In MJ's prime he had to play through the bad boys, he had to play through hand checking, he had to go against the best breed of centers the game has ever seen. So, MJ is one of a kind. The rules of his era actually favored big men, zone defense wasn't even allowed. So MJ was the ultimate commando, he succeeded in an era that didn't favor him. Lebron and Kobe have capitalized on an era that favors their style of play. Nothing wrong with that, but they aren't all time greats to me.
It's mind boggling that peopel still question LeBron. I rooted against him more than anyone the last three seasons and will root for the Pacers to take the Heat down this season, but people are trolling at this point. The dude has the perfect body for basketball and approaches the game like Peyton Manning. Read the Grantland article about the Heat offense that came out recently. Lebron would have succeeded in any era. He has ZERO WEAKNESSES. You know how it's really hard to find Hakeem's weakness? it's the same for Lebron.
Lebron would have capitalized on in MJ's era more than this one, because he would have been able to use his heft and size to bully opponents more. What most people can't understand is while MJ succeeded in an era that didn't favor him, LBJ is doing the same thing. This era is all about skils and speed, and while LBJ is quick enough to hang with anyone he can't utilize his power because refs are strict regarding contact. LBJ is a big man with small man skills, he would've loved to have played in an era where he could handcheck opponents and make sure they miss every shot. LBJ is strong enough to do this to Tiago Splitter, if he is allowed to handcheck he will brutalize every guard he defends: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uOV2nnhiYB0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I know most people here think MJ walks on water, but at the end of the day MJ is only human and LBJ has 3 inches and 50 pounds of muscle on him.
LBJ IS a big man, how hard is that to understand? He's actually taller (6'8 vs 6'5/6'6) and 50 pounds heavier than MJ. The difference is unlike most big men he has the speed and skills to keep up with the guards of the NBA so he plays on the perimeter instead of in the post. I'm not sure why you think LBJ is having the time of his life chasing midgets and running around like a pansy when he could've just smashed them in mouth to shut them up in the 90's.
It's funny, as time goes on, the MJ hype train grows, and I think half the people promoting him didn't even see him when he was actually in his prime. Well, I remember the early MJ, and for the many years before he accomplished anything, people said the same sort of things they said about LeBron two years ago (and that some people inexplicably say now): that he was athletic and gifted but his style couldn't win. It is really difficult to compare players across era, but I contend that this era is actually much stronger than in years previous, simply because the player pool is much larger and players have access to much more sophisticated training (not to mention all of the analytics their coaches have). When you look at non-team sports such as swimming or track & field, you see that the athletes get better over generations and there's no real reason team sports should be different. The only significant difference is that the league is more diluted now due to expansion, but that doesn't really affect the athletes directly. The kinds of defenses LeBron faces today are tougher than what MJ faced-- much tougher. Just look at the pace of the game and the shooting percentages leaguewide even during the Bad Boy days. Yes, the refs allowed more contact then, but the average player wasn't the physical specimin he is today, thanks to nutrition and an emphasis on weight training. Look at the kinds of players MJ generally went up against... guys like Craig Ehlo and Joe Dumars (a great defender but the guy was like 6'2). The number of long, lanky athletic defenders like George, Deng, Iggy, etc could be counted on one hand and the best one was MJ's teammate. So yeah, LeBron would have done quite well in that era.
Yup. Jordan was the rare perimeter player who managed to be effective in the era where Joe Klein and Jon Koncak ruled the earth The only other players who managed to even break 25 ppg in Jordan's era were the *true* all time greats, like Purvis Short, Michael Adams and Dominique Wilkins. Heck, I remember on Xmas day Bernard king scored 12 points against Boston and the media blew up. I think the final score of the game was 30-29. Now the NBA is littered with pretenders.
Joe Klein? Jon Koncak? Did you forget about players like Hakeem, Ewing, Robinson, Perish, McHale, Laimbeer, Eaten, Mutombo, Mourning, Schmits, Divac, Sabonis, etc? Hell, Joe Klein would bid for an all star team in today's NBA and he was never a top 10 center in his day. I hope you were joking because Im laughing my ass off right now...
LBJ can't play in the post though, so if he was confined to it there would be problems. The reason players like him can exist today is because of the love affair the NBA has with perimeter players. The love affair of trying to recreate the next Jordan. That is all.
MJ is 1000% better in the post during a more intense defensive era than Lebron is in a pathetic defensive era. MJ had a midrange game, he could post up. Lebron is at his worst in the post. MJ scored efficiently with his back to the basket, as a guard. LBJ scored more efficiently when he drives the paint. LBJ is a poor mans Magic Johnson, playing in a weak era. MJ was a god playing in a tough era.
1) For years I thought Jordan pushed off, he didn't... it was more of a "scoosh". Russell just got crossed over so badly that he stumbled. 2) Utah could've won the series. It should've definitely went 7 games. In game 6, the refs made several horrible shot clock calls. CHI was gifted 2 shots and Utah was cheated 2 shots..... 8 point difference in a close, close game. Series should've went 7 and anything can happen game 7, especially at home.
UR SO RIGHT BRO OMG BULL LAIMBEERS I don't think Lebron could deal dude. The era was dominated by true physical beasts like Adrian Dantley. No way Lebron could match up with a guy like that.
Guys LBJ is definately in the top 5 of all time behind Jordan, Chamberlein, Johnson and Bird. You can easily argue that Bill Russel, Oscar and Kareem should be in that top 5 list also ahead of LBJ, and you could well be right. LBJ could well finish top 3 of all time once his career is done, but he needs to win at least another 2 rings before we can start that conversation. Jordan and Bird started off with mediocre teams, but showed patience, loyalty and fight to stick with there team and eventually win multiple championships while dominating the game. One of the other reason why Jordan and Bird is above LBJ is this....they helped other drafted young players develop into future Hall of Famers! Magic Johnson although he came into a team that already had a winning culture, he was kind of the first player of his kind when he first came out (similar to LBJ) who for his size can amazingly play like a PG. What sets Magic apart from LBJ is his rings (he has 5). Once LBJ gets 4, then we can start comparing him to Magic. With Chamberlein....hmmm, just a couple of stats to prove my point....only person to score 100 points in a game, only person to average 50 points a game for a whole season! So dominant in scoring wise for his era + his 2 rings...very hard for LBJ to surpass him in my all time list. LBJ will not surpass Jordan in my all time list. Even if LBJ won at least 4 more rings (that won't happen) and surpass MJ career statistics (remember LBJ stats will regress when his older like all players in history, and also remember MJ overall stats regressed because he played 2 seasons for the wizards when he was aged 40 and 41). MJ influence in basketball culture cannot be matched, he dominated 80's and 90's as a player (era's that is regarded as the golden age of basketball), he fought through adversity and stuck with his team (as mentioned above) before getting his ring and had psychotic killer instict that you can trust will win you the game when its on the line.
This is where I think people get carried away. Yes he's a great player, yes we know he's super strong. But he definitely has flaws in his game like mental toughness and free throws. Had Ray Allen not hit that crazy 3pter in last years playoffs, everybody would've been talking about how Lebron chocked again. Plus LBJ benefits from playing in a conference that is TERRIBLE. The Heat can literally coast through the East all season. Huge difference 10-15 years ago. Lebron and Kobe are from two different eras. Kobe's been in the league for almost 20 years
I'm talking about in the playoffs. If they struggle against Indiana, just imagine playing San Antonio, OKC, The Clippers or even US just to get out the West every year. Playing in the East is almost a guranteed finals appearance for Miami.
its funny how you look at the player profile and automatically attribute that. MJ would easily be able to hold his own as far as defense against Lebron. MJ was no where near soft and strength definitely overlooked
Indiana took them to precisely one elimination game in the last two years, and it was a complete blow out by the Heat. #strugglers!
Offensive 3-second violations were part of the game seemingly forever. Defensive 3-second is irrelevant, because it would have been illegal defense before the rule. Abandoning the handchecking was meant to benefit guards, but the 3-second rules aren't why big men don't dominate the game anymore.
While this may be true, I will stack the two teams Miami beat in the Finals (Thunder and Spurs) against any team the Bulls ever beat in one of their title runs.
No point in responding to Clown -en-chef Monteur - but anyway, here's how the big men of the Jordan era were deemed by the knowledgeable observers of the day: February 22, 1988: From the article: Yup - the center-biased, defense only league of the late 80's that Jordan managed to flourish in
