New Advanced Playoff Metrics Show Michael Jordan and LeBron James in Class by Themselves

When debating who the greatest NBA players of all time are, people often use cold hard numbers to make their claim.

Reddit user qwery7990 recently looked at several advanced stats to prove how Michael Jordan and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James are on a level that no one else is on.

When looking at entire playoff runs, James has had five postseasons with a player efficiency rating (PER) of at least 30.0, while Jordan had four. Lakers great Shaquille O’Neal came close with three such postseasons.

When it comes to having win shares per 48 minutes of at least 0.270, the results were the same: James has five such postseasons and Jordan has four. In this department, another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also had four playoff runs.

Both James and Jordan have eight postseasons with a box plus-minus (BPM) of at least 10.0, as well as five postseasons with a value over replacement player (VORP) of at least 2.5. No one else even came close in either category.

Of course, there are those pundits that will say a true analysis of where someone ranks on an all-time list should also include championships, individual accolades and some intangibles. But looking at the clear-cut numbers, Jordan and James are in a class by themselves.