First of all and most significantly, he had been retired for 3 seasons. Insane that he came back at an All-Star level in his late 30's.

MJ turned 39 in February of 2002. Lebron only turned 38 December 30th. MJ was essentially a year older. He didn't play the prior season. Next year will be a better comparison.

Third, Jordan played in every game (51 out of 52 games) but 1 prior to his MCL tear. There was no nights off etc., and the schedule was more condensed.

Prior to the game where he tore his MCL, Jordan averaged 24.6 ppg, 6 rpg, 5.4 apg, and 1.5 spg. Still not the stats Lebron is putting up, but better than Kareem.

Through 51 games, Lebron has played in only 40 games. Which really goes more to their careers, where LBJ has sat out far more games in a more drawn out schedule, and MJ played in all 82 games most of the time including at age 40.