There’s next to no way of honestly comparing eras without sounding like an absolute hater against one of them. Too often, the numbers may be true, but they fail to actually align with reality. For example, it is objectively true that Bronny James has now equaled Michael Jordan’s three-point total for his rookie year.
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In last night’s 140-109 win against the Houston Rockets, Bronny got a short stint during garbage time. The 20-year-old hit his lone shot from deep. With those three, the ninth of his rookie season, Bronny reached Jordan’s total.
Let’s add some context to that. Jordan’s Rookie of the Year-winning season in 1984-85 saw him attempt 52 threes. At a dismal efficiency rate of only 17.3%, it was evident that Jordan was not an above-average three-point shooter at that point in his career.
Comparably, Bronny’s 9/30 shooting from deep this season nearly doubles Jordan’s efforts, despite being decidedly below league average. To sum it up, both are not good shooters when it comes to three-point efficiency. The difference is, while Bronny is below average, Jordan was apocalyptically bad.
That’s a narrative that a deliberately provocative platform like Reddit can take advantage of. In a post by user Powerful-Echo5943, two lines sit alone in a paragraph: “Bronny is now 9/30 (30.0%) from three in his rookie season. Jordan went 9/52 (17.3%) from three in his rookie season.” They say everything we just investigated in plain numbers.
Clearly, it is being seen as a sarcastic take. Between people claiming the battle is still ongoing, as Bronny still has another game during which he will see big minutes and others calling the GOAT debate over, there are a lot of jokes flying around.
One fan said it well: “LIKE FATHER, LIKE GOAT?? Bronny already tied MJ in rookie 3s… in 22 fewer attempts!! 9/30 ain’t bad for the young king!! BUSINESS. IS. BOOMIN’!!”
Another pointed out, “We got two LeBron Jameses beating Jordan’s numbers now.”
But all seem to agree with the comment, “He’s also way more efficient than Jordan.”
It’s fun to cherry-pick stats like this. You could claim that Jordan is the GOAT because he never got dunked on by Ramon Sessions. You can follow the belief of the Game of Zones final and claim that Paul Pierce and his 21-18 record against LeBron James is the reason for that praise.
It’s good to see the comments not taking this post seriously. It’s funny. Basketball is supposed to be fun, as is the way we cover it. Jokes like these do that.
And hey, maybe we’ll be back here again when Bronny plays 30 minutes in the season finale on Sunday, April 13.
