And the winner is.... Michael Jordan!!!!

Fans, we at Athletes and Eras must admit: this was the hardest comparison we've had to made in our young careers. However, after much deliberation and fact-checking, we believe that Michael Jordan would come out on top, but just barely. We predict that the final score of the game would be 19-21, in favor of Jordan, in a one-on-one game of basketball. And here's why.

When comparing these two athletes, the first, and most obvious, thing we looked at was their scoring. Who could score more points in a single game? However, we ran into a problem: when it comes to scoring, Michael Jordan and LeBron James are too close to decisively tell who would perform better in a one-on-one confrontation. So our next step was to divide the scoring into two categories: dunking and shooting. But this too proved to be difficult, since both players can easily make a basket from anywhere on the court and dunking is never an issue for either of them. So, we had to move on to something else. We decided that we would have to encompass every aspect of basketball until we came to an area where one player had a big advantage. Let's call it an X-factor.

And in this game, the X-factor was defense. When Michael Jordan played defense, there was no getting past him. He is the first player to achieve over 200 steals and 100 blocks in his career, and that was well before his retirement. LeBron James' skill and scoring prowess would be a challenge, but in the end, Jordan would know what to do and James would soon find himself empty-handed

Also, we considered training and experience. Jordan had another big advantage in this area because he played basketball in college, whereas James went pro straight out of high school. College gives young players the closest simulation to professional-league sports they can get, so by the time they do turn pro, they already know what to expect and how to handle many different situations. Jordan was as much a chess player as he was a basketball player; he could think on his feet and alter his strategy to fit many different situations.

That being said, Jordan would be in for the game of his life. Judging by the sheer size difference between the two (Jordan: 6'6", 216 lbs, James: 6'8", 250lbs), Jordan could easily have one of his toes broken should James step on them, even accidentally. And James' ability to score from virtually anywhere would be difficult for Jordan to handle. And in spite of the 36-pound weight difference, James is still a very fast and agile player. He can take off and fly just as easily as Jordan can. Needless to say, it would be an extremely entertaining game. James would take an early lead, but Jordan would catch up and eventually overtake to secure the win. Way to go, MJ!

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