Somewhere Michael Jordan is sitting in his PJs, laughing...

Don't care for the comparison all I know is Kobe never got out the 1st round or had a winning record without Pippen. Meanwhile Pippen led the bulls to the eastern conference finals without Jordan. Sorry off topic just had to say that since I've heard plenty of people tonight say that Pippen is nothing without Jordan.

 

I agree that the skills are similar but I still don't think Kobe has the pure athleticism MJ had. Kobe at 29 seems to be on par athletically with MJ during the second 3-peat when he was still a very, very good athlete but no longer the freak he was all the way up until his first retirement. I also think Jordan's hand size gave him a lot more of an advantage than people think.

I'm just nitpicking but there isn't much that separates them but is enough to make a huge difference. And I totally agree with you about the "little something extra" too. Kobe just didn't believe he could be these Celtics alone. Jordan would have eviscerated the Celtics defense no matter how good it is because Jordan always KNEW he was better. Kobe doesn't have that confidence.

 

Let's not forget that Jordan played in the era of illegal defense as well. I wonder how much impact that has had.

 

Pippen got to the 2nd round after the Bulls won the title the year before and they played the Cavs in round 1 who were missing Daugherty and Nance the whole series.

Tell me what Pippen did on the Rockets?

Right after winning with Jordan the year before?

Yeah thought so!!

Pippen is nothing without Jordan, he played on stacked teams since he left Jordan and couldn't do anything. He played with Hakeem and Barkley and lost in the 1st round.

 

Doesn't matter. Iverson came in the league in 1996 and played under both and he is 3rd all time in ppg and 2nd all time in playoff ppg

 

I hope you still can smile and not hiding and crying in some dark corners!

 

So because one guy scores a lot of points under both systems, it does not matter? I'm no scientist here, but there's got to be something faulty with your hypothesis and conclusion.

Jordan and Kobe both have very similar offensive arsenals and a very similar drive to win. You could argue that Jordan has a higher drive to win, but I don't think it would be that much higher. Jordan played against great defensive teams, but that was in an era where illegal defense rules allowed him to play more of a 1 on 1 game, which is obviously an advantage for Jordan. The question is... against a terrific defensive team like the Celtics, would Jordan have been able to do better?

My answer is yes probably, but I don't think he would have really dominated as many seem think so. I don't care who you are, but it's damn near impossible to drive into the lane with 3 defenders (1 of which being KG) waiting for you. Maybe I am overestimating the impact of removing the illegal defense rules?

 

If Jordan played in todays era with the hand checking rules, his PPG would be even higher. Today, you lay a pinky on a player on the perimeter and its a foul. The NBA today is tissue paper soft compared the NBA back then.

To answer your question about the Celtics, I don't see Jordan's teams blowing the huge leads the Lakers had in multiple games. No way MJ gets blown out by over 30 points in a Finals Elimination game. Also, the Celtics are not the greatest defensive team by any standards. The Hawks and Cavs both took the Celtics to 7 games. These Celtics weren't untouchable.

Although, I will say they are a better team than everyone expected. The majority of Clutchfans said the Lakers would take the Finals. They said Boston wasn't that good and would get exposed. Looks like it was the Lakers that got exposed.

 

LOL @ the comparision between Kobe and MJ. MJ never lost in the finals in 6 attempts!!!!

 

MJ Finals Stats - 35 games, 6 Appearances/6 Titles, 33.6 ppg (48.1%),6 rpg,6 apg

Kobe Finals Stats - 25 games, 5 Apperances/3 Titles 23 ppg(40.9%) 5.1 rpg,4.9 apg

 

Jordan 6-0 in finals.

Once its that close, he'll die for the championship

 

The Celtics have a good D, but you are overlooking the fact the Jordan played against some of the best defensive teams ever. The Bad Boys Piston and Knicks team he played against are arguably the two greatest defensive teams ever. Lets also not forget that hand checking is also now illegal.

Kobe has really disappointed me in this serious, and there is no question in my mind now that he isnt the best guard/forward in the nba now. The best guard now IMO is LBJ. LBJ pretty much dominated against the Celtics with a vastly inferior team.

 

Well, please check out how dominant Dwyane Wade's final performance in 2006.

Dwyane Wade is a better scorer, has better FG%, is top 5 in FTAs. Wade is also an aggressive player, keep driving to the basket, clutch when the game is on the line. I think Wade's game is more mature than LBJ and Kobe.

The problem for Wade is injuries - in the 2005 ECF and also the last couple of seasons.

Wade carried Shaq and the Heat to a championship.

Look at LBJ - Game 7 EC Semi Final, Last 2 minutes, Celtics ahead by 2, Cavs had the possession. WTF did LBJ do? LBJ dribbled around the perimeter until the clock winding down and then dumped the ball to a wide open Ben Wallace at the bottom left in the paint (anther Cavs and 1 Celtics in the paint), Wallace passed out the ball to Pavlovic who passed the ball back to LBJ to rush a 26 feet 3 pointer. WTF! Bad decision, no aggression, not a superstar move.

LBJ still needs to improve his shooting, his decision, his aggression. LBJ is one hell of athlete, no doubt. But hey, Vince Carter hasnt achieved anything.

Kobe without Shaq is very inconsistent in his playoff performance. From the Lakers 2006 1st round playoff series vs the Suns, Lakers up 3-1 and couldnt close the deal. Kobe has a better playoff run this year. But Kobe's performance in the Finals is hardly impressive. Kobe still tends to take many bad shots. And Kobe's is playing with 2 all-stars, Odom and Gasol. So, there's enough supporting cast. No excuse there.

If you really have followed how Wade performed in the playoffs, Wade is the best you can get among the active players, barring he's been hampered by injuries.

 

No doubt....Jordan never even let his team get to an elimination game in the finals.

And Jordan would never let his team quit and play that bad of defense. Jordan took Dennis Rodman, and motivated him to play, a year after he quit on a team with the NBAs best record. Jordan was a much better leader, and a better player.

Kobe was the leader of this team, and he shrunk on the finals stage. Kobe looked lost a lot during the series. He doesn't know when to take over and when to get other guys involved. In the first 4 games, he was taking the ball at the basket. In the last 2, he shot 18 3's. His team saw he played passive, and they followed.

 

Pippen finished 3rd in the MVP voting the year Jordan wasn't there, and they won 55 games so how is Pippen nothing without Jordan? Get off Jordans nuts please. Without Pippen by Jordan's side he didn't have a winning season. Please you guys act like Jordan is god, yes he is the best player to ever play the game but you guys are on his nuts way too much.

 

MJ is one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen, its beyond basketball, he's up there with ali, ruth, and montana. he was beyond once in a lifetime, be glad you got a chance to see him for those who did. and be glad you are now witnessing tiger woods.

on the court, again, the only player who even has a remote shot of achieving jordan status (again on the court) is lebron.

 

Kobe Bryant is no Michael Jordon!

MJ never had to go seven games in the finals and I don't think he ever got behind in the series. As far as the supporting cast goes, MJ had a bunch of nobodies on his team....but they all knew their role and did it well.

Its all about heart and desire and MJ had both to the point where he wanted to beat you down and win at all costs.

 

ROTFLL

 

It's funny how people now say that Kobe does not have enough heart, when just a while ago, the T-Mac bashers were saying that "heart" was the difference between him and Kobe.

I don't think he "shrunk." He just doesn't have the basketball IQ to be the leader. I have always say this about Kobe. He does not know when to set up his teammates and when to take over. He seems to be either/or and cannot be both/and. When he gets shut down by great defense, he doesn't know what else he can do other than just keep trying to score.

Great players can make their teammates better and dominate at the same time.