LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: Who Had a Better First 8 Years of Their Career?

Coming into the league, LeBron James was looked at as the next best thing to hit the NBA and was lauded as the next Michael Jordan.  The idea that he was going to be the next Jordan, in hindsight, should have never been thrown out there.

However, the question remains as people endlessly compare the man to the legend: how close has LeBron actually come to being the next Jordan?

In the years since MJ, the closest thing we have seen to him was Kobe Bryant, who was the unquestioned leader of two championship teams and the one or two option (depending on who you ask) on three more.

Meanwhile, LeBron has arguably been the best player in the league for at least the last three years, and probably closer to the last five.

Then, there is that whole deal that LeBron is now the most hated player in the league since The Decision, in which he ripped out the hearts of a whole city on national television, which has without a doubt changed many people's view of Lebron.

I was one of the many who had his opinion changed and I realized that I may have been hoodwinked, bamboozled and just blinded by the light. 

I want to say that I am able to be neutral with LeBron, and I think by and large I am when it comes to his basketball abilities, but sometimes my personal opinion spills over a bit.  In my opinion, LeBron is still the best player in the NBA; he just may not be the best basketball player between the ears.

I'll just let you guys be the judge, because I've been wondering myself who had the better first eight years.  Obviously, Jordan wins the race for titles, but what about the rest?

I scored each season of their career like a boxing match, 10-9 for a victory, 10-8 for an annihilation and 10-10 for a tie.

Rookie Year

Michael Jordan: 28.2 points, 5.9 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 51-17-85 shooting (FG, 3PT, FT), ROY Award over Hakeem, Barkley, Bowie, and Perkins, All-Star, second Team All-NBA. Playoffs: 29.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, team lost 3-1.

LeBron James:  20.9 points, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 42-29-75 shooting, ROY Award over Wade, Bosh and Anthony.

Round result:  Jordan 10, James 8

Jordan wins the rookie year in a landslide, having led his team to the playoffs and immediately proving himself to be a force in the league while LeBron revitalized a city's interest in basketball and made the future brighter than ever in Cleveland.

Jordan utterly dominated his rookie year while LeBron showed only buckets of promise, leading to a dominant performance by Jordan over LeBron in the first round.

Second Year

Michael Jordan:  22.7 points , 3.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 46-17-84 (18 games played), All-Star, broken foot.  Playoffs: 43.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists, team swept first round.

Lebron James:  27.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 47-35-75, All-Star, second Team All-NBA, sixth in MVP voting, missed playoffs.

Round result:  Jordan 10, LeBron 10

LeBron capitalizes on an injured Jordan with the quickest jump from promising star to legitimate force in the NBA since Jordan himself did it right out of college.

However, Jordan had such a terrific playoff performance for the Bulls that I can't just give the round to LeBron.  He took his licks early in the round, but ended up swinging from his toes in the final minutes of round two.

Third Year

Michael Jordan:  37.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 48-18-86 shooting, All-Star (All-Star Game MVP), All-NBA First Team, second in MVP voting.  Playoffs: 35.7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, team swept first round (Celtics).

LeBron James: 31.4 points, 7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 48-34-74 shooting, All-Star (All-Star Game MVP), All-NBA First Team, second in MVP Voting.  Playoffs: 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 4-2 win over Wizards, 4-3 loss to Pistons.

Round result:  LeBron 10, Jordan 9

This year may look to be Jordan's on the surface with the highest scoring season by a guy not named Wilt Chamberlain, but you have to put some stock into what LeBron did with the Cavaliers.

He made his teammates much better while critics of Jordan were still saying that he wasn't a good enough teammate.  Jordan had the second highest usage percentage in the history of the game after Kobe Bryant's 2005-2006 season.

Meanwhile, LeBron led his team to the Eastern Conference Semifinals after losing their third-best player from the previous year (Carlos Boozer took advantage of a blind man and screwed over Cleveland (they still boo him), and if he would have stuck around, a title would probably be hanging from The Q right now). 

People will point to Jordan's 37 points per game and shout that he had the better season that year, but it was an era where the pace was faster.  The Bulls scored 104 points per game that season, which ranked 20th in a league of 23 teams, whereas LeBron's 31 per game came on a team that scored 97.6 points a game and ranked 15th in a league of 30 teams in scoring.

Jordan didn't win the MVP this year and he won't win this round.  This was by far the hardest decision to make.

Fourth Year

Michael Jordan: 35 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, led league in steals (3.2), All-Star (All-Star Game MVP), All-NBA First Team, All-NBA First Team Defense, League MVP, Defensive Player of the Year.  Playoffs: 36.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.7 assista, beat Cavaliers (4-3) first round, lost to Detroit Pistons (4-1).

LeBron James: 27.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6 assists, 48-32-70 shooting. All-Star, All-NBA Second Team, fifth in MVP voting.  Led questionable team to NBA Finals, 25.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8 assists.

Round result: Jordan 10, LeBron 10

On my first thought, LeBron won this round.  I mean, he brought the offensively questionable Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals while Jordan was losing for the first time to those pesky Detroit Pistons.

However, those Cavaliers were not nearly as bad as everyone likes to remember.  It was the one serviceable year they got out of Larry Hughes and they still had a very effective Zydrunas Ilgauskas and one of the best momentum changing players in the league in Anderson Varejao.  Plus, with Mike Brown as their head coach, they were a terrific defensive team.

Meanwhile, Jordan became the first (and now only one of two) player to ever win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Awards in the same season.  He was starting to shed the stigma that said he wasn't a team player and was officially one of the three best players in the NBA.

Fifth Year

Michael Jordan: 35.5 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 54-28-85 shooting, All-Star, All-NBA and Defensive First Teams, second in MVP voting. Playoffs: 34.8 points, 7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, lost Eastern Conference Finals to Pistons (Champions).

LeBron James: 30 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 48-32-71 shooting, All-Star (All-Star Game MVP), All-NBA First Team, fourth in MVP voting.  Playoffs: 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists, lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Boston Celtics.

Round result: Jordan 10, LeBron 9

This year goes to Jordan without much of an argument.  It was his best year yet and he was officially a good teammate, taking his band of rapscallions now featuring Scottie Pippen as a starting forward to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual Champion Detroit Pistons.

He was starting to become an effective three-point shooter (his biggest flaw the previous year) and was arguably the best player in the league even though Magic Johnson was the MVP.

Meanwhile, LeBron and the Cavs took a step backward after overachieving a season before, losing to the new powerhouse in the East, the Boston Celtics.

LeBron had a fine year, but Jordan landed more punches and won the round.

Sixth Year

Michael Jordan:  33.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 53-38-85 shooting led league in steals (2.8), All-Star, All-NBA and Defensive First Teams, third in MVP voting.  Playoffs: 36.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists, lost Eastern Conference Finals to Detroit Pistons (Champions).

LeBron James: 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 49-34-78 shooting, All-Star, MVP, All-NBA and Defensive First teams.  Playoffs: 35.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists, lost Eastern Conference Finals to Orlando Magic.

Round result: Jordan 10, LeBron 10

This was by far the closest year for the two men.

Jordan was a monster in the season, going from a decent three-point shooter to a legitimate threat from beyond the arc, while LeBron won the MVP Award for the first time in his career.

Both went into the playoffs with Championship aspirations but the Bulls were derailed yet again by the Championship Pistons. Meanwhile, LeBron's Cavaliers had their weaknesses exploited by the longer, long-distance shooting Magic.

Seventh Year

Michael Jordan:  31.5 points, 6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 54-31-85 shooting, All-Star, MVP, All-NBA and Defensive First teams. Playoffs: 31.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists, Won NBA Championship, Finals MVP.

LeBron James: 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 50-33-77 shooting, All-Star, MVP, All-NBA and Defensive First teams.  29.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 7.6 assists, lost Eastern Conference Semifinals to Boston Celtics. "Quit" Game.

Round result:  Jordan 10, LeBron 9

Jordan threw the first huge punch of the match in the seventh year as his Bulls won the first Championship of their first three-peat.  Jordan was the league MVP and Finals MVP to boot and was a part of one of his first incredible teams.

LeBron, meanwhile, was reeling in the round.  He had a miraculous regular season as always, his best shooting season to date and won his second MVP Award.

However, in the playoffs he was thoroughly criticized for his body language, especially in games four and five, five being the infamous "Quit" game in which he went 15-6-7 on 21 percent shooting.

Anyone who watched Jordan at any point in his career at any age knew at that point that LeBron was a long way from Jordan, but that wasn't a knockout punch yet.

Eighth Year

Michael Jordan:  30.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 52-27-83 shooting, All-Star, MVP, All-NBA and Defensive First Teams.  Playoffs: 34.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, won NBA Championship, Finals MVP.

LeBron James:  24.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 51-33-76 shooting, All-Star, third in MVP voting, All-NBA and Defensive First Teams.  Playoffs: 23.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, lost NBA Finals.  Non-existent fourth quarters.

Round result:  Jordan 10, LeBron 8

Michael Jordan won this round on July 9th, 2010, as soon as LeBron uttered those now infamous words.  Jordan wouldn't have done what LeBron did, that is evident, and it was now evident that LeBron wasn't the type of player that Jordan was.

Jordan won another MVP Award and another Finals MVP as the Bulls won their second straight Championship.

LeBron's numbers, however, diminished because he went to play with two guys who do plenty of scoring and became the No. 2 player on his team.  In the playoffs he was good, but when he got to the Finals he disappeared in high pressure situations.

Jordan knocked LeBron on his keister in this round and the referee has counted to seven.  Jordan is prancing around the ring ready to claim victory, but LeBron isn't out yet. 

LeBron is down 79-74 and although it's going to be hard for him to get up from the punch that he was just dealt, he can do it.  There isn't another player in the league with as many gifts as him; he just needs to fix the space between his ears. If he doesn't do it, the eighth round could just be the knockout punch to the LeBron-Jordan comparisons.

Follow me on Twitter @JDorsey33 if you like my stuff.