Wade and MJ actually have extremely similar games. MJ had a better jumper. Neither Wade nor LeBron could lockdown MJ but they could bother him at least as much as MJ/Pippen could bother LeBron. I saw MJ play a lot, even remember that 69/18 game he had against the Cavs. He was great (much better when he was younger IMO), but I swear that as time goes on people make him out to be better than he really was. Like I said, he played a lot like Wade does, always going straight to the hoop. He got a lot of ref love during the threepeats too. [/quote] [/quote]Seriously a prime kobe is better player than Lebron now but younger fans who didnt get the chance to see it won't believe it. That's all.[/QUOTE] Uh, no. Prime Kobe was a more versatile scorer than LeBron, and possible than anyone who has ever played, but that's about it. LeBron right now is a better passer, rebounder, penetrator, and defender than Kobe ever was. Kobe has never even cracked 47% shooting and has never been a great three point shooter; what he has been able to do is score a lot on volume shots. And he has sustained a high level of play for many years, which is very impressive. But he's never been the best player in the league for any season (courtesy MVP notwithstanding), something LeBron has been pretty much since his rookie year.
Oh, I think both poll options are wrong. 1. No Way anyone wins easily. 2. Lebron/Wade won't have as many rings because Wade's body holding up is very unlikely
jordan and pippen complemented one another much better than wade and lebron. we know jordan was the scorer, and pippen the facilitator. there was no question who gets the ball late in games. although lebron is the best player in the L, wade is also a top 5 scorer in this L (something pippen was not). therefore, if wade is hot late in games, he will get more of the touches. lebron often has to switch between scorer/facilitator depends on what his team needs. furthermore, lebron and wade aren't the defenders jordan and pippen were. jordan and pippen are easily the greatest perimeter defending duo in the history of the L. furthermore, jordan and pippen did it and winning for 6 years. wade is 29 years old. he won't be a top 5 player 3-4 years from now. consistency is huge.
You can't say that for sure. Wade was a 22 y/o rookie so he actually doesn't have near the mileage of most players his age and is more comparable to the older generation of players who stayed in school. Many of those guys had long careers. MJ is an example of a guy who didn't have as many games under his belt due to college + two years off and he was elite into his mid/late 30s. With LeBron and Bosh shouldering so much of the load I have no doubt Wade will ease up on his game and this will extend his career. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see the Heat making a run comparable to the 90s Bulls.
I dunno about the defense. I think Lebron is as good as Pippen/Jordan. Lebron can shut down anyone except centers. Wade is clearly a step below defensively but I think he makes up for that on the offensive end and his knack of just making big plays.
Wade's a really underrated defender IMO. He's got long arms and always seems to be disrupting the offense. It's not surprising that the Heat are right at the tops of all defensive metrics.
this is wade's first long playoff run since 06 and he's already breaking down. let's be real, the way this guy plays, he's going to be declining by age 33. jordan perfected his midrange J by his late 20s and thus was able to sustain his career. and this is something that lebron is doing right now: he is not playing as reckless as he was in his earlier years and this will allow him to play at a high level for another 6-8 years. wade's J is still mediocre/below average. if the heat adds much needed depth, then possibly. but it's also up to wade to expand his game where he doesn't need to attack the paint 70% of the game. lebron is better than pippen. that's unquestionable. jordan, i can't say that right now, or ever. if lebron wins 6 rings and continues this level of production and racks up 3-4 more MVPs, then he will be in the conversation. wade is better than pippen also, but not by much b/c defensively he's not as good, but he's a much better scorer than pippen. remember, jordan/pippen were 6-0 in the finals, stopping karl malone/stockton/barkley/drexler/patrick ewing... a LOT of all-time greats. lebron/wade have a long way to go before they are in the conversation. he's underrated, but he also have long stretches where he goes to sleep defensively. you saw that in game 1 of the finals in the first half. you saw that a lot of times during the reg season. if wade exerts 100% effort defensively, he probably is a top 3 defender at his position.
I'm a believer that mileage is more important than age; it's not like people break down when they turn 30, but years of basketball will do that. Wade doesn't have that much mileage, about the same as Jordan did when he was in his mid-20s and drove 70% of the time (Jordan was also punished a lot more because defenses were more physical then with the handchecking and unwritten rules). Wade has been injury-prone but he's in great shape and has at least three more years of elite basketball in him, and probably five+ years of good basketball.
yes mileage is more important that age. but how a player plays the game has to be taken into account as part of the mileage equation. wade doesn't have as much mileage as say a kobe, but he plays like an allen iverson. the hits he gets from being reckless and attacking the rim adds more to that mileage. i don't think wade can average 25 points per game at high efficiency when he's 33 years old. i just don't see it. wade still has that lethal first step, so when he loses that, he's not going to get to the basket as easily. and his J isn't so great for him to depend on (he shot 38% from the midraneg this year, and 32% from 3s). if he wants to prolong his career, he needs to take notes from lebron james. lebron is more perimeter-oriented than ever. and he's still scoring as efficiently as ever. as you get older, you have to pick your spots to drive. i didn't think lebron would make this transformation so fast at age 26 b/c he's still faster and more athletic than basically everyone in the L.
I think the diference is that they became hall of famers togethers, being built on the same rooster, growing together. Lebron and wade where already really good on another teams. Is not the same if u have wade and get lucky and draft lebron. Mj never joined forces with charles barkley or ewing, or hakeem. Thats the difference. And yes, this thread is pretty stupid, plz close it. When lebron+wade wins 4 or 5 championships ( and they have the talent to do it) u can re open it and ask this question again. Right now is ridiculous to even put jordan in the same sentence of lebron, who lost his only finals appearence 4-0... and yes he was owned badly by bruce bowen.
It's not ridiculous at all, because Finals and titles are team accomplishments, and until this year LeBron had ****ty teammates. Jordan would have done no better with the team LeBron had in Cleveland-- we know this because he had poorer performances with similar casts in his first few years. There is no way any knowledgeable fan can use LeBron's previous Finals performance against him, because just getting that team to the playoffs, much less the Finals, was a damn near miracle.
I agree. That's the only argument we need to make here at all. It's the same reason I think Bill Russell and Sam Jones would easily destroy MJ and Pippen. After all, those guys won 10 rings together.
LeBron better not miss though. Cuz then in a half court game to 15, Jordan and Pippen would both take turns posting up Wade. I think niether of them could stop Lebron, Jordan could slow down Wade, and I see pippen absolutely handcuffing Wade. Even with hand checking, niether is strong enough to stop LeBron from getting to the rim. Without hand checking LBron is too slow and Wade is too small to stop Jordan. I would say good defense but better offense on both sides. So, it would come down to will to win. We know who wins that every time.
If you're talking about 1-2 punches, you really can't top MJ+Pippen. Both of those guys were all around players, great defensive minds, athletic as hell and most importantly were athletic freaks who rarely got injured despite playing an era where every opponent wanted to kill them on the court. Individually though I'd rather have Lebron than MJ. The dude's an athletic beast, and although he doesn't have MJ's leadership skills or maturity at least he won't retire after 3 years to play baseball.
Again... maybe in 10 or even 5 years we could ask ourselves this kind of questions, right now is pretty stupid. Wade has 1 ring and lebron 0. Maybe this year they get one. Lebron went to the finals on 2007, because the east was really weak, and thats really not the case of jordan first years in the league, where the larry bird celtics, the isiah pistons where dominating the league. So yes, right now is lame to compare those guys. Later on their career when all its said and done, maybe they belong on the talk.
This would be a valid point if the question was which duo was more successful or had a greater impact on the league. But the question is who would win in a game of two-on-two. The fact that MJ and Pippen won rings as members of 12 man teams and over the course of many years is irrelevant. Look at MJ/Pippen in their best year together and ignore the accomplishments of the team. Which pair would win a game?
First... thats not the question: And of course ill pick mj+pippen if iam a gm. And to me, the most important stat is winning. Or do u really think monta ellis is a better player than manu ginobili or ray allen, just coz he scores more? Winning is what separates mj from lebron now. Now maybe in 10 years lebron gets 8 championships and now we can talk who was better. But to me, the better players are the ones that win and find ways to win.
Jordan and an above average player over anybody. MJ made everyone look so much better ....Just look at how overrated Pippen is.
That is just dumb. The Bulls won 54 games without Jordan. The Cavs won under 20 without Lebron. Lebron made MO ****ING WILLIAMS and all star. Who makes his teammates better? I feel dirty supporting Lebron but damn.
