Lebron vs Jordan III *fixed*

You've read my thoughts on the subject but I just thought I'd let the professionals chime in. The questions remains: Who is/was better AT THIS stage of his career, LeBron James or Michael Jordan?

We realize we tread on sacred ground here. Nobody has matched Jordan for an entire career, by almost any measure. But it's important to note that the legend of MJ owes as much to his six NBA titles as to his highlight reels, and that he didn't earn one until his seventh season in the league.

Insider Intel: LeBron over MJ

Through six seasons, LeBron James stacks up ahead of Michael Jordan

By Luke Cyphers

ESPN The Magazine

After a pair of Game 7 blowouts, it's pretty clear we all need something to talk about beyond "Wow, the Lakers were taller" and "The Celtics sure looked tired." We're here to help. On this rare NBA off day, we bring you a little conversation starter:

After six seasons, no one wants to get in LeBron's way.

Who is/was better at this stage of his career, LeBron James or Michael Jordan?

We realize we tread on sacred ground here. Nobody has matched Jordan for an entire career, by almost any measure. But it's important to note that the legend of MJ owes as much to his six NBA titles as to his highlight reels, and that he didn't earn one until his seventh season in the league.

So we start at the beginning, with the most-self-serving-yet-most-repeated-on-talk-radio statistical analysis in the history of sports, the Terry Bradshaw Ring Test. By that measure, which states that a superstar's worth is solely defined by how many pro championships he's won, neither LBJ nor MJ was very good through the sixth season of their respective careers. Certainly they're not Kobe Bryant (three titles) or Tim Duncan (two). Hell, they're not even Beno Udrih (two).

After that, things grow murkier, with arguments either way. Check out this comparison of their first six seasons, courtesy of basketball-reference.com:

LEBRON JAMES VS. MICHAEL JORDAN: FIRST SIX SEASONS

A comparison of LeBron James and Michael Jordan across the first six seasons of their careers. These numbers are per 36 minutes.

Player	FG%	3FG%	FT%	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
James	.471	.328	.738	1.1	5.1	6.2	5.9	1.6	0.8	2.9	1.8	24.4
Jordan	.516	.282	.848	1.7	4.1	5.8	5.5	2.6	1.0	3.0	2.9	30.3

Jordan comes out as a better scorer and defender (at least by the measure of steals), and James a better rebounder, passer and, surprisingly, outside shooter (at least from outside the 3-point line). Going deeper into Basketball Reference's numbers using Dean Oliver's win-shares metric, the argument grows still more complex:

JORDAN VS. JAMES WIN SHARES

A next-level look at the relative value of MJ and LeBron over their first six seasons.

Player Name	OWS	DWS	WS
LeBron James	55.6	27.8	83.4
Michael Jordan	65.4	23.8	89.2

Overall, Jordan has accumulated more win shares, thanks largely to his edge in point production. But it turns out that, despite an early reputation as a naïf learning to play D, James has been a better defensive "winner." A curiosity in all this is one stat sometimes overlooked in Jordan career retrospectives: durability. Through six seasons, MJ played 50 fewer games than LBJ. Almost all of that owed to a foot injury in Jordan's second year, but LBJ's minutes per game are higher for most of his early years:

LEBRON JAMES' FIRST SIX SEASONS: MINUTES

A look at The King's time on the floor across his first six seasons.

Year	Games	Games Started	MPG
2003-04	79	79	39.5
2004-05	80	80	42.4
2005-06	79	79	42.5
2006-07	78	78	40.9
2007-08	75	74	40.4
2008-09	81	81	37.7

MICHAEL JORDAN'S FIRST SIX SEASONS: MINUTES

MJ's time logged during his first six years in the league.

Year	Games	Games Started	MPG
1984-85	82	82	38.3
1985-86	18	7	25.1
1986-87	82	82	40.0
1987-88	81	81	40.2
1988-89	75	74	40.4
1989-90	82	82	39.0

A look back at Sam Smith's "The Jordan Rules" shows that MJ believed he wore down late in seasons and wanted to add strength to his post-up game. So he began seriously lifting weights, for the first time, in his seventh year, 1990-91, coinciding with his first title. Even though James was two years younger than MJ was when each entered the league, he grew up in a more fitness-crazed era, in a football-crazed state, where serious weight workouts were part of a high school athlete's routine. James has accelerated his training as a pro, adding more mass and explosiveness to his already unfair physique.

The Pistons physically punished Jordan early in his career.

And therein may be the final argument for LBJ, at least so far. Michael struck fear into opponents -- a fear of embarrassment. His incredible quickness and agility could land you on the wrong end of a poster, sure. But tougher to take was his ruthless competitiveness, which he used to humiliate opponents (and if the Rodney McCray stories are true, even teammates).

James inspires a different fear, the kind in which a player is scared for his own physical well-being. His combination of speed, bulk and explosiveness hasn't been seen since, well, ever. The Pistons beat up the young Michael Jordan in the playoffs. If you were quick enough to get in front of him, you didn't fear taking a charge. But who, seriously, would stand in the way of James at full tilt on a breakaway dunk?

Six seasons into his career, James inspires a kind of awe that not even early MJ possessed -- that of a man playing a different sport than everybody else, something akin to Lawrence Taylor or Jim Brown on a football field.

Of course, beginning with his seventh season, Jordan built his own aura with his six titles. And that aura is unlikely to be surpassed as a complete body of work. Unless, of course, LeBron wins a ring this year and hauls in five more.

Maybe there is something to that Bradshaw stat.