At 41 years old and in the final chapter of one of the greatest careers in sports history, LeBron James has made peace with the argument that once got under his skin.
Speaking to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin across a series of interviews conducted throughout the 2025-26 season, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar opened up about his 4-6 NBA Finals record, his complicated feelings about the losing side of those appearances, and why he stopped measuring himself against Michael Jordan a long time ago.
“When I was younger, I used to have the notion of like, people were getting on me for losing in the Finals, and when I was younger, I used to listen to it,” James said. The criticism, familiar to anyone who has followed his career, centres on a simple comparison: Jordan went 6-0 in NBA Finals appearances. James has been 10 times and won four. The losing record, for a certain school of thought, settles the GOAT debate right there.
James finds that logic baffling. “People will really rather you not make the playoffs or lose in the first round than to lose in the Finals, which is crazy to me,” he said. His point is a fair one. Reaching the Finals requires eliminating the best teams in basketball across multiple rounds. His streak of eight consecutive Finals appearances from 2011 to 2018 is one of the most remarkable sustained achievements in the sport’s history, and one he believes may never be replicated.
He is not without regret on the subject. “I am pissed off that I didn’t have a better winning percentage individually in the Finals,” he admitted. “But for people to try to turn it into a negative, it doesn’t bother me like it did when I was younger.”
On Jordan, James was both generous and precise. At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, he has always been a different kind of player from the 6-foot-6 shooting guard from North Carolina. “I never have compared myself to MJ because our games are totally different,” he explained. “I have always looked for the pass. MJ kind of looked for the shot. Not kind of, he did. He looked for the shot.”
The praise for Jordan was genuine. “There are a lot of things that MJ did better than I do, and I think there are some things that I do better than him,” he said, calling both players “one-of-one” talents rather than ranking one above the other.
Growing up in Akron, Ohio, Jordan was the dream. The sneakers, the flair, the game-winners. “I hope I made him proud at least, wearing that No. 23,” James reflected.
