Superstars: Michael Jordan, LeBron James… Luka Dončić?

Basketball is a team sport. At the same time, though, it is the team sport that can most easily be dominated by a single player. While a starting pitcher can dominate a single game of baseball, they only pitch every five days, and a batter only comes to the plate every nine at-bats. A quarterback can control a game, but if their receivers can’t catch and their defense can stop the opponent, they can’t do enough.

A superstar basketball player, though, can almost singlehandedly beat a weaker opponent. The team just keeps feeding the ball to one player, who takes care of business. As long as the other four guys on the court are capable of taking care of the basics, a superstar can do most of the rest of the work.

The GOAT

While there were superstar players before, like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan set a new bar. He became THE face of basketball in the late 80s and 90s. With his ever-looming presence, there could even be the argument that he is still the face of basketball today.

However, you would receive a strong argument on that point from LeBron James. Other players warrant a place in the discussion for the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT). However, most everyone would pick one of these two in the end. 

LeBron will end his career well ahead of Jordan in career totals. That only makes sense, considering that he started his career two years younger than Jordan and will likely play until he is older than Michael was when he retired. LeBron also didn’t miss four seasons due to a first retirement where he attempted to switch sports, followed by a second early retirement that didn’t stick either.

It is frightening to think what Jordan might have accomplished had he simply stuck around. His six championships are still a far cry from the 11 of Bill Russell, but who knows.

Too Early

It is still far too early to try to make any sort of reasonable predictions about Luka Dončić joining these two greats in a battle for the mountaintop. If he continues to improve as he did from his first to third seasons and can stay healthy, though, these comparisons will quickly gain a more solid foundation. 

In Dončić’s age 21 season, he became just the third player to record 25+ points per game, 5+ rebounds per game, and 5+ assists per game. The other two? You guessed it. Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Oh, and like Lebron, that was his second year of putting up that line.

Head to Head

Unfortunately, the final retirement of Michael Jordan occurred months before the first NBA game for LeBron James, so the two never faced off in an NBA game. LeBron and Dončić, on the other hand, have had some overlap, so we have had a chance to see the rising star in direct competition with the current King of the NBA. 

In his second year in the league, Dončić and his Mavericks met up with James and his Lakers. The game was an instant classic, and despite an overtime loss, the young Dončić was able to keep pace with the veteran James. Both men eclipsed 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists, becoming both the youngest and oldest players to put up those numbers in an NBA game. 

LeBron did slightly outshine with a 39-12-16 line, but the 31-13-15 line by Dončić was not far off the pace. Especially when you consider the fact that James had over four more minutes on the court.

Judge for Yourself

Even if Dončić does have the career he seems capable of and joins Jordan and James in the discussion over the GOAT unless he somehow manages to significantly eclipse these legends of the game, the debate will likely continue to rage on. 

You can make up your mind for yourself on who you think is the GOAT, though, with an NBA widget for sport websites to compare all of the stats. Pair that with watching hours of footage of each player doing what they do best, and you can decide for yourself who you think is the true King.

Another Contender

While Dončić is the current NBA player who seems most likely to be next in line, there is one player, in particular, awaiting their shot. At only 16 years old, we are still at least a couple of years away from seeing this phenom play at the highest level. However, many people are saying that he is even more impressive than LeBron James was at that age.

Who is this teen prodigy? 

Lebron James Jr.

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