Michael Jordan vs LeBron James: Who's Better?

Although the debate on who among Michael Jordan and LeBron James is the best in basketball begun some time ago, Jordan's recent declaration that he would beaten James in a one-on-one during his prime years apparently seemed to have made the debate official. And even James would admit to that truth, he alleged.

"This is the ESPN question," Jordan begun, as noted by Sports Illustrated. "I know it's going to be all over ESPN. If I was in my prime, could I beat LeBron in a one-on-one game? No question. And he's going to say no question."

However, if given the option to choose between Stephen Curry and James, his Airness said he'd pick Curry for a one-on-one.

"If I had a chance to go one-on-one with Stephen Curry or LeBron, which one would I chose?," Jordan clarified. "Right now or when I was in my prime? Right now? Well, I'd go against Stephen Curry because I'm a little bit bigger than him so I could back him in, but LeBron's a little bit too big."

Jordan's declaration came a couple of weeks after the Cleveland Cavaliers player "surpassed Jordan's record for the most playoff minutes during the 2015 NBA finals," News.com.au noted.

"LeBron has been consistently linked to Jordan for most of his professional career, thanks to a playing pedigree that includes two championships and four MVP gongs," the site observed.

USA Today went further by comparing the two NBA legends' stats.

"Though James is the better three-point shooter of the two, averaging 34.2% from behind the arc compared to Jordan's 32.7%, he tops James' career scoring by a healthy margin, having averaged 30.1 career points-per-game to LeBron's 27.3," the news source pointed out. "In fact, LeBron has averaged 30 PPG just twice in 12 NBA seasons. The two have nearly identical career shooting percentages (LeBron makes 49.6% of all his shots while Jordan averaged 49.7% shooting for his career)."

ESPN, seemingly anticipating this scenario, had taken note of a poll pitting Jordan and James against each other. The survey showed that 54% of the 1,471 polled thought that James would win the one-on-one if done today and that their scores won't even be close. However, 77% regard Jordan as the greatest NBA player of all time.

"These being registered voters and therefore 18 and older, it's possible that their age and memories of vintage Jordan are influencing their opinion," the sports news source noted.

How about you? Who do you think is the better player?

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