The Best Among Greats

In many sports there is an ongoing (and often heated) debate about who should be considered the GOAT (Greatest of All Times) in that respective discipline. Whether it’s Federer vs. Nadal vs. Djokovic, Messi vs. Ronaldo (although it’s not even undebated who the greatest Ronaldo is) or Joe Montana vs. Tom Brady – each sports fan has his or her own opinion and many are very passionate about their personal GOAT choice.

Very few athletes can claim to be undisputed GOATs and aside from Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan used to be a prime example. Ever since Jordan retired for good in 2003, it was widely considered sacrilege to even mention another name in the same breath as “His Airness”. Now that LeBron James has beaten the NBA's all-time scoring record, some fans will undoubtedly make the case that he should at least be considered a challenger to the Jordan's NBA throne.

Looking at points per game illustrates why Michael Jordan is still considered the one and only GOAT by so many basketball fans. With an average of 30.1 points per game in regular season and an astonishing 33.4 points per playoff game, Jordan is unmatched by any player past or present. With averages of 27.2 points per regular season game and 28.7 points per playoff game, James comes close but can't quite match Jordan's numbers.