Michael Jordan Comparison With His Heirs and Current NBA Stars

This is a comparison of Michael Jordan's numbers with those achieved by the players who were thought to be his heirs and other current stars

As soon as MJ left the court after his final NBA game, everybody started to look for the "next Jordan". Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are some of his "heirs".

All these players shown that although they were great, they were not at Jordan's level. The only active player on this list is LeBron.

The hyper-advertised James looked better every season but he's already started to age and although his numbers are amazing, he has won just 4 Championships on 10 Finals played. In fact, because of his stats and style of play he could be better compared with Oscar Robertson than with MJ. Kobe Bryant finished his career with numbers that are not a the same level of Jordan's but he was on the same page when we talk about competitiveness and the desire to show he was the best. He also was the only one on this list (and in NBA history) who matched Jordan and Chamberlain in scoring streaks (40+ points, 50+ points, etc) and he even scored 81 points in one game.

Note: current players stats updated October 13, 2020.

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Basic Data Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
NBA Seasons 15 20 17 16 22 16 14
NBA Championships 6 5 4 3 - - -
Finals Played 6 7 10 5 - 1 1
Olympic Medals 2 Gold 2 Gold 2 G. / 1 B. 1 G. / 1 B. 1 Gold - 1 Bronze
Nickname His
Airness
Black Mamba King James Flash
D-Wade
Vinsanity T-Mac The Answer
Teams Bulls, Wizards Lakers Cavaliers,
Heat,
Cavaliers, Lakers
Heat, Cavaliers, Heat Raptors,
Nets,
Magic,
Suns,
Mavericks,
Grizzlies, Kings, Hawks
Raptors, Magic,
Rockets,
Knicks,
Pistons,
Hawks, Spurs
76ers,
Nuggets,
Pistons,
Grizzlies,
76ers
Jersey Numbers 23 / 45 8 / 24 23 / 6 3 / 9 15 / 25 1 / 3 / 1 3 / 1 / 3
Honors and Awards Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
Season MVP 5 1 4 - - - 1
Finals MVP 6 2 4 1 - - -
All-NBA 1st Team 10 11 13 2 - 2 3
All-NBA 2nd Team 1 2 2 3 1 3 3
All-NBA 3rd Team - 2 1 3 1 2 1
All-Defensive 1st Team 9 9 5 - - - -
All-Defensive 2nd Team - 3 1 3 - - -
Def. Player of the Year 1 - - - - - -
Scoring Titles 10 2 1 1 - 2 4
Rebounding leader - - - - - - -
Assists leader - - 1 - - - -
Steals leader 3 - - - - - 3
Blocks leader - - - - - - -
Rookie of the Year yes no yes no yes no yes
Season Stats Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
Total Games 1,072 1,346 1,265 1,054 1,541 938 914
Points per Game
30.1 25.0 27.1 22.0 16.7 19.6 26.7
Rebounds per Game 6.2 5.2 7.4 4.7 4.3 5.6 3.7
Assists per Game 5.3 4.7 7.4 5.4 3.1 4.4 6.2
Steals per Game 2.3 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.0 1.2 2.2
Field Goal Percentage .497 .447 .504 .480 .435 .435 .425
3-Point Percentage .327 .329 .344 .293 .371 .338 .313
Free Throw Percentage .835 .837 .734 .765 .798 .746 .780
Total Points 32,292 33,643 34,241 23,165 25,728 18,381 24,368
Total Rebounds 6,672 7,047 9,405 4,933 6,606 5,276 3,394
Total Assists 5,633 6,306 9,346 5,701 4,714 4,161 5,624
Total Steals 2,514 1,944 2,015 1,620 1,530 1,136 1,983
Playoffs Stats Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
Total Games 179 220 260 177 88 50 71
Points per Game 33.4 25.6 28.8 22.3 18.1 22.2 29.7
Rebounds per Game 6.4 5.1 9.0 5.2 5.4 5.7 3.8
Assists per Game 5.7 4.7 7.2 4.9 3.4 5.0 6.0
Steals per Game 2.1 1.4 1.7 1.5 1.1 1.1 2.1
Field Goal Percentage .487 .448 .496 .474 .416 .426 .401
3-Point Percentage .332 .331 .335 .338 .338 .290 .327
Free Throw Percentage .828 .816 .741 .780 .796 .757 .764
Total Points 5,987 5,640 7,491 3,954 1,593 1,109 2,111
Total Rebounds 1,152 1,119 2,348 928 477 286 273
Total Assists 1,022 1.040 1,871 870 295 249 425
Total Steals 376 310 445 273 94 53 147
All-Star Game Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
All-Star Games 14 18 16 13 8 7 11
All-Star Game MVP 3 4 3 1 - - 2
ASG Triple Doubles 1 - 1 1 - - -

* Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant recorded the only 4 triple doubles in All-Star Game history
* All-Star Games shows how many times the player was selected for the ASG (even if he did not play).

Other Data Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant LeBron James Dwyane Wade Vince Carter Tracy McGrady Allen Iverson
Season Triple Doubles 28 19 94 5 5 4 1
Playoffs Triple Doubles 2 - 28 - - - -

 

Related Links:
More comparisons with other NBA stars at Land of Basketball
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Profile at Los Angeles Lakers Universe
Magic Johnson Profile at Los Angeles Lakers Universe
Magic Johnson Profile at Authentic Basketball
Wilt Chamberlain Profile at Land of Basketball
landofbasketball.com has all the details about the NBA scoring leaders, assists leaders, rebounds leaders and all the other stats and awards compared here.