Comparing Michael Jordan And LeBron James’ Playoff Opponents Strength: Who Had The Hardest Competition?

An extensive look into the strengths of Michael Jordan and LeBron James’ playoff opponents can help determine who the real GOAT of the NBA is.

Michael Jordan and LeBron James are widely regarded as two of the greatest basketball players of all time. Both have won multiple championships, MVP awards, and accolades throughout their careers. However, one of the most debated topics among fans and analysts is how they compare in terms of the level of competition they faced from their opponents.

Some argue that Jordan faced tougher competition in his era, as he had to overcome teams like the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics, and the Utah Jazz, who had multiple Hall of Famers and All-Stars on their rosters. They also point out that Jordan never lost in the NBA Finals, going 6-0 and winning all six Finals MVP awards.

Others contend that James faced more challenging competition in his era, as he had to deal with teams like the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics, and the Golden State Warriors. All of these teams had dominant players and coaches and can be described as being superteams with multiple stars.

They also highlight that James has reached the NBA Finals 10 times, more than any other player in history except Bill Russell and his 1960s Celtic teammates. To compare the competition that Jordan and James faced, we will use statistical and analytical measures to evaluate the strength of their opponents.

Here’s a look at the overall playoff competition both Michael Jordan and LeBron James have faced.

Michael Jordan’s Playoff Opponents

In his legendary career, Michael Jordan reached the NBA playoffs 13 times out of the 15 seasons he played in the NBA. The only time MJ missed the postseason was during his second comeback with the Washington Wizards; he played two seasons, but he missed out on playoff action in both years.

In those 13 playoff appearances, Jordan defeated 20 teams that won 50 or more games. This unique fact places Jordan in fifth place for players who’ve beaten the most teams that have won 50 games or more.

To start his NBA career, Jordan faced stiff competition right off the bat in the playoffs. If you take a look at Jordan’s first three seasons, he and his Chicago Bulls faced the 59-win Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics twice in a row in the playoffs.

Those Celtics teams won 67 games in 1985-86 and 59 games in the 1986-87 season. You can argue that the 1985-86 Celtics are the greatest team in NBA history.

Jordan famously set the playoff single-game scoring record with 63 points in Game 2 of the 1986 playoff series.

Even with Jordan’s great effort, the Chicago Bulls lost the series. This is thanks to the extreme talent on the Celtics roster. Boston’s roster included Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Bill Walton.

Jordan wouldn’t get his first playoff series victory until 1988 when his Bulls beat the 42-win Cleveland Cavaliers. The Bulls would lose the next series against the 54-win Detroit Pistons.

Jordan would finally beat a 50-win team in the playoffs in the following year. In fact, MJ’s Bulls would beat two 50-win teams.

First, the Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 57 games this season. Chicago won the series on the famous last shot by Jordan, which is simply known as “The Shot’ in the win-or-go-home Game 5.

Next up for the Bulls was the 52-win New York Knicks. Chicago didn’t have much of a problem with New York, beating them in six games. Jordan and his Bulls would go on to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals, again against a 60-win team, the Detroit Pistons, who won 63 games.

This streak of losing to teams that won at least 60 games would not continue for Jordan and his Bulls. In fact, Jordan would defeat more 60-win teams than any other star in NBA history; Jordan has beaten seven teams that won at least 60 games.

Here are the 60+ win teams Michael Jordan has beaten in the playoffs:

92-93 New York Knicks: 60 Wins
92-93 Phoenix Suns: 62 Wins
95-96 Orlando Magic: 60 Wins
95-96 Seattle SuperSonics: 64 Wins
96-97 Miami Heat: 61 Wins
96-97 Utah Jazz: 64 Wins
97-98 Utah Jazz: 62 Wins

As you can see, Jordan defeated a lot of teams with 60+ wins in his career. So much for the new narrative that Jordan faced weak competition, huh? Overall, Jordan faced eight teams in the playoffs that won at least 60 games, the other two being the 85- 86 Boston Celtics and the 88-89 Detroit Pistons.

When you take into account every opponent that Jordan faced in the postseason, we discover MJ’s playoff foes won an average of 53.54 games. This stat of Jordan’s opponents is undoubtedly telling, but we can dive deeper to get an even better understanding of the strength of MJ’s opponents.

In today’s sports world, advanced stats and analytics rule how analysts and fans view the game. One stat that can help determine how strong a player’s opponent is would be their net rating. The net rating measures a team’s point differential per 100 possessions.

This advanced stat works great at comparing players because it doesn’t matter which era they played in. So, the slow pace of the 1990s, compared to the fast-paced, many shots attempted era of today, won’t affect the comparison.

The way net rating works is by examining the first 100 possessions of a team and subtracting their defensive rating from their offensive rating. After applying this method, we discovered that Jordan’s playoff opponents had a 4.58 net rating.

In the 90s, Jordan broke through and finally won an NBA championship in 1991. Jordan’s first opponent was Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers.

Most young fans today claim the Lakers weren’t that good for a few reasons. First, they say Magic was past his prime and done since he had HIV. Secondly, they say the Lakers had major injuries, seeing James Worthy and Byron Scott miss most of the series.

These claims are not true. Magic Johnson was not past his prime. In fact, Magic finished second in the MVP voting, only behind Jordan.

For the injuries, Worthy and Scott each played in four out of the five games in the series. Worthy even led the Lakers in scoring with an average of 19.3 points per game.

In 1992, Jordan faced off against the shooting guard who was the second best at their position, only behind MJ. That was Clyde Drexler.

Charles Barkley was the MVP in the 1992-93 season, and his team held the homecourt advantage. Despite all of this, Jordan averaged a Finals record of 41.0 points per game in his team’s 4-2 series victory.

After retiring, then returning to the league and losing to the 57-win Orlando Magic, Jordan sought revenge. MJ got his revenge against the same Magic team, who had a young Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway in a sweep.

The 64-win Seattle SuperSonics met the Bulls in the Finals. The Sonics had the Defensive Player of the Year in Gary Payton and the high-flying Shawn Kemp.

Overall, the Sonics were a great defensive team, but that didn’t stop Jordan and his Bulls from winning the title in six games. The last two Finals Jordan appeared in was against the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz had one of the greatest duos in NBA history. John Stockton and Karl Malone ran the pick-and-roll better than any duo ever, but they still couldn’t defeat Jordan and his Bulls in the Finals.

LeBron James’ Playoff Opponents

LeBron James was given the title of “The Chosen One” before he ever stepped foot onto an NBA floor. It’s safe to say he’s lived up to the hype.

In James’ initial run in Cleveland, he had to deal with the likes of the Boston Celtics and their Big 3 of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. He also faced off against the Detroit Pistons, who controlled the East during the 2000s, and the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan.

After leaving the Cavaliers to head for Miami, James faced Duncan’s Spurs twice in the Finals and a young but powerful Oklahoma City Thunder squad led by the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.

These were all tough teams that James faced, and many fans and analysts alike have given him a pass on the times his team has lost. The one glaring loss on his resume was in the 2011 NBA Finals when James’ Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Heat had Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to back up James, while Dirk Nowitzki and a bunch of aging players like Jason Kidd led the Mavs. This meltdown by James, who scored just 8 points in Game 4, is unforgivable for most fans who have Jordan as their GOAT.

Recently, LeBron spoke about the 2011 NBA Finals, giving an interesting reason to why his Miami Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks.

“Obviously, my first year in Miami, yeah, we had a Big 3; everyone said it’s a superteam,” LeBron said. “But we had to build our team around all minimum guys, which was still okay, but we didn’t fill out the complimentary guys enough.

“Yeah, we had Rio, we had Udonis… But you know we didn’t have enough as far as enough complimentary guys to actually make it all work, and we still made it to the Finals.”

This statement by LeBron on the 2011 Finals did not sit well with a lot of people in the media. This includes Stephen A. Smith, who was not afraid to call LeBron out.

“You got to be kidding me,” Smith said. “I know that you didn’t just say that with the cameras rolling. That’s bullsh*t; somebody gotta say it, so I’ll go (and) say it…That roster that LeBron James is alluding to? He makes valid points. He’s not wrong about the roster. My point is, what the hell does that have to do with you, LeBron? What does that have to do with you?”

At the end of the day, LeBron should have played better, and if he did, his team probably would have won. The main question we have to ask is this: if you place Michael Jordan on the 2011 Heat, does Miami lose?

After returning to the Cavaliers, James famously faced off against the NBA’s biggest dynasty since Jordan’s 90’s Bulls, the Golden State Warriors. James met the Warriors in four straight Finals and had to deal with players like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant.

Today, James is still going strong, but now he goes up against the player who’s winning MVP awards while setting PER records in Nikola Jokic. Still, we have to dive deeper into James’ opponents, just like we have done with Jordan’s opposition.

Here are the 60+ win teams LeBron James has beaten in the playoffs:

10-11 Chicago Bulls: 62 Wins
14-15 Atlanta Hawks: 60 Wins
15-16 Golden State Warriors: 73 Wins

As we saw earlier, Jordan defeated seven teams who won 60 games during the regular season, the most by a superstar player. James, however, only defeated three such teams. Overall, James has faced seven 60+ win teams in the postseason, which is two fewer than what Jordan faced.

Of course, James did defeat the biggest opponent, the 2015-16 Warriors, who won an NBA record 73 games. Even with the victory over a 73-win team, if we take a look at James’ playoff opponents’ net rating, you might be surprised at what we find out.

Overall, James’ playoff opponents have a net rating of 3.42. If you remember Jordan’s opponents having a net rating of 4.58, you’ll see Jordan faced stiffer competition in the playoffs than James.

This is just one measurement, net rating. If we take a look at the average wins in a season of the two stars’ playoff opponents, we see the results remain the same. Jordan played teams that won an average of 53.54 games per season. As for James, his opponents averaged 51.30 victories per season.

Three of James’ seasons were shortened. One was from a lockout (2011-12) and the other two from the COVID-19 pandemic (2019-20, 2020-21). The wins in these seasons have been prorated to an 82-game schedule to keep it on pace with Jordan’s opponents.

Jordan And James’ NBA Finals Opponents

The statistics of Jordan’s opponents’ wins go against what a lot of young fans say today, as the narrative is that James faced stronger teams. Still, the biggest argument James fans hang their hats on is the fact King James has faced, by far, tougher competition in the NBA Finals.

Is this statement true? Let’s dive deep into Michael Jordan’s and LeBron James’ Finals opponents.

Jordan made the Finals six times, and in all six trips, his Bulls were the favorites. Does that mean MJ’s competition was weak? Or does it mean Jordan’s Bulls were simply the superior team? Let’s crunch the numbers and see what we discover.

Here’s the complete list of Jordan’s Finals opponents’ wins and net ratings:

96-97 Utah Jazz: 64 Wins, 9.6 Net Rating
95-96 Seattle SuperSonics: 64 Wins, 8.2 Net Rating
97-98 Utah Jazz: 62 Wins, 7.3 Net Rating
91-92 Portland Trail Blazers: 57 Wins, 7.2 Net Rating
90-91 Los Angeles Lakers: 58 Wins, 7.1 Net Rating
92-93 Phoenix Suns: 62 Wins, 6.6 Net Rating

As you can see, Jordan faced solid opponents when he reached the NBA Finals. None of the teams MJ faced were “scrubs” as some fans would say today.

The Lakers were still a strong team with Magic despite not having Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Trail Blazers, like the Suns, had superstar players surrounded by a strong core of players.

The SuperSonics are arguably one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history, and the Jazz had the greatest duo who never won a title. It’s safe to say Jordan played good teams in the NBA Finals, but his teams, largely thanks to his own greatness, were just better.

Still, none of Jordan’s opponents in the Finals can clearly measure up to the Golden State Warriors that James faced. Right?

This is true, yet it is not true at the same time. There’s no debate that James has faced teams better than what Jordan faced in the Finals… The numbers back it up.

For starters, we can easily look at the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who won a record 73 games, surpassing Jordan’s Bulls’ 72 wins in the 1995-96 season. The Warriors, who won 73 games, had a net rating of 10.7, which was far better than any team MJ faced in the Finals.

The highest net rating for an opponent against a Jordan team on the NBA’s biggest stage was 9.6. This was the 1996-97 Utah Jazz. The 10.7 net rating by the 2015-16 Warriors wasn’t even the highest for an opponent of James in the Finals.

That title would belong to the Warriors but the Kevin Durant version of the Golden State dynasty. The 2016-17 Warriors had a net rating of 11.6 while also raking in 67 wins.

The Cavaliers and James lost to the Warriors in the 2017 Finals, but that didn’t stop King James from making history. He became the first player to average a triple-double in a Finals series.

James put up 33.6 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game despite a 4-1 series defeat. This undoubtedly occurred thanks to how strong James’ opponents were.

In fact, between Jordan and James, King James has played the top three toughest teams, according to wins and net ratings, in the Finals. The third toughest would be the Warriors once again, this time the 2014-15 squad, which won 67 games and boasted a net rating of 10.2.

This is a stat that would make any LeBron fan jump for joy, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. James may have faced the best in the Finals, but he also faced the worst.

The two worst Finals opponents between the two were the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks and the 2019-20 Miami Heat. The Mavericks won 57 games and had a net rating of 4.7.

As for the Heat, they won 44 games in a 73-game season, with 49 wins adjusted to an 82-game schedule. The Heat, by far, had the lowest net rating of any of the above-mentioned Finals opponents, with just a 3.0 rating.

What makes things worse for James is the fact his Heat lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 Finals despite being the superior team. This is one fact Jordan fans love to use against LBJ’s GOAT case.

Here’s the complete list of James’ Finals opponents’ wins and net ratings: (*shortened seasons prorated to 82-game season*)

16-17 Golden State Warriors: 67 Wins, 11.6 Net Rating
15-16 Golden State Warriors: 73 Wins, 10.7 Net Rating
14-15 Golden State Warriors: 67 Wins, 10.2 Net Rating
06-07 San Antonio Spurs: 58 Wins, 9.3 Net Rating
13-14 San Antonio Spurs: 62 Wins, 8.1 Net Rating
12-13 San Antonio Spurs: 58 Wins, 6.7 Net Rating
11-12 Oklahoma City Thunder: 58 Wins, 6.6 Net Rating
17-18 Golden State Warriors: 58 Wins, 6.0 Net Rating
10-11 Dallas Mavericks: 57 Wins, 4.7 Net Rating
19-20 Miami Heat: 49 Wins, 3.0 Net Rating

There’s no doubt James’ 10 NBA Finals appearances are impressive. His record of 4-6 is a bit of an eyesore, but seeing some of the team’s King James had to face, the record is a bit more understandable.

Winning is still the true measure of greatness since that’s why the players play the game. Jordan’s 6-6 record in the Finals carries more weight than LeBron’s Finals record. You can’t deny that.

Conclusion

After looking at the facts, we have discovered that Michael Jordan faced tougher competition than LeBron James in their overall playoff careers. In the Finals, James faced the stronger teams but also the weakest teams.

Is this a definite explanation of who truly is the GOAT of the NBA? It’s certainly telling, but ultimately, the choice between Jordan and James is a matter of personal preference and opinion, as there is no definitive answer to this question.

LeBron fans will look at the powerful Warriors teams James has faced in the Finals and how no team Jordan faced has come close to their level of talent. The 2016 Finals upset win is the biggest argument for James’ GOAT case.

Meanwhile, Jordan fans will point to MJ’s overall strength in his playoff opponents, as well as the number of 60+ win teams MJ has beaten in the postseason. So, ultimately, there’s only one answer to the GOAT debate.

The answer is to enjoy LeBron James while he’s still playing. Also, enjoy and respect what Michael Jordan has done in his legendary career while appreciating both players and acknowledging that they both are great in their own ways.