[hoopsworld] Imagine if MJ joined Rockets in '89, like LBJ joined Heat. (hypothetical

first!

 

O and DNR

 

I totally agree on the article. You'll never know what MJ will say if he was in that position. It is easy to say it now after winning all these championship. He said that he would definitely retire but he returned so he and nobody knows what the future holds. In that sense, I also agree that there's nothing wrong with what LBJ did. He did what he think it takes to win it all. Forget Legacy. It is all about winning. Why would he wait for him to age then possibly doing that like what Barkley did with Hakeem and Clyde. The one criticism I only see is LBJ did not tell the Cavs management of his decision. Out of his respect, he should have told them or he was just afraid of news leaking out of his decision so maybe that's the reason why he did not tell them

 

i still dont think he wouldve joined olajuwon and kj. MJ is a pretty selfish guy. it wouldve taken Phil Jackson to make him and hakeem share the court. Magic and MJ wouldve worked, but Bird, Hakeem, and MJ each needed to be the man on their respective teams IMO.

like all of them said. it just wasnt part of their personalities. Shaq kind of started the trend of stars changing teams when he left orlando. A team of Reggie Miller, MJ, Rodman, and Olajuwon would have been unstoppable for a decade though.

 

WRONG! First, we know he wouldn't because he didn't! Second because he would rather be playing against those guys, we are talking about Michael Jordan perhaps the most competitive man on the planet. I now understand why everyone calls them Poopsworld because that was a load of crap.

 

A waste of time until the technology for reversing time is invented

 

wait did we just get jordan? oh crap, i almost overlooked that hypothetical in the parenthesis. I think we should trade cassel and hakeem for stockton and malone so i can hate my life.

 

Posts like this are how you add nothing and lose rep pretty fast.



I think the article makes a good point that MJ's remarks are a product of circumstance, though I wouldn't put words in his mouth and say he'd run to join his rivals. I like that the author was knowledgeable enough to use Olajuwon in his scenario... man what I would have given to see that tandem play.

 

IF he was in LBJ position he would definitely think about it, but I don't think he would do it.

 

He didn't leave money on the table, it was a sign and trade, and he got most of what he would have anyway. When an athlete signs a contract worth more than $50 million, it's not like he is really sacrificing much to "leave some money on the table"...

 

Haha that's crazy imagine Mj and Hakeem

Doubt it happens b/c mj would still be younger thinking he could still win on his own which he proved willing the bulls to 6! Championships

 

What if the Rockets accepted Portlands offer of Drexler and the number 1 for Sampson?

Dream/Jordan/Drexler would of been a pretty solid core to build around.

 

Pretty solid? It would have been the greatest big 3 in NBA history.

 

I would've liked the Dream/Drexler/MJ combo from the start more

then again, can't be safe to say it would've been a Kidd/Mashburn/Jackson breakup

 

What are you talking about? MJ had never been in that situation so how do you know?

Being the "most competitive man on the planet" certainly didn't bar MJ from playing with Pippen, Rodman and the greatest coach of all time. He's competitive because he wanted to win at all costs, even if it meant he had to work harder than anybody else in the league. Pippen was probably the 2nd best wing during MJ's time...what's the difference between MJ playing with Pippen and LBJ playing with Wade? I'll tell you...NONE

 

I think he would have waited. Things dont happen in a vacuum it's useless to compare Jordan to Lebron without historical context.

It's not like Jordan was losing because he sucked or due to some mythical leadership or moral shortcoming. He was losing to better teams in the playoffs.

In 1989, Boston was getting older. And every year Chicago was closing the gap with Detroit. Momentum was on Chicago's side. They had picked up Oak who was the 2nd most important piece for Jordan's first ring. 89 was the year they picked up Pippen, the most important piece.

If there were no such thing as the Boston Celtics or Detroit Bad Boys Jordan could have won a ring earlier. Jordan might have jumped ship in say 91 or 92 if Jerry Krause hasn't made any moves and Jordan had repeatedly lost even after the decline of Boston and Detroit. But he wouldn't have gone in 89, the Bulls had just started to get good.

 

I guess the difference between Cleveland and the Bulls was that MJ had players who grew along with him. He can look at the roster year by year and see the pieces slowly coming together. Of course in a situation like that you're encouraged to stay on your team and bide your time.

OTOH, the Cavs was a roster built to "win now" from day 1, and every time they couldn't win anything they just dug a deeper hole in order to "win now" the next season. Unlike, say, Kevin Durant who looks at his teammates and sees guys who will grow with him like Westbrook, Harden, Sefalosha etc., LBJ looks around sees old vets who will retire in a couple of years, overpaid players like Varejao and Mo Williams, and the dude who was banging his mom without him knowing about it. I mean, LBJ probably looked around and said "Damn! My core pieces are older than the Celtics' big 3!".

That's a big difference in and off itself. To prentend that MJ was the paragon of virtue when he basically lucked into the Bulls if just plain stupid IMHO.

 

The stuff about Jordan's competitiveness is probably half propaganda from Nike and Stern. You really didn't really hear about that **** until after he'd won a few rings. Before that when he was losing it was mainly about his lack of leadership and selfishness... mainly in comparison to Isaih Thomas who played with a broken foot etc and was considered the model of team leadership and "winning."

But you make a good point about Pippen being a comparison to Wade. People keep talking about "what would Jordan have done" in regards to Lebron's Decision but you're right that Jordan wasn't ever in exactly the same position as Lebron.

They overlook the CLEAR HISTORICAL counterpoint to Lebron in Jordan's era... Clyde Drexler. In his time he was a beast comparable to what Lebron and Wade are now (and in his time mentioned in the same breath as Jordan). But Clyde couldn't get over the hump after leading 2 teams to the championship and eventually when his team faded he went to join Hakeem.

Maybe Jordan would have done so too if he wasn't as fortunate with his teammates and career as he turned out to be... but we'll never know.

 

Jordan didn't win his first ring with Oakley. He won it after Oakley was traded to the Knicks for Bill Cartwright. You are right though about the Bulls losing to better teams in the playoffs at that time. Horace Grant and Pippen were rookies and it took Phil Jackson to convince Jordan to slow down on his scoring and, most importantly, to trust his team mates. Jackson also sold Jordan on the triangle offense but it took a lot of persuasion before Jordan bought into the system. This change in Jordan's game allowed Pippen and Grant to blossom, and the rest is history.

I seriously doubt that Jordan would have bolted, as stated. He repeatedly stated at that time that he was not willing to play for any other coach unless it was Phil Jackson.