Sports fans love to throw around statements that they actually have no idea if they are true.
Two of the statements going around right now are the comments
"LeBron James' road was harder than Micheal Jordan's road" and visa-versa
"Jordan's road to rings was harder than LeBron's..."
Which one is correct? Let's us dig into NBA history and see how the to "roads" compare. This blog will cover the road to the 1st ring:
The Road to the First Ring
Playoff Round 1
MJ - Bulls vs
Knicks. These Knicks got into the playoffs as the 8th seed with a losing record (39-43). The Bulls handled the Knicks easily in the sweep. The Knicks were led Patrick Ewing, who averaged 16.7 PPG in the series.
Notable award winners - Patrick Ewing: All-NBA 2nd Team.
LBJ - Heat vs
Knicks. These Knicks got into the playoffs as the 7th seed with a winning record (36-30). The Heat handled the Knicks easily winning 4-1. The Knicks were led by Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 27.8 PPG in the series.
Notable award winners - Tyson Chandler: Defensive-player-of-the-year. Tyson Chandler: leader in FG%. Steve Novak: leader in 3FG%. Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler: All-NBA 3rd Team.
Playoff Round 2
MJ - Bull vs
76ers. The 76ers were the 5th seed in the East finishing the season with a 44-38 record. The Bulls handled the 76ers easily winning 4-1. The 76ers were led by Charles Barkley, who
averaged 25.6 PPG in the series.
Notable award winners - Charles Barkley: All-NBA 1st Team
LBJ - Heat vs
Pacers. The Pacers were the 3rd seed in the East finishing the season with a 42-24 record. The Heat won the series 4-2. The Pacers didn’t have a clear leader, and is showed as all five starters scoring double digits in the series.
Notable award winners - Larry Bird: Executive of the Year.
Eastern Conference Finals
MJ - Michael faced the team that knocked him out of the playoffs plenty of times: The “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons. The Pistons were the 3rd seed in the East finishing with a 50-32 record. The Bulls had no problem with the Pistons sweeping them 4-0.
Notable award winners – Dennis Rodman: Defensive player of the year. Joe Dumars: All NBA 3rd team.
LBJ - LeBron faced the team that knocked him out of the playoffs plenty of times: The “Big 3” Boston Celtics. The Celtics were the 4th seed, finishing the season with a 39-27 record. The Heat won a competitive 7 game series.
Notable award winners – Rajon Rondo: Leader in triple doubles, leader in assist per game, and All NBA 3rd team.
The Finals
MJ - Michael’s finals were against the last of the Showtime Lakers. Kareem had retired and Magic Johnson was in his last season. The Lakers were the 3rd seed in the West. The Bulls handled the Lakers easily winning 4-1.
Notable award winners – Magic Johnson: All NBA 1st team. James Worthy: All NBA 3rd Team.
LBJ - LeBron’s finals were against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder were the 2nd seed in the West. The Heat handled the Thunder easily winning 4-1.
Notable award winners – Kevin Durant: Scoring title. Serge Ibaka: Leader in blocks-per-game. James Harden: 6th man of the year. Kevin Durant: All NBA 1st team. Russell Westbrook: All NBA 2nd team. Serge Ibaka: NBA All-Defensive 1st team.
Conclusion
After looking at both MJ’s and LBJ’s road to their first ring, I say they are surprisingly similar. And Degree of difficulty being about the same.
A last look of some other stats and possible factors:
Michael won his first ring in the 1990-1991 season at 27 years old.
LeBron won his first ring in the 2011-2012 season at 27 years old.
Pippen lead the Bulls in minutes per game.
LeBron lead the Heat in minutes per game.
The Bulls used the same starting line in every playoff game.
Chris Bosh only started in 10 of the Heat’s 23 playoff games as he battled injury.
Because of injury, the Heat only had three players start all of the games (LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers).
Finally, I look at the head-to-head stats of MJ vs LeBron.
Again, surprisingly similar.
