Putting Lebron into Context

Guy 1: "Lebron will never be as good as Jordan."

Guy 2: "Well, he has the potential to be better."

Guy 3: "He does a lot of stuff better than Jordan though."

The debate is relentless. Is Lebron James better than Michael Jordan? Can he be become better? Will he become better? Obviously, only time will tell, but I think there is a way to put Lebron James into context. They say history repeats itself, but sometimes, in repeats itself in different ways.

There's a fierce debate north of the border (i.e. Canada) concerning who the best hockey players in in all the land is. Like the basketball's counterpart debate, the face-off has been narrowed down to two. Gordie Howe played in the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, and even season in the nineties with an IHL (International Hockey League), a now defunct minor league. Howe was tough and skilled. Few players on the ice could shoot, skate, nor score as well as he could. He is probably the best Detroit Red Wings ever, given that players such as Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom are also Red Wings Alumnus, that is saying a lot.

The name everyone is more familiar with is Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was a lot like Howe. Except, he was small and not very physical. Gordie Howe was known to not let anyone push him around. However, Wayne Gretzky only got into one fight in his over twenty season career. He didn't do that great. However, there were few players as skilled as Gretzky. He was a fluent skater, a dazzling stick handler, and most of all, a dominating scorer.

Gretzky scored more NHL goals than Howe. However, if you add the goals that Gretzky and Howe scored when not playing in the NHL, Howe has the upper hand. Numbers don't provide a very concise comparison. For example, some argue that that the NHL in the 1950's was much more competitive than it was in the seventies. However, Gordie Howe scored a large number of goals in the seventies, when he played in the WHA. A minor league, and not nearly as competitive as it was in the seventies. There's so many different variables that these arguments are normally settled the same way. Each player had his own special attributes.

So how does this apply to basketball. The simple truth is that Jordan and Lebron played in different eras and with different styles. There is no better of the two; it's a child's argument. Lebron has many years left in his prime and will develop into a legendary caliber. At the end of the day, the predicament in hockey, can be adequately applied to basketball.

Source(s):
- Gordie Howe - Stats - NHL.com - Players
- Wayne Gretzky - Stats - NHL.com - Players