The age old debate of who is better and who is greater: Michael Jordan or Lebron James? I always thought Lebron James was the better player but not greater, meaning he didn't achieve as much in his career or his throughput was not as high as MJ, however, after that Cavs championship I finally motioned Lebron James has surpassed MJ as the best and greatest player of all time. Now after Lebron passed the scoring record of Kareem this debate surfaces it's ugly head once again.

The answer to this question boils down to one simple thing. Do you believe in evolution? Do you believe in growth? Do you believe the NBA has gotten more competitive? If the answer to all 3 were NO then there is no need to read any further, however if a sliver of a yes trickled in your consciousness and you allow that shimmer of light to narrowly creep through the curtains, then please read on.

Has the NBA grown and gotten more competitive? Rules aside, let's just look at the NBA as a whole. In 1992-1995 there were 27 NBA teams and today there are now 30 NBA teams. Lebron James has played nearly the entirety of his career with 30 NBA teams in the league where Jordan played with 27 teams for the majority of his career and 29 for the last 3 championships with EXPANSION teams. EXPANSION teams have no value in the short term so the odds of winning titles less favors Lebron.

Has the NBA gotten more competitive? MONEY. Anytime money is involved, competition tightens up. The influx of money has made the game more competitive shown in the quality of players. First the international stardom. Basketball is an international sport today. 4/8 top players in the NBA are not born in the United States. In MJs era Hakeem was riding solo. Giannis, Joker, Luka, Embiid headline today's league. Players from all around the world are training at young ages, expanding their leagues, producing prospects for the NBA. When Jordan was playing, his pool was the United States, in Lebron's era his pool is an ocean and that is the world. The Dream Team didn't have to play one team with a top 75 NBA player talent, today there are 6 quality international teams at the Olympics or FIBA.

Have the NBA players evolved and gotten better? The quality of players here are vastly so much better. During Jordan's era you could make it to the league by not playing any organized ball through your teens and 20's. You could get drafted from a JUCO or division 2 i.e: Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Shawn Kemp, Charles Oakley etc. Today you have to play in the most competitive leagues and the talent has gotten so good everyone is fighting for a few spots, whether D1, G-League or international. Everyone can hoop today and this is why over 40 players average over 20 pts, you can say pace but NO it's skill. There was a possibility you could make more money doing something other than basketball back in the day.

Has the NBA gotten more competitive? Since there is so much talent this is why the dispersion in records between teams is a lot smaller than in Jordan's era. The lower tier teams have quality players and have gotten better to close the gap. Everyone can hoop, there are more stars than ever before and more quality role guys. The role guys have the potential for stardom if given OPPORTUNITY (Cam Thomas). 90% of the players have the similar talent; they only need an opportunity to escape their role. Role players more than ever before can dictate the direction of a game where 25 years ago those player were less skilled. In the backend of Lebron's era, 4/5 of your starters could give you 20. How many all star snubs did you count? No one will ever again win 6 rings with no losses and 5 season MVPs and a DPOY. The NBA has standardized itself now. There is structure, money, and a plethora of talent in today's league.

Evolution, growth and competition exist in every part of the world from markets, to technology to education but somehow eludes everyone when it comes to basketball. No one questions if football players today are better than back then, but only in basketball do simple principles of physics and logic not become a basis. I would even argue the NBA is in a phase of optimization and efficiency.

There is more that could be touched on like playstyle, coaching, the ethical fairness of the game but I only wanted you to think about has the NBA gotten more competitive? Freshmen in college are picking up internships, job candidates are picking up more skills to be competitive in the market. Competition exists and if you make it out on top respect it and acknowledge it a.k.a Lebron James. I like to say Michael Jordan was amazing out of a worse bunch, where Lebron is amazing out of the best bunch. I will always show love to Mike, but who am I more enamored by Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? You are probably somewhere reading this on an iPhone.