"LeBron is better!" "No way, no one is better than Michael Jordan!" The never-ending battle between die-hard Jordan fans and the self-proclaimed King is once again heating up. Actually, for NBA fanatics, it never really goes away. Comparing players from different time eras is never easy, but when it comes to James and Jordan all hoops fans have an opinion.

By the numbers, the King is better, but there's more to it

LeBron James is smashing records every time he steps onto the court. It is hard to argue against James in this battle of basketball gods when you do a simple numbers check, but then again, not everything can be judged by statistics alone.

Intangibles and court leadership matter as well, and those things do not show up in the box score.

According to Hoops Hype, James is the king if we are strictly looking at the numbers. LeBron has more all NBA first team selections, more consecutive games in double digits, more playoff points, more NBA Finals appearances and more triple-doubles than Jordan - and the list goes on from there. Now, one thing James’ fans cannot argue is that LeBron has had an easier path to the Finals. Let’s be honest, the bottom seeds in the Eastern Conference haven’t been much to write home about over the past five seasons or more.

Jordan had to deal with Bird’s Boston Celtics, Dominique’s Atlanta Hawks and the Bad Boys in Detroit.

And when it comes to James breaking all of these scoring records, Jordan fans just simply point to NBA championship titles. So the battle rages on.

Isiah picks LeBron, Pippen reacts

How about going old school? This debate has even brought out the competitive nature of two old Eastern Conference foes, Isiah Thomas and Scottie Pippen.

Thomas' Pistons would battle Pippen and MJ’s Bulls to the wire for years, but when Thomas recently was asked who is the greatest, MJ or LeBron, Isiah said LeBron, hands down.

That didn’t sit well with Pippen, who fired back at Thomas by saying that Jordan is clearly the best ever, and he (Pippen) added that there is “no game I would ever play in and pick LeBron James over Michael Jordan.” Even retired players have a strong opinion on who is the best.

It seems after hearing the way Pippen reacted to Thomas' comments, Scottie has a bit of an ax to grind with Isiah. That or he still can't get over all of the hard fouls that Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, and the other Pistons put upon him in the 1990's.

The beauty of this is that no one is really wrong. After all, opinions are never wrong, just debatable. So who is your pick NBA fans? LeBron or Michael? Personally, I like Kobe, but that is for a different time!
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED