Michael Jordan's career was known as a long and illustrious one that consisted of many great achievements and many great milestones. His career started at age 21 and finished at 40, with three retirements and many ups and downs along the way. Michael Jordan played basketball for a long time. LeBron James on the other hand, started his career at the age of 18 and currently in his 14th season, at the prime age of 32. LeBron James has already passed Jordan in a crazy statistic!
James played more games in the NBA than Jordan
After 15 seasons and 13 playoff runs in the NBA, Michael Jordan has played 1,251 games in the National Basketball Association.
Meanwhile LeBron James is nearing the end of his 14th NBA season, with 11 playoff runs, so far, he has already played in 1,252 career games. Surpassing MJ. This is attributed to LeBron's outlandish health throughout his career.
While he plays a physical game, taking hits and punishment on a nightly basis. King James takes so much care of his body whenever he is not playing basketball which has made for an incredibly healthy career. This allowed him to pass the great, Michael Jordan in games played, while playing less seasons. This isn't a statistic that everyone will be talking about, but it is a statistic that is worth thinking about. LeBron has many seasons to go in the NBA after playing 1,252 games (according to basketball-reference), whereas Jordan was aged 40, playing in his last game when reaching 1,251.
Should rest games really be criticised?
Whenever LeBron James rests a game, he is criticised. The media, the fans, the NBA usually always want King James to suit up and play. This makes for a more entertaining game, and will more than likely prevent the fans from getting bored and changing the channel.
But rest games have been very important to the success of LeBron James in the last few seasons.
Not many players have sustained a consistent excellence like LeBron has for 14 straight seasons. And not many have played to the level he is at right now at age 32, after all the minutes he's already logged throughout his career.
These rest games allow LBJ to stay remotely fresh throughout the season, and give him the energy boost needed for the playoffs. It's no surprise King James has appeared in the last 6 NBA finals series', winning three of them.
