“If Michael Jordan did it, why can’t LeBron James?”: MJ’s Bulls made it to the playoffs multiple times with a losing record, the Lakers might do the same

LeBron James has had a see-saw last 4 years – he went to two finals, winning one, and missed the playoffs in two others.

2018 – LeBron lost the finals. 2019 missed the playoffs. 2020, won the championship. 2021, a career first first-round exit. 2022, a career-low possible 11th place finish. For someone held at the level of a god, this is not what the fans expect to see on his CV. Yes, he did win a championship with LA, but the three other seasons outweigh what he pulled off in one.

There is no denying the capabilities of the man – he can be unstoppable when he is in the mood. “When” is the focus here, because he’s been more interested in his investment in Lobos than the season gone by. The stats have been great to look at, but dig deep and you’ll see the misconception of him being elite on the regular. Michael Jordan missed the finals too for the first 6 seasons.

Jordan in his second season made it to the playoffs 22 games under .500 – the lowest in his Bulls run. Bron with the Lakers is almost the same, but he is sitting in the 11th place, with one and a half feet out the door.

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LeBron James led Lakers and Cavaliers vs Michael Jordan led Bulls

Despite being an individual monster, Jordan could not lead the Bulls to a higher finish than third place. He rarely got out of the first round and was always bested by Either the Celtics or the Pistons. 63 points, a career-high could not stop Boston from sweeping him and the Bulls.

One can argue that the East was weak when Jordan played, but then the argument gets even worse because despite being weak, he could not make an eastern conference finals appearance until 1991.

LBJ has an arguably worse team in the first stint with the Cavaliers. He did however choke in 2011 with a super team. In 2013-14 however, the run to the finals was not easy, since he had to face a 60 wins Hawks, a lowkey good Pacers team, and the Pistons. He was not given a free ride in any way, despite narratives wanting to drive it that way.

LeBron James disagreed with the idea of Play-in tournament, now it might save his team

The logic of the tweet makes sense – but it most definitely does not need to be LeBron who has to make the playoffs with that record. The San Antonio Spurs hold a similar record, and they could make the playoffs via the play-in.

King James was vehemently against the idea of a play-in-style mini-tournament – his whole season is clinging on for dear life by a thread for the very same draw. The Lakers dragged themselves to the playoffs by the very same tourney last season as well, so who benefitted the most out of it LeBron?

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