Jordan in today's NBA where Harden is the best SG in the league would be scary. He would dominate everyone.
It you take Lebron off the heat then they are a "55 win team"... Bosh and wade and plus they'll have salary for other players.. If Lebron wants to be Goat, he needs a 73 win season.
MJ also retired around his prime so in those years, he could have built his résumé to be way better than It is already. Mj already had the drive as a young player, Lebron is just now getting to that type of mentality. Mj prime > LBj prime
Correct. MJ played in the Era of the Bigs. No other decade had more HOF centers and PFs. Can we really say this Heat team would win 6 rings in an era when Lebron has to drive into the highest concentration of lane defenders in the history of the NBA. Likewise it's an era where he could rarely ever play defense against 4s and 5s. Like he does now
Winning rings? Who knows? Butterfly effect. Mabye they win 6 or 16 or 1 or zero. THey would have been very good though - but to say that it's easier to score in the lane now, when teams make a far more concerted effort to discourage it now than they did then- doesn't strike me as accurate. Likewise the myth that it's easier to score now than it was in the early 90's is belied by lesser offensive efficiency now.
The eastern conference was a joke in the mid 90's, particularly that year. The west had all of the top teams (Utah, Seattle, Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, etc...) But I agree that Lebron has physical tools that MJ did not
I'm currently on game 4 of the 91 Finals. Going to watch all the way up to 98. Watching Jordan and watching Lebron. I'll take Jordan any time, any where. I can see why he said that if he meant 1 on 1. I mean..Lebron is huge and a beast of an athlete. But, Jordan wouldn't be guarding him. He'd be matched up with Wade. So it's just silly to me. Plenty of big guys who could beat jordan, but Jordan is gonna beat them right back. And in the end, with the game on the line, no one is better.
I think I even heard the story that Michael Finley beat Jordan in a game of 1 on 1 when he was still at Wisconsin. So yeah, there's almost not doubt that if Jordan and Lebron played 5 games Lebron would grab a couple, maybe even three out of five. The question still remains who is the better player? Until Lebron three-peats once he cannot be considered against a guy who did it twice.
lol..LBJ never been in a fist fight in his life....Mohammed pushed dude and LBJ acted like he ain't want NO PARTS of nothing. MJ is Omega Psi Phi....the dogs don't play.....advantage MJ. On he basketball court....you already know.....again..MJ...ALL DAMN DAY!
It is easier to score now. If current offensive efficiency is less than the 90's, that's probably a testament to the difference in the quality of players. Do you remember the purpose of the rule changes? http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/04/09/stujackson/index.html
Defense also has more freedom now, with the abolition of the illegal defense rule. They can more easily pack the paint. They can double a player even before he gets the ball. They can play semi-zones to stop the other team's top scorer. They couldn't do that in the 90s. It was a lot easier to spread the floor back then because all you needed to do was have the other four players stand outside the 3pt line on the weak side and the guy who defended your top wing scorer would be on an island all by himself. I don't think you can say that today's players have lower offensive skills. Based on what can you make that claim? I think it is harder to play offense now because of the more advanced scouting methods available.
This is actually a good question. Conventional wisdom says MJ is the better player but Lebron is the type of guy that can play with anyone. If one of your next picks happens to be Kobe how the hell do MJ and Kobe play together? Lebron would make Kobe better. I would lean towards picking Lebron first overall because he can play 1-4 and he would give you more roster flexibility down the line.
I think people don't comprehend the true physicality of the league because NBA athletes do make things look fluid and "easy". As though they're casted into the roles like video game characters. But look at Kevin Durant against the Grizzlies. He had just 2 bad games and it cost his team playoff advancement. Thats how IN THE ZONE ALWAYS that NBA players need to be. Why? Because how much CONSTANT defensive pressure there is, in the playoffs especially. Slip up a little and it can turn a decently efficient game into a SLUMP. Which means that means players are actually physically engaged in the games. If it was so lax out on the floor, Durant 2nd best player in the world would be breezing through it. (If you want to say there's front office favoritisms and conspriacies, thats another subject. But Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik arent getting weekly bloody faces and stitches because its "soft" out there.) That is to say - in MJ's day in the 90's, men were MEN. Men were just mentally tougher. But I think TODAY the defensive SCHEMES, athletes and rules MORE than make up the difference in "toughness factor" and in difficulty getting shots compared to then.
