Michael Jordan Comparison With The All-Time NBA Greats

This is a comparison of Michael Jordan's numbers with those of the other NBA greatest stars

Although Michael Jordan's numbers and achievements are clearly fantastic at first sight, it's always good to take a look at the big picture. Here we have made a summary of data, stats and awards to compare MJ vs some of the other NBA greatest stars.

Although the players listed here have played in different positions on the court, they are considered the best basketball players of all time. This is to say that you can't expect Jordan to have more rebounds than Chamberlain or more assists than Magic, but this comparison can give you a general idea of what the best players have achieved.

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Basic Data Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Magic Johnson Larry Bird Oscar Robertson Bill Russell
NBA Seasons 15 20 14 13 13 14 13
NBA Championships 6 6 2 5

3

1 11
Finals Played 6 10 6 9 5 2 12
Nickname His Airness The Big Fella The Stilt Magic Larry Legend Big O -
Teams Bulls Bucks,
Lakers
Warriors, 76ers
Lakers
Lakers Celtics Royals,
Bucks
Celtics
Jersey Numbers 23 / 45 33 13 32 33 14 / 1 6
Honors and Awards Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Magic Johnson Larry Bird Oscar Robertson Bill Russell
Season MVP 5 6 4 3 3 1 5
Finals MVP * 6 2 1 3 2 - -
All-NBA 1st Team 10 10 7 9 9 9 3
All-NBA 2nd Team 1 5 3 1 1 2 8
All-NBA 3rd Team - - - - - - -
All-Defensive 1st Team * 9 5 2 - - - 1
All-Defensive 2nd Team - 6 - - 3 - -
Def. Player of the Year * 1 - - - - - -
Scoring Titles 10 2 7 - - - -
Rebounding leader - 1 11 - - - 4
Assists leader - - 1 4 - 6 -
Steals leader * 3 - - 2 - - -
Blocks leader * - 4 - - - - -
Rookie of the Year yes yes yes no yes yes no
Season Stats Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Magic Johnson Larry Bird Oscar Robertson Bill Russell
Total Games 1,072 1,560 1,045 906 897 1040 963
Points per Game
30.1 24.6 30.1 19.5 24.3 25.7 15.1
Rebounds per Game 6.2 11.2 22.9 7.2 10.0 7.5 22.5
Assists per Game 5.3 3.6 4.4 11.2 6.3 9.5 4.3
Steals per Game * 2.3 0.9 - 1.9 1.7 1.1 -
Field Goal Percentage .497 .559 .540 .520 .496 .485 .440
3-Point Percentage .327 .056 .- .303 .376 - -
Free Throw Percentage .835 .721 .511 .848 .886 .838 .561
Total Points 32,292 38,387 31,419 17,707 21,791 26,710 14,522
Total Rebounds 6,672 17,440 23,924 6,559 8,974 7,804 21,620
Total Assists 5,633 5,660 4,643 10,141 5,695 9,887 4,100
Total Steals 2,514 1,160 - 1,724 1,556 77 -
Playoffs Stats Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Magic Johnson Larry Bird Oscar Robertson Bill Russell
Total Games 179 237 160 190 164 86 165
Points per Game 33.4 24.3 22.5 19.5 23.8 22.2 16.2
Rebounds per Game 6.4 10.5 24.5 5.7 10.3 6.7 24.9
Assists per Game 5.7 3.2 4.2 12.3 6.5 8.9 4.7
Field Goal Percentage .487 .533 .522 .506 .472 .460 .430
3-Point Percentage .332 .000 - .241 .321 - -
Free Throw Percentage .828 .740 .465 .838 .890 .855 .603
Total Points 5,987 5,762 3,607 3,701 3,897 1,910 2,673
Total Rebounds 1152 2481 3913 1465 1683 578 4104
Total Assists 1022 767 673 2346 1062 769 770
Total Steals 376 189 - 358 296 15 -
Other Data Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wilt Chamberlain Magic Johnson Larry Bird Oscar Robertson Bill Russell
All-Star Games 14 19 13 12 12 12 12
All-Star Game MVP 3 - 1 2 1 3 1
Season Triple Doubles 28 **   78 138 59 181  

* All-Star Games shows how many times the player was selected for the ASG.
** Michael Jordan's triple doubles detail: 28 triple doubles in Regular Season, 2 triple doubles in Playoffs and 1 triple double in an All-Star game (Jordan, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant recorded the only 4 triple doubles in All-Star Game history) / The other players data only show triple doubles in regular season

About categories and awards:
- the All-Defensive Team honor was established in the 1968-69 season. Chamberlain and Russell would have been there many, many times.
- The Finals MVP award was established for the 1968-69 NBA Finals, It was Russell's final season.
- Steals and blocks:  These stats weren't officially recorded until the 1974 season, Russell and Chamberlain could have lead the league in blocks many times, and Abdul-Jabbar surely would have been at the top of the blocks category a couple of times more than the 4 times he was.
- Defensive Player of the Year: this award wasn't issued until the 1983 season, It's safe to say that Bill Russell would have won quite a few of these, and Chamberlain probably would have won it in 1972 and 1973.

Related Links:
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 NBA Universe
NBAUniverse.com has all the details about the NBA scoring leaders, assists leaders, rebounds leaders and all the other stats and awards compared here.