Who has had a more impressive reign in the 2010s? LeBron James or Tom Brady?

[Soul_Survivor88]

I know people in New England dislike LeBron a lot, but as a Pats fan, I can relate to having your favorite athlete be despised by the rest of the country.

What's also remarkable, are the statistical parallels between LeBron and Brady. Statistically, they both hit their career peak in the 2010s, and for the past six years, have arguably been the most elite players in their respective sport.

You can see their stretch of dominance in the postseason:

LeBron James has been in the NBA finals for the past six consecutive seasons, and in that span, his teams have always been either #1 or #2 in the Eastern Conference.

Tom Brady has appeared in five consecutive AFC Championship games, and his team has had a first-round bye week for the past 7 years.

There have been many other players who have had MVP-caliber seasons in that span, or have won titles. But those players have always had to go through either LeBron James or Tom Brady. No other marquee player has been as dominant in the postseason as these two. Statistically, I wonder which of the two comes out as being more dominant.

Assuming you can put your homerism aside for a bit (yeah right) I'd be curious to know your thoughts...

 

[PF_SU]

Not comparable. James has played with an all-star squad in a bad Eastern Conference. The NBA's Eastern Conference is like the AFC South.

 

[PF_SU]

Moreover, it's always tough to compare a league with a 16-game regular season and one-game elimination playoffs with a league that has 82 regular season games and a best-of-seven playoff schedule. The NBA is geared towards the superior team and James' teams have always been the superior one in the Eastern Conference since he joined Miami in 2010.

If you want to look at a comparison to what the Patriots are doing since 2011, I'd suggest going somewhere entirely else. Go take a look at the German football national team. They've made the semifinals in every major tournament since 2006 (World Cup 2006, 2010, 2014; Euro 2008, 2012, 2016) with two finals appearances (2008, 2014) and a title (2014).

 

[fnordcircle]

I'm sure this question about the greatest player in Patriots' history on a Patriots discussion board will give you a good, unbiased data sample.

 

[jah]

this is too easy. one has 4 rings the other has one. case closed. this thread is dumb. don't we have plenty to talk about? this is an awful thread in the offseason never mind during the season.

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[XLIX]

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

He wasn't off by all that much. James has 3 rings and Brady has one (in the 2010's). But it is different sport so I don't like the comparison. A great NBAer can completely dominate a game far more than a great NFLer.

 

[ALP]

He wasn't off by all that much. James has 3 rings and Brady has one (in the 2010's). But it is different sport so I don't like the comparison. A great NBAer can completely dominate a game far more than a great NFLer.

im pretty sure when he said 4 and 1 though he meant 4=brady, 1=LBJ

 

[supafly]

I'll be the one sucker who votes for James. I think he's had a more dominant post-2010 period, which is what the OP questioned. My only reasoning is simple: he's won more championships and been in the finals every single year, specifically with 3 different teams (CLE then and now + SA).

As another poster has mentioned--it's very difficult to compare the two players, as the sports and matchups are quite different. Obviously, no one in the NFL has been more dominant than Brady, but I think football is much more of a team game with different responsibilities.

 

[XLIX]

im pretty sure when he said 4 and 1 though he meant 4=brady, 1=LBJ

Why do you think that? It makes more sense that he just misremembered LeBron at 4 when it should be 3 instead of thinking Brady won 4 rings this decade.

I guess only Captain Insano knows for sure.

 

[ViperGTS]

If Bron Bron was correctly called for charging throughout his career he would be half of what he is. Maybe 3/4, but I know he'd have a a lot less minutes do to fouling out in the first quarter. Instead he always, to this day, gets a pass. Elite player pass or whatever the NBA calls it.

TB has been on a team that gets the shaft more than it gets the good/correct calls. This means he has basically had to fight the refs as well as the opposing teams, and rely on a wholly different unit (defense) to help win games.


Not even close to a comparisons. Ability, championships anything. Nothing remotely compares them other than name recognition.

 

[ViperGTS]

I'll be the one sucker who votes for James. I think he's had a more dominant post-2010 period, which is what the OP questioned. My only reasoning is simple: he's won more championships and been in the finals every single year, specifically with 3 different teams (CLE then and now + SA).

As another poster has mentioned--it's very difficult to compare the two players, as the sports and matchups are quite different. Obviously, no one in the NFL has been more dominant than Brady, but I think football is much more of a team game with different responsibilities.

So wrong. See above.

 

[wolverinejoe80]

it's hard to compare basketball to football. basketball is so much easier to dominate because it's 5 on 5. football on the other hand is the ultimate team game. no matter how great brady is, somebody still has to catch the ball and run routes. brady can tell thompkins and dobson to wake up and run a crisp route, but it's up to these rookies to run a crisp route and be where they are supposed to be.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

american football is much harder even tho its just 16 reg season games.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Its james at this point. Id like to revisit in 3-4 years tho

 

[RobertWeathers]

Different sports.

Can't stand LJ but after this past Finals he has my respect as one of the greats. I think it also legitimised what he did in MIA a little more.

Brady is GoAT in football. Period. He's been dominant in the 2010s. Because of the team dynamic football has a higher degree of difficulty to win titles.

I don't think it's apples to apples.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I voted LeBron James (for now) because while it might be easier for 1 player to dominate in basketball, basketball still asks you to do several things all at once (block, rebound, shoot, assist, steal) and LeBron has dominated all categories, LITERALLY

This past season, during the NBA Finals, LeBron averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocks and 2.6 steals in helping the Cavs become the first team to erase a 3-1 Finals deficit - making him the first person in NBA history to lead all players on both teams, in those five statistical categories.

Brady's performance in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl 49 (particularly those two final scoring drives) comes close to matching LeBron's 2016 Finals performance. Also, I'd say TB12 has dominated his position in a way no else has. As much as you could expect from a QB, Tom Brady has carried his team to victory.

Quarterback may be the hardest position to play in all of sports, so I might be inclined to give Brady the edge on that alone - not to mention the team dynamic and margin of error in football is more challenging.

I think Brady and LeBron each have at least 2 more years of dominant play. Like @PATSYLICIOUS said, we can make a more definitive judgement after that.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

I know people in New England dislike LeBron a lot, but as a Pats fan, I can relate to having your favorite athlete be despised by the rest of the country.

What's also remarkable, are the statistical parallels between LeBron and Brady. Statistically, they both hit their career peak in the 2010s, and for the past six years, have arguably been the most elite players in their respective sport.

You can see their stretch of dominance in the postseason:

LeBron James has been in the NBA finals for the past six consecutive seasons, and in that span, his teams have always been either #1 or #2 in the Eastern Conference.

Tom Brady has appeared in five consecutive AFC Championship games, and his team has had a first-round bye week for the past 7 years.

There have been many other players who have had MVP-caliber seasons in that span, or have won titles. But those players have always had to go through either LeBron James or Tom Brady. No other marquee player has been as dominant in the postseason as these two. Statistically, I wonder which of the two comes out as being more dominant.

Assuming you can put your homerism aside for a bit (yeah right) I'd be curious to know your thoughts...

Tom Brady- GOAT, humble polite kid, unfairly vilified by dirtbag media.

LeBron- overrated jerk, refers to himself as "the King" , beloved by the dirtbag media.

I'm admittedly biased but I don't think I'm wrong.

 

[Pats1989]

I understand in basketball one star player makes a world of difference. However six straight NBA finals is unfathomable

 

[BelichicksBlackEye]

Lebron with out a shadow of a doubt... He has been to 6 straight NBA finals. Tom has not been to 6 straight super bowls. CASE CLOSED

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I understand in basketball one star player makes a world of difference. However six straight NBA finals is unfathomable

six straight NBA finals on three different teams too! That's unreal