Michael Jordan is the Greatest Scorer Ever.... And Its Not Even Close

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Intro 0:00 - 1:29
Point Totals vs Averages 1:30 - 6:03
Prime 6:04 - 8:37
Longevity 8:38 - 10:36
Single-Game Scoring 10:37 - 11:32
Per 100 Pos. Stats 11:33 - 18:31
Rankings 18:32 - 24:29
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[@eddiebuckets7688]

Numbers are accurate as of early December

[@johnchapman8131]

Jordan wasn't spending a million dollars a year to keep his body healthy so he could pile up stats hoping that eventually everyone would say he was the greatest. He knew he was and he never had to say it

[@JayZone23]

MJ did this in hand checking era without proper spacing on offense. era where 3 pointers are not as prevalent with athletic big men roaming in the paint. 90s and early 2000s are also probably the slowest pace era which means less easy buckets because defenses are already set when crossing the half court most of the time. I guess he was truly one of a kind, makes sense why people think he is the GOAT.

[@eddiebuckets7688]

agreed, he played in the toughest era to get buckets in

[@keenanstephenson1669]

Dont forget mj did this in an expansion era against weaker talent with illegal defensive on his side as well as a shortened three pointer and no zone defence being ran. He also averages way more fga and ft attempts than anyone in his”historic” season being known as a ball hog playing losing basketball

[@OhYummmmp]

@@keenanstephenson1669There’s a problem with all your points but the fact you’re talking about a shortened 3pt line when they had it for 2 seasons and barely took any is embarrassing bro just hating 😂

[@JayZone23]

@@keenanstephenson1669 isnt expansion teams basically the same with teams tanking in today's nba though? both giving wins to teams with championship aspirations. smh MJ averaged more than 5 assist in his career and plays off the ball dude. just because he shoots more, does not mean he is a ball hog. lol i can argue that lebron, harden, luka and etc has the ball more in the hands throughout a game compared to MJ which makes them more of a ball hog. MJ is more like curry and klay on offense, moving off the ball and shoot. a lot of star players today, dribbles the ball more than 10 seconds per possession.

[@nathanmckenzie904]

​@keenanstephenson1669 when you consider the say top 20 players play on like 5 teams thisnis worse than the the expansion era

[@Coopercrack]

For me you ca't be the greatest scorer of all time if you can't even be the greatest scorer of a season. Dude has only one scoring champ title. And isn't he supposed to be a "first pass" player? Or that just works when it's appropiate for the narrative you're pushing? And, of course, players nowadays score more. The league is oriented to that. Greenlight to shoot and put points on the scoreboard and punish defence, if anyone defends.

[@wyattfriend7360]

Lebron didn’t try to win a scoring title. He plays more like Jokic (the best player in the world right now) Lebron: why is he passing the ball? Jokic: turn him into a scorer don’t let him pass the ball. Lebron averaged 7.2 assists per game for 21 years.. THATS why he’s the best scorer 🤯

[@Coopercrack]

@@wyattfriend7360 he didn’t even was the best passer for seasons. The excuse of “he don’t win it because he don’t want to” is weak. We only have facts. And in scoring he’s not the best. If you’re including points for assists then you have to include turnovers and that’s going out of context. Btw to be the best you have to defend as well. Lebron haven’t been defending since 5 years ago. And that’s being kind.

[@BigDan21.]

​@wyattfriend7360 Are you trying to combined Lebron's scoring and assists to say that's what makes him the greatest score of all time? If that's the case then that still doesn't make him the greatest score of all time. Lebron 27.2ppg + 7.3 apg = 34.5 Jordan 30.1ppg + 5.3 apg = 35.4 But if you're going to be adding up all the positive stats, you then also have to subract all the negative stats, such as turnovers. Wouldn't you know there already is a stat for that, it's called PER and Lebron isn't at the top of it... Rank Player all time PER 1. Michael Jordan 27.91 2. Nikola Jokić 27.85 3. LeBron James 27.19 4. Anthony Davis 26.92 5. Shaquille O'Neal 26.43

[@wyattfriend7360]

@@Coopercrack Everything you're saying about Lebron is WEAK. He's the best player ever..

[@wyattfriend7360]

@@BigDan21. Stats go a lot deeper than the BS that you two are saying.

[@inefekt]

Nice work. I would concentrate more on rTS%, or TS% relative to league average for the era. MJ's prime was around 58% but in an era where the average was 52-53%. KD and LeBron are in the low 60s in an era where the average is closer to 58%. There's a few reasons why efficiency has skyrocketed, for a long time the 3 point shot was much more efficient than the two, it was just worth more than its difficulty implied. As teams started to appreciate this fact they started shooting the three more and more and more. So it inflates TS%. You also need to consider how the league treats its defensive players....in the early 2000s they were the gods of the court, allowed to run riot....now they are treated like lepers, barely allowed to do anything lest they be whistled for a foul. It's so, so much easier to score nowadays.....I mean, even Luka has said as much. It's a big reason why you are seeing so many modern players in your lists....well that and the fact they are all in or near their primes and their numbers have yet to be dealt the devastating blow that a player's twilight years delivers to a player's career stats. It's amazing that despite all those advantages the modern players are blessed with, that MJ still comes out on top. Crazy. You could somewhat compensate for this by, as you suggest, looking at pace but also by looking at team scoring and, again, relative true shooting percentages. Combine the three to normalise scoring across eras. Not perfect, and probably something a statistician would poke a thousand holes in but at least it works as a rough guide.... So, taking LeBron and Jordan's age 38/39 season for instance. One is being played this current season, with all those advantages I outlined above, the other was played in the early 2000s, the absolute peak era of defensive basketball and incredibly slow pace. Jordan though suffered a bad knee injury during this season which severely hampered his play, so lets look at his numbers prior to the injury. The raw numbers: Lebron - 25.2ppg on 63.7% true shooting MJ - 24.6ppg on 47.1% true shooting Similar scoring, massive difference in efficiency. But let's take pace into consideration: Lakers play at a 100.4 pace so LeBron's numbers convert to a scoring rate of 25.1ppg for a standardised pace of 100. Wizards pace was 88.3 which converts Jordan's scoring to 27.9ppg at a 100 pace. Now we need to look at team scoring because scoring 30 a game on a team scoring 90 a game is much more impressive than doing it on a team scoring 120 a night. Team scoring is a reflection of the overall ease or difficulty for scoring at the time. Lakers score 114.0ppg. LeBron's 25.2ppg represents 22.1% of his team's scoring. Again, using 100 as the standard, and using the pace adjusted number, that converts to 22.0ppg. Wizards scored 92.8ppg so MJ's scoring, at a pace and team scoring rate of 100, converts to 30.1ppg. Big difference so far.....but, we need to make our final consideration, rTS% and it's lucky MJ has that big lead. LeBron's efficiency is elite, his 63.7% true shooting is great even in a league that averages 57.8%. His rTS% is 110% (or +10%). His final normalised scoring average is therefore 24.2ppg. Jordan's 47.1% came in a league averaging 52.0%, his rTS% was therefore just 90% (-10%) so his final scoring average adjusts to 27.1ppg. With everything considered, along with the fact MJ was coming back from 3 years of retirement, not anywhere near basketball shape, with broken ribs thanks to MWP and that nagging knee which needed to be drained every other night, to still score at that adjusted rate is just phenomenal.

[@eddiebuckets7688]

I should’ve mentioned the trends in defense your right. Just shows how great MJ was

[@davidhutson2846]

You forgot to mention the amount of layups one gets over the other when factoring in %. Which also coincides with non allowable defense. Having said what i said, u are spot on

[@Sf75178]

Excellent research

[@R4nk3rz]

@@davidhutson2846how are u gunna penalize someone for getting more layups,thats like telling big men dont shoot layups even tho ur next to the rim what kinds logic is that lol

[@davidhutson2846]

@@R4nk3rz never said it was a bad thing.. but when Lebroninites tell you Lebron has a better Shooting % than this guy or that guy.. the reason his fg% is so high is becuz layups... he shoots less than 40% outside of layups/dunks. Hes a terrible shooter.

[@Pseudog831]

Based on the raw numbers, Chamberlain is the best in the season and Jordan is the best in the playoffs. When we adjust the raw numbers for contextual differences in each era, Jordan is clearly superior in both the season and playoffs.

[@user-ww5zt9zt4s]

Lebroon scored average is 27 PPG in the 110 Points games MJ scored 30 PPG in the only 90 PPG era

[@shaft9000]

...and MJ did it while being 1st team defensive on the other end.

[@brandonhuberty8636]

Lebron also averaged 31.7 PPG when the league average was 97 PPG

[@TB-4]

He doesnt have enough scoring titles. He just has longevity.

[@alanlee67]

Problem with lebron is he's like 37% from outside of 3 feet. It works because there's no bigs in the nba today. Lebron is literally usually the biggest dude on the court. But if people like d robinson, ewing, or shaq were parked down low, he couldnt get away with that

[@blankspace4358]

What are you talking about? He played against Dwight Howard, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Anthony Davis, Kevin Garnett, Demarcus Cousins, Rasheed Wallace, Pau Gasol etc.

[@bwink23]

​@@blankspace4358 LeBums percentages were much lower the first 9 years of his career as well And sorry...you can't be the greatest scorer with below average FT%, 3pt% for his era, and 37%FG% outside of a layup 🙄🙄. It's called eye test, and LeBum is no where near

[@jasonmoukala8909]

@@bwink23don’t be a casual

[@R4nk3rz]

@@bwink23i guess by your logic demar derozen and trae young are better scorers than giannis because giannis is also bad outside the paint 🤦‍♂️

[@shaft9000]

@@R4nk3rz of course they are better scorers, Giannis is a run&dunk Spammer on offense, similar to LeBron but with an even shallower bag, They both spam it constantly because of a SIZE and SPEED advantage, and because their scoring skill is so limited otherwise.

[@arkadiuszrogala1359]

I’m so glad you made this video. This exactly mirrors how I think of scoring and I’ve never heard it explained better with as much nuance in a video. Why do you think most people underrate LeBron as a scorer when it should be clear as day? There’s always something to discredit him and it usually has to do with the kinds of shots he creates being easier looks, but that argument sounds completely backwards to me.

[@eddiebuckets7688]

appreciate it. Lebron does get too much hate when he's the #2 best scorer OAT in my opinion

[@ianmason2003]

Because the league is a joke and it’s the easiest to score ever. Are you even serious?

[@OhYummmmp]

With the fouls they call in the league nowadays especially for stars it’s way too easy to score… even when they miss a contested layup they’ll get the whistle most times

[@shaft9000]

To add to the last two posts - fact is, LeBron's bag is quite shallow. A bowling ball dribble drive to dunk is not a signature shot; it's a tactic. As scorers go, he can't come close to the versatility of even George Gervin, let alone a Kobe, KD or Rick Barry. Yes, kids....Rick freaking Barry's 1970s bag _smokes_ LeBron's. However you choose to interpret the #s is up to you. Winning is another matter.

[@brandonhuberty8636]

As we saw in this video it is not the easiest era to score in ever. And most people would say Kobe didn’t play in an east era to score but Lebron and Kobe’s time overlapped for a large majority of both of their careers. Yes it is easier to score now than it was in the late 90s and most of the 2000s, but Lebron also played in those super low scoring years too and put up great numbers then as well. The biggest problem with Lebron in all these GOAT debates is we compare what he is now to everyone else’s whole career and not his whole career to everyone else’s.

[@wyattfriend7360]

Stats are funny because... players score more points (per 100 possessions) today than they did in the 90's 😂😂 So what we need is, per 100 stats relative to era. As a whole the league scores more on a per possession bases, so this doesn't properly take ERA into account. In my opinion.

[@donkane.81]

Love this breakdown! The only major difference I would make is to move Steph up by at least one tier!

[@eddiebuckets7688]

I think by the best of his career he could be there

[@trevorhoyt2524]

Dont get me wrong LeBron can put the ball in the hoop and is the all time leading scorer, and this isnt me trashing him just giving my honest take, but he's tier 3 and should be swapped with Kobe. This isnt a Kobe>LBJ thing either, but you conveniently left out shooting % from certain spots on the floor. You have to be able to score outside of the restricted area, which LeBron does at 37%, to where Kobe shoots 40%+. Like i said Bron is the leading scorer, but he shoots 70%+ within 0-3 feet otherwise he shoots 37% outside of that, without even mentioning his FT%. I value scoring in a variety of ways at an efficient clip over mass scoring in 1 or 2 ways when conversing the greatest scorer of all time.

[@R4nk3rz]

Bruh this isnt a whos the best shooter of all time video, its the best scorer of all time, if u wanna argue kobe and alot of other players shoot better than lebron ur right, but at the end of the day lebron is a more consistent scorer than them, thats like saying trae young is a better scorer than shaq because shaq only stays in the paint

[@trevorhoyt2524]

@R4nk3rz that wasn't my point at all. My point was, you have to be able to score in a multitude of ways on the floor, at an efficient clip and score a lot. Bron has the efficiency (kinda if you only go off of FG%) as well as scoring totals and averages. Kobe on the otherhand has multiple seasons scoring 30+ in the slowest paced era with the toughest defenses, still scored at an above average clip while shooting the most difficult shots. Being able to score 27 a year for 21 years is incredible on Lebrons part, but he isn't nearly as skilled of a scorer as other players. When discussing "Greatest Scorer of All Time" you have to look at ever facet of scoring. LBJ is an effective scorer within 0-3 feet, but outside of that he's average at best. But if career totals and averages is what determines best scorer for you that's awesome, but I feel bad at the ignored context.

[@smoceany9478]

whatare the asterisks

[@brandonhuberty8636]

The only big change I would make in this list would be to put Kobe up one tier with Lebron and KD

[@antonioguglielmetti2661]

Rules on how you score boost today's numbers

[@mrho4speed]

Thank you for creating and sharing this video. Let me add on to further understand how today's players are scoring more please see the video "The Evolution of the Rules" that has video evidence how the rules of the game have changed, been blurred and outright ignored, thus enabling the players on offense to have a distinct advantage. Thanks!!!

[@johnchapman8131]

30 ppg is where the bar was set. Lebron has been coming up short for 20+ years

[@wyattfriend7360]

Real Stats: Per 100 points x TS%... Relative to the rest of the league. Take that number and make it relative. Even these advanced stats clearly favor modern players, I feel like I'm the only one who can do the math.

[@JohnMackeyIII]

Total points are pointless if they don’t harvest a championship!!😂😂😂 It is like saying that farmer is the best because he throws the most seed in the field!😂😂

[@bladefox5082]

Championships don’t matter in this conversation

[@katanalx]

In points per minute LeBron is 10th, MJ is 3rd WITHOUT TRIPLES!!!!! Embid is first, Doncic second... And most of the top 10 are still active, so they can go down...

[@Cggodking]

Ight we’ll see how long it takes for LeBrons personal records to get sniffed let alone touched

[@katanalx]

@@Cggodking Easyy... Just have a player last 5 years long...

[@Cggodking]

@@katanalx Vince carter played 20 years… there’s a bunch of players that have played 20 years

[@katanalx]

I'm talking about 30 years... technology and medicine are progressing... @@Cggodking

[@Cggodking]

@@katanalx bruh I promise you ain’t no one touching All time scoring till we die bro 😂😂😂

[@eddietalley534]

You have to factor in the lacc of defense in the modern game. Scoring 30 today is nowhere near as difficult as scoring 30 in 1997. You put any old school scorer in todays game and they put up 2k numbers as well. I hate where the game is going with everybody scoring ridiculous amount of points, it waters down the impact of scoring stats in general

[@danielgloyd4529]

This is a fairly good video. However, a truely perfect best scorer comparison is impossible due to rule changes in different eras. You can get a shooting foul for barely touching a guy during a shot these days. People clear a path when someone is running at the basket to dunk. It's rare to see dunks contested. Nobody wants to be on a poster because it's bad for business. That's why IMO there are so many current players on the per 100 list.

[@R4nk3rz]

True

[@brandonhuberty8636]

There were plenty of light shooting fouls in the nba back in the day too it isn’t just now

[@RamonAdorno-ds1wu]

With the modern day weak, soft NBA rules many players will get to be able to play more years. Giannis, Curry, Luka, Jokic can all play till old age and average 20 to 25 pts a night easy.

[@user-we3yg1tx4u]

The only Problem MJ had was that no one set a bar for him to overachieve like he himself did for Kobe, LeBron and all the other guys that came after him. He never wanted to set a record by stats.. and even more impressive than his ppg stat is that he could score no matter what it wasn’t like harden where everybody knew guard him and the rockets are off.. you just couldn’t handle Jordan if you play defense on him hard he would even play better this man was a maniac. No disrespect LeBron is the second greatest of all time everyone denying that is as stupid as not taking MJ as there GOAT. 1. MJ 2. LeBron Everyone below is debatable.

[@johnchapman8131]

LeBron better than KD? LMFAO

[@raymondfowlkes6821]

MJ 30.1 best all time 10scoring titles debate over🤷 oh yeah and 33.3 in playoffs...

[@JuggaloSupreme]

High level scoring?! (0-3ft), can't shoot free throws, teams dare him to shoot 3 cuz he wasnt gonna make em, travelling...what to look for the perfect

[@AndrewTaylorJr]

MJ=goat

[@VinceWhitacre]

Whether your GOAT is Bron, MJ, Wilt, Magic/Bird (I refuse to separate them), Russell, TD, Russell, Kareem... one thing any reasonable person can agree on is that LeBron is the greatest 38-39 year old player of all time. And yeah - he was also the greatest 18-19 year old ever. I still say Jordan is the GOAT. His prime is just that much better. But i can honestly say LeBron James is the best teenager the NBA has ever known; and next year he'll be the best 40 year old ever. It's not just the longevity, it's that he's never not been great. That's messed up 😅 even MJ was shitty by his standards in the Wizards Years.

[@VinceWhitacre]

You didn't mention that while Kobe and KD can do it all, MJ didn't have a big 3P rep, and his career 3P% is kinda weak. Except... June 3, 1992. When the Blazers called him out for exactly that. Said he had no long game. So he went out and hit 6 for 10 beyond the arc. In the first half. The three point shot just wasn't a significant part of his game. If he played today, it would be.

[@shaft9000]

A few things that challenge or outright discredit those notions: - At 39 Kareem became Finals MVP. - Jordan was a top 5 MVP candidate at age 38-39 - until his knee gave out. Then he played all 82 games the following year at age 39-40. - LeBron has not been able to make the Finals in a 82-game season since he was 34. It doesn't look so good for him this year, either. - If you want to give James kudos for being a prodigious teenager, cool - but you might want to realize that Wilt was the most impressive ever at that age, and by miles and miles. The many records speak for themselves. Have a great day.

[@Byronic19134]

@9:06 You gotta be trolling right? Like this is not a serious point you were trying to make no way. Also what is this video even about? Is anybody trying to argue Bron is a better scorer than MJ? Bron wouldn’t even argue that.

[@Oz1976]

No. No no no. Nope. Nuh uh. Never.

[@bones3142]

All the MJ meat riders in this comment section. It’s so embarrassing. If yall were so confident in MJ, you wouldn’t discredit LeBron every second you get.

[@sniles2810]

Stop it basketball is more than just scoring

[@100pandt]

Melo was the best USA player ever 30 in a quarter smh top 10 all time scoring ask players melo is in yhe top 5 scorer

[@proplayer341]

Easier scoring league.....

[@alonso21100]

Wtf 25 its mediocre thats it

[@alastres2485]

Wow, that's surprising that this era scores a lot, specifically there's no defense at all, 😂😂😂

[@jasonmoukala8909]

But bron was putting up the same numbers on good efficiency even in tough defensive 2000s era when scoring was a lot lower

[@alastres2485]

@@jasonmoukala8909 oh yeah when they removed the hand checking rule right? Less physical, increase scoring, smart guy, 🤦🤦🤦

[@jasonmoukala8909]

@@alastres2485 don’t be a casual

[@alastres2485]

@@jasonmoukala8909 wow, very smart argument, no substance at all, don't be a casual, every dumb bron fans who don't have argument,🤦🤦🤦

[@shaft9000]

@@jasonmoukala8909 say it to yourself, kiddo

[@raymondfowlkes6821]

It's all a waste of energy 🤷he the worst scorer we've ever seen

[@dumima8134]

What’s this? Anther jokeof a video

[@JJtrooths]

Lebron cant score score 😂