Could LeBron James Beat Michael Jordan In His Prime?

Michael Jordan, LeBron James
Getty Image

After news broke that LeBron James‘ entertainment company had partnered with Warner Bros, who had filed new trademarks for Space Jam the month earlier, the Internet lost their sh*t. A sequel to the 1996 Michael Jordan vehicle would make a lot of people happy after Jordan’s star turn with Bugs Bunny, Bill Murray and the Monstars reached cult status in the ensuing 19 years since it was released. With the news barely a week old, analysts* at the website OnlineGambling.lv posted the following odds on the new movie, LeBron’s participation and other totally theoretical and arbitrary odds about the possible follow-up.

Below are the odds, but we wanted to call your attention to one specific bet that we’re pretty sure you’ll care about; although, please don’t care about it too much. Remember, it’s theoretical, but Gambling Online created odds for the one-on-one battle that’s going to be the biggest bar argument since Kobe vs. MJ.

Odds on who would win a 1-on-1 game between LeBron James and Michael Jordan with both players in their prime:

LeBron James: 3/2
Michael Jordan: 2/3

So, bet $3 to win $2 on LeBron and — in what has to be a first for him — bet $2 to win $3 on a prime Michael Jordan beating LeBron.

Before you we give you the rest of the Space Jam 2 odds, we want to remind readers — AGAIN — this is all in the abstract. Prime MJ and prime LeBron can’t play one-on-one.

If they could, however, younger fans might argue that LeBron’s size advantage would allow him to bang MJ in the post and win. There’s too many inches (two) and pounds (around 50) separating the two for MJ to beat LeBron. These people wouldn’t really be wrong, either. If you’re an older NBA fan, you’re probably smiling right now and wondering why anyone on Earth would bet against Michael Jordan in something like a one-on-one game of basketball. These people aren’t wrong, either. See what we’re doing?

For a third time, this is all conjectural. Please don’t lose your head if someone disagrees with you.

LeBron James, Michael Jordan
Getty Image

Here are the rest of the odds.

Odds LeBron James stars in a Space Jam sequel: 5/2

Odds on the winner of a Space Jam game between The Monstars and Warner Brothers characters without James:
Monstars: 1/9
Warner Brothers characters: 9/1

Odds on the winner of a Space Jam game between the Monstars and Warner Brothers characters with James:
Monstars: 1/1
Warner Brothers characters: 1/1

Odds on which other NBA players would star in the sequel (replacing Charles Barkley, Sean Bradley, Muggsy Bogues, Patrick Ewing, and Larry Johnson):
Dwayne Wade: 1/3
Chris Paul: 2/3
Carmelo Anthony: 2/3
Kyrie Irving: 2/1
Steph Curry: 2/1
Kevin Durant: 2/1
James Harden: 5/1
Dwight Howard: 5/1
Tim Duncan: 5/1
Chris Bosh: 5/1
Marc Gasol: 8/1
DeAndre Jordan: 10/1
Kawhi Leonard: 10/1

Odds on whose Space Jam team would win with all players in their prime:
LeBron James (with Wade, Paul, Anthony, and Howard): 3/2
Michael Jordan (with Barkley, Bradley, Bogues, Ewing, and Johnson): 2/3

Odds on Space Jam 3 ever being made: 5/1

Odds that Michael Jordan makes a cameo in a Space Jam sequel: 1/1

Odds LeBron James ever wins an Oscar: 50/1

Odds LeBron James ever wins an Emmy: 25/1

Odds LeBron James retires from the NBA to focus on his movie career in the next five years: 10/1

*Analysts is used VERY loosely here, almost like how some toddlers *analyze* SpongeBob SquarePants.

(Online Gambling)