ESPN’s Omar Raja Explains How LeBron James Faced Tougher Opponents Than Michael Jordan

Who’s better, Michael Jordan or LeBron James? That’s a question that’s been sparking debates among the NBA community since Bron rose to the level of an all-time great over 18 years ago. He’s still going strong today in a league that has changed tenfold since he made his debut over two decades ago. And that was one of the several reasons Omar Raja feels LeBron has had it more difficult than MJ ever did.

Eras define the career of legends in basketball. In the 90s, that was Jordan. He was simply the best and helped the NBA go global with tens of millions of new fans warming up to the league, just to get a part of the action. But Raja of ESPN feels that in terms of gameplay, what LeBron deals with is much more complicated.

In a recent segment, he pointed out how certain defensive plays that are common today were illegal back in the day. There was no zonal play, for starters. Teams also didn’t shoot as many threes, and players stuck to their exact specific roles. Plus, Raja added how, unlike Jordan, Bron has competed against the best players from all over the world.

“The talent pool in LeBron’s era isn’t just 330 million Americans, it’s 7.8 billion people across the world,” he explained. “25% players are born outside the U.S., up from just 7% in Jordan’s time. And these aren’t just role players. There are MVPs from every corner of the world. Giannis [Antetokounmpo] from Greece, [Nikola] Jokic from Serbia, [Joel] Embiid from Cameroon, Luka [Doncic] from Slovenia…” 

Raja continued, “Jordan didn’t play against modern defenses. For example, zone defense was illegal back then. Teams were required to play strict man-to-man, and defenders couldn’t freely leave their assignments to help.”

If a player strayed too far from their man to double-team or help elsewhere, it was called an illegal defense, which resulted in a technical free throw—something that would be unthinkable in today’s game.

 

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Raja also revealed how Jordan himself admitted that his career would have taken a different trajectory had today’s rules been a part of the league back in his day. “People love to say Jordan never lost in the Finals. He also never had to go up against a 73-win team, with a two-time MVP, who had Kevin Durant…” 

“Defenses are quicker, offenses are sharper, and LeBron didn’t just survive the shift; he adapted better than anyone,” Raja concluded. That’s probably why the 40-year-old is still at the top of his game heading into his 23rd season in the league.