James has had a much tougher road to his NBA Finals appearances and wins than has Jordan based on strength of their respective supporting casts.

In their study of the last 30 years of Finals teams, FiveThirtyEight found that Jordan’s Bulls took three of the top ten most talented teams to the Finals, winning each time, while James took just one of the top ten most talented teams to the Finals and lost. (A sort of addendum to this report.) Jordan Paris Saint-Germain T-Shirt “Statistical Plus/Minus talent projection,” which aggregates numbers like minutes played, category stats, and team point differentials to verify that Cleveland role players like Daniel “Boobie” Gibson, Drew Gooden, and Iman Shumpert made LeBron’s Finals efforts more heroic than a Chicago cast of Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoc made necessary for Jordan.

But despite that obvious difference in roster quality, did Michael Jordan really have it easier than LeBron James when it comes to chasing down and winning NBA championships? While the argument may never be definitively decided, this might be a case where the tale is in the tape, a good old Occam’s Razor gut check. The impression you take from rewatches of, say, old Bulls-Pistons and Bulls-Knicks playoff battles – and all the golden era talent, body slams, hand-checking defense, and “play on” no-calls contained therein – may color your perspective more realistically in making any judgment on the James versus Jordan prattle.

True, Jordan certainly had a better shot at winning with Pippen by his side than he might have had with a J.R. Smith or Donyell Marshall, but Jordan also had to face Magic’s Lakers, Clyde’s Blazers, MVP Barkley’s Suns, and MVP Malone’s Jazz (twice) in his Finals conquests. Perhaps it’s strength of cast and air jordan 1 low wolf grey wmns dc0774 105 release date info.

Find the full numbers breakdown at FiveThirtyEight.com, and let us know how you size up the debate.