LeBron James explains why he's about to top a Michael Jordan playoff mark
By virtue of stepping foot on the court for Game 2 against the Detroit Pistons, LeBron James will surpass Michael Jordan in the annals of NBA playoff history.
The Cleveland Cavaliers superstar is set to play in his 180th career postseason game on Wednesday night, breaking his current tie with Jordan at 179. It's a nice bit of serendipity, as Wednesday also marks the 30-year anniversary of Jordan's breakout 63-point game against the Boston Celtics.
When asked about passing His Airness, however, LeBron demurred, crediting Jordan for being more efficient:
On a very superficial level, of course, James is right. For one thing, Jordan played when the first round was simply a best-of-five series. That's 13 fewer wins Jordan needed over his postseason career (and 13 fewer possible games). As a result, Jordan's 179 games played came in 37 playoff series, or 4.8 games per series. LeBron has played in 5.4 games on average across 33 series before this season.
Even on a deeper level, Jordan was simply better in the postseason than LeBron -- although it's not by much. If each of Jordan's series had gone the distance, he would have played in 233 games. Jordan's Bulls actually played in 76.8 percent of those potential games. LeBron, on the other hand, faced 231 possible postseason games before this year, meaning he's had to play in 77 percent of his potential games.
It's a razor-thin margin when we look at the total series played, with Jordan barely taking the crown. If we're just talking about series which Jordan or LeBron won, though, there's a bit of a surprise. Despite more seven-game series and fewer sweeps, LeBron has closed out his winning series in 75.3 percent of the total available games. Jordan needed 76.3 percent.
So did Jordan close out series quicker than LeBron, as James claimed? Yes ... and no. It all depends on your perspective and which player you want to support. Let the debate rage eternally.
