There are a lot of great players and different types of greatness. Was Abdul Jabbar or Magic Johnson better? As a rookie Magic was the leader of the Lakers … Kareem wasn’t. Then again Kareem had a whole Hall of Fame career before going to LA. Jabbar had the long career and Magic just kind of won. Either way - I know that Magic and Kareem were both better than Kobe Bryant, who wasn’t even the best player of his own generation - Duncan was better. Jerry West? Underrated at this point, was better than Bryant too… Elgin Baylor? Wilt was the most dominant player ever, at this point he is underrated- had he been a Celtic instead of Bill Russell, we would say Wilt invented greatness… but, would the Celtics have won more titles with Wilt? I’m not so sure, so is Russell better though? LeBron James is like the modern version of Kareem- just absolute greatness from the beginning until the end. Greatness… However - LBJ isn’t the best player I have seen. At his peak Olajuwon was better but not for as long…. But the overall best I have ever seen is Michael Jordan and it honestly isn’t close. If LeBron at his best and Jordan at his best matched up in the Finals…. Jordan wins every time. I have never seen a person that had the level that Jordan was on. I’ll throw in that Bird at his best could compete against LBJ when it comes to lead a team in the playoffs. So many great players- so many memories… lots of all time greats not even listed- but at the absolute top of the pyramid ahead of Wilt/Kareem/LBJ is Michael Jordan.
No body would go see their “no bull” tour if it wasn’t for Michael Jordan. Horace Grant would be Buck Williams… Longley would be long forgotten and Pippen would have been traded for being mentally weak - Pippen doesn’t reach his level of greatness without Jordan everyday telling him he could play harder and better…. Steve Kerr never is in the Suns front office or the Warriors coach because Kerr would have bounced around the league and not gotten opportunities…. Phil Jackson would just be Phillip Jackson…. and everyone would be forgotten. So these guys can go on tour and complain and cry - but no one would give a **** about what they have to say if they didn’t play with Jordan…. Luc Longley? Are you ****ing kidding me? Maybe they can add Bill Wilmington, Stacy King and Jason Caffey.
Has Lebron passed Jordan as the GOAT with this Olympic performance? Jordan never faced international competition at such a high level to win a true world championship.
Lebron has certainly surpassed MJ in the longevity aspect. It makes you wonder what Jordan would have looked like had he come into the league as early as Lebron and not taken time off for baseball, what his numbers would have been like. Lebron is just blasting past everything because he keeps playing at a high level 20 years into his career.
MJ has too much “air” around his name, game and legacy that there’s nothing anyone can do to take that status away. It’s not even about talent or performance. Lebron could’ve won 10 rings and people would still cling to MJ.
In my book, LeBron finally passed MJ a couple of years ago because of his longevity. At the same time, I'm really tired of LeBron in the NBA. He's soaked up way too much media and fan discussion for too long. I'm over him. I'll be glad when he moves on. Gotta admit he was awesome in these Olympics and Team USA would not have won the gold medal without him.
Had LeBron won Gold for France or Canada or anyone else other than Team USA then this would be huge. As is, Team USA went up against one or two players that would play minutes for them. Who knows how they would have won without him, probably the Curry and Durant show, but they still win.
It has to be MJ for me. Most iconic athlete of all time to pair with the undefeated finals record. 6-0 in the finals with 6 finals MVP's... You could make a solid argument for Lebron and its worth listening to. I am even ok with saying they are 1a/1b in regard to basketball. But come on now... Jordan is the biggest sports icon all time. Ever. So it's him.
This is like the Jack Nicklaus vs Tiger Woods debate. Tiger is the one that really changed the brand. I think that has to matter if were getting in to semantics.
Nope. It isn't a matter of Lebron not being incredibly great - because he is. It comes down really to how absolutely dominant and nasty Jordan was.... he was the best to ever play. Someday, someone will come along and be as good or better, but they aren't playing in the NBA right now.
Lebron gets consideration because he single handedly spanked a historic Warriors team and forced them to beg Katy to sign with them. Jordan is undisputed for me. I don't know if the "competition was better" but his story is much more iconic with the likes of Larry, Magic, and the Bad Boys. The Jazz were an afterthought, but that's our fault for not getting there. Dawson/Less was a below avg FO.
Jordan is, per minute played, the best to ever do it (assissted by entering the league at 21 and not playing through most of his late 30s) LeBron is, in total, the most productive player in NBA history, helped out by playing forever. There's no right answer, but there's quite a few wrong ones (Kobe)
