35-year-old Michael Jordan’s statistics prove he was far superior to LeBron James at the same age

Jeet Pukhrambam
|PublishedAug 24, 2022

Michael Jordan at age 35 was something else. He won 5 honors and remains the only player to do so in a single season. LeBron James who?

LeBron James might be entering his 20th season and while his longevity reigns supreme, he was not close to Michael Jordan’s dominance at age 35.

He left the league when he turned 30 and after a two-year hiatus he marked his comeback in an iconic manner with the iconic “I’m back” facsimile. So, what did MJ do when he came back? He dominated, of course.

He went and did a three-peat again. Despite his age, there was no slowing him down. In fact, we think his 1998 season, when he was 35 might be one of the greatest of all time.

It is difficult to stay in the league as a 35-year-old let alone go and dominate every sphere of the game. Just ask any athlete today, when they turn the page on age 33, things change.

While the recent crop of superstars has pushed the boundaries of longevity, Michael was already doing it, nearly three decades ago.

Also read: LeBron James spent 20x more than Shaquille O’Neal on his Los Angeles mansion despite staying in LA for only 4 years

Michael Jordan in 1997-98:

✓ NBA Champion
✓ FMVP
✓ MVP
✓ Scoring Champion
✓ Lead Scorer in Playoffs
✓ All-NBA 1st Team
✓ All-NBA Defensive 1st Team
✓ All-Star
✓ 82 Games Played
✓ 39 Minutes Averaged per Game
✓ 4th in DPOY Voting

He was 35-years old. pic.twitter.com/W6SvHo3LMe

— × (@uapersonal) December 30, 2019

35-year-old Michael Jordan was far superior to LeBron James, the numbers just prove it all.

We recently pushed out a story about how MJ was the first and is the only athlete to win the MVP, NBA championship, FMVP, Scoring title, and take home first-team All-Defensive honors in the same year!

Well, he repeated this feat a whopping FOUR times. Once when he was at a ripe old age of 35. Yes, thirty-five! He was simply unstoppable that year.

Michael Jordan at 35 years old did this..

NBA Championship
FMVP, Highest Playoff PPG.
Regular season MVP
Scoring Title
All NBA First Team
Top 5 DPOY
Tied for best record 62-20 (Pippen played only 44 games)

All of this has been done, don’t let children tell you internet lies

— c H e f 👨‍🍳 (@ChefBetter) September 27, 2020

While fans might be in awe of LeBron’s 20th season, where he looks like he is in prime shape, let’s not forget the GOAT did it before.

And the recent pomp and show around Stephen Curry are warranted, however, he is still a full year younger than MJ when the latter pulled this feat off.

Oldest players to win scoring champion in NBA history:

Michael Jordan (35 years old)
Stephen Curry (33 years old) pic.twitter.com/nc5H2iUgWg

— SplashBrosMuse (@SplashBrosMuse) August 10, 2022

What do you think? Was 35-year-old Michael Jordan the most remarkable veteran ever? Will any player ever reach that status in their 35th year? Let us know and stay tuned to this space for more stories on Michael Jordan from our vaults.

Also read Michael Jordan: The only player to scoop 5 honors in a single season, 4 times!

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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