All of Jordan's championships are tainted because he never had to face Michael Jordan in the playoffs.
I don't care how good Lebron gets. MJ would never force a trade to join forces with Larry Bird or Magic to win a ring. As he ages, i wonder what he can do based on his current skill set.
MJ didn't force a trade because he had a future HOF on Chicago already, and then they added another in Rodman. If Jordan's best teammates in his second run weren't Pippen and Rodman and Kukoc, but Judd Buechler and Jason Caffey - do you think he would have been happy sticking it out in Chicago?
If Lebron wins 6 rings before its all said and done, with his career near triple double statistics. I would definitely put him as the greatest of all time ahead of Michael and Kobe. Lebron is a much better passer, rebounder and defender. You could make the argument that Jordan has less help, but come on. Rodman and Pippen are hall of famers.
He didn't force a trade. He gave Cleveland as much time as MJ gave Chicago, but Cleveland never delivered a Pippen.
No. It's that simple. He can challenge for the #2 spot though, but still far behind MJ. People just need to re-read Michael's resume/accolades before saying things like that.
This is so brilliant! I can't believe that I never even thought of that. It's the perfect comeback. lol
Yep. I read that somewhere a couple of weeks ago and that it was quite the comeback when folks say the Rockets' championships do not count.
No..smh if he wins atleast 4 rings with his superfriends then id definitely put him in the top 5, I say atleast 4 bc if you form a superteam you should win atleast 4, jordan was on another level lol just not even close, people who say that lebron is better than jordan are like the people who say that kanye is better than pac, its just ridiculous. Put jordan on those cavs teams, with todays female nba, no touching and you tell me he wouldn't have won a title? Cmon
We put him on the Bulls with Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc etc and he didn't win a title. Put him on Cleveland with Delonte West and Daniel Gibson and he would? Heh...no.
How sure are you of that? MJ is extremely competitive, to the point that he played most of his career making just 7M a year just so the Bulls can surround him with talent. So if their GM was an idiot like say Otis Smith and gave him Rashard Lewis on 20M a year and maybe a broken-down Arenas on another 20M a year contract would MJ stay on the Bulls? Of course he would, right? He'd win 6 rings with scrubs easily, right? I mean, all MJ has to do is say he's MJ and his opponents will stand around and wait for him to dunk 30 times for 60 pts on 100% FG, right? THen he'd go and have a 1-on-1 with Bugs Bunny before saving the universe from an intergalactic menace spawned by Addidas
So basically you're saying Pippe and Rodman don't count as superfriends? I mean, have you even watched the Bulls play? Or did you just watch ESPN highlight reels? FYI Rodman and Pippen are so much better than Bosh and Wade, and the Bulls were so good they reached the NBA finals when MJ retired. Where would Bosh and Wade be if LBJ didn't play this season? Also no one's saying LBJ is better than Jordan. But he is better than Kobe, that's for damn sure
let's be completely honest here ppl. as good as larry bird is, the world just THAT much more athletic now. I respect the 80's alot, especially after watching as many old games as possible, but if people are putting into aspect how much better people are now then they used to be. I.E. 1)Oscar Robertson would not average a triple double in today's NBA. 2) Wilt would not score anything close to 100 in today's NBA 3) Larry Bird was good for his time but this idea of him being a knock down 3 point shooter wasn't something until he developed later in his career. Furthermore, he was very unathletic (28 inch vertical, 5.4 second 40 yard dash, etc. during his college combine) He'd have so much trouble creating his own shot into today's NBA. 4) there are only a few players that would translate into good basketball at all eras: hakeem, shaq, mj, admiral, magic, kareem, etc. Bill Walton even says that Luke is more skilled and athletic than he was. And luke is a scrub. 5) MJ is goat, it's not even close. 50% shooting as a freaking SG guard. the person here that says durant will be the all time greatest scorer has no idea how good MJ was. MJ would consistently score 35ppg in today's NBA for sure - especially without handchecking and the fouls perimeter players get today. 6) Lebron will end up as an all time great and he'll be mentioned as competition but Jordan was the only player (and will be the only player) to ever be bigger than the game. Only some players become that way - gretsky, ali, and tiger are the only other ppl that I think were truly bigger than their sport. (you could make the arguments for some others but if you have to argue it, i don't think they truly transcended beyond their sport). again, with how athletic and talented ppl have to be an athlete now is ridiculous. the skill level today and athletic ability today far surpass the athletic ability 25 years ago. and especially in sports where the bigger the better does have some weight, you have to throw in the line (for their era). etc etc etc. 7) my opinion, i would say you'd have to get players that were drafted around the mid 80's to get players who could at least compete athletically today at a high level. so much stuff people said about players from a long time ago (like earl manigault being able to grab **** off the top of the backboard) http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/4307/james-white-vs-a-jumping-myth article debunking even current nba superstars not getting up there. you get alot of older people overrating what used to be.
Without spending the time going through your post point-by-point, all I'm going to say is that if you don't think guys like David Thompson or Dr. J could compete athletically with today's players, I'm not sure what to say to you.
1) Lebron, Durant both are better rebounders than Oscar was. He would not average 10 rebounds. Assists? Maybe. Pace was much faster, but you only got assists if he catch&shoot, no dribble. 3) That is stupid. 80' was by far tougest era in NBA. 5) Jordan was the first one to get superstar calls. Averaged more free throws than Durant. Durant is more efficent scorer. Scoring titles at age 23 - Durant: 3, Jordan: 0 Also Durant's game is not predicated on athleticism. In Jordan era, teams averaged 105 PPG on 47% shooting. In Durant era, teams are averaging 98 points on 45% shooting. It's harder to score. Teams are allowed to play zone. Some people are arguing that we are currently in the most defensive era in the history.
