Some people would actually take Michael Jordan over Lebron James?

Also Mundier Vultier wrote:

Great coaching? Yeah, right!

Find me any list of "Greatest NBA coaches" (from a credible website) that doesn't have Phil at or near the top and I will rescind my comment.

Until then, you are wrong again.

Mundus Vult wrote:

Also Mundier Vultier wrote:

Great coaching? Yeah, right!

Find me any list of "Greatest NBA coaches" (from a credible website) that doesn't have Phil at or near the top and I will rescind my comment.

Until then, you are wrong again.

Find me any list of "Greatest NBA coaches" (from a credible website) that doesn't base their rankings primarily off of titles won (which are actually won by players in almost all cases - indeed that was my point in case you missed it) and I will rescind my comment.

Until then, you are wrong again.

Jordan because of one big difference. Jordan HAD to win, it was in his make up, losing was not an option. Sure LeBron wants to win but he doesn't have that win or die attitude. Jordan had to win like he had to breathe oxygen to live. That's the difference. Lebron wants to win while he HAS to get retweets.

/thread

In Jordan's era you could actually play defense. I stopped caring for the NBA when they added that stupid half circle under the rim and along with other rule changes got rid of defense.

Jordan won three titles, left to play baseball, came back and won three more with an entirely different team other than Pippen. Also, Rodman's prime was with Detroit, not Chicago.

Lebron chokes when it gets tough. He then cries and goes to another team to try and make it work there.

Jordan is 6-0 in the Finals.

I will say expansion in the 90s inflated the Bull's record but they still had to go through Drexler, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and a young Shaq. So the cream of the crop was a bunch of established legends of the game.

Alan

You are losing this argument badly. This search took all of 30 seconds:

Guess who they ranked as #1 after agreeing completely with your point?

MJ

runningart2004 wrote:

In Jordan's era you could actually play defense. I stopped caring for the NBA when they added that stupid half circle under the rim and along with other rule changes got rid of defense.

Jordan won three titles, left to play baseball, came back and won three more with an entirely different team other than Pippen. Also, Rodman's prime was with Detroit, not Chicago.

Lebron chokes when it gets tough. He then cries and goes to another team to try and make it work there.

Jordan is 6-0 in the Finals.

I will say expansion in the 90s inflated the Bull's record but they still had to go through Drexler, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and a young Shaq. So the cream of the crop was a bunch of established legends of the game.

Alan

Alan pointed out the most obvious, 6-0 in the Finals. Jordan would have won eight straight championships if he hadn't played baseball. You might say, "you don't know that", but if you search yourself, I think that deep down you already know that's true. Jordan found a way (when it mattered) to beat any team - the Pistons, the Celtics, the Suns, the Lakers, and the Jazz. Each of those teams had multiple Hall of Fame players.

Next, Jordan was marginally good at baseball (good enough to play), golf, poker, you name it. He would win anything and everything he put his mind towards. LeBron doesn't have that at all. If Jordan had his same athletic ability but LeBron's body, Jordan would have put "the next Jordan" too far out of reach for that notion to even be possible.

Jordan didn't inherit all-stars when he won his rings. Do you think Pippen or Rodman would have been an All-Star if Jordan wasn't on that Bulls team? Pippen was open to shoot (and Rodman for rebounding) because Jordan was being double and triple teamed at all times. That left Pippen the opportunity to become a better player and Rodman to do what Rodman did best - rebound.

Jordan covered all the bases - people said:

"Jordan isn't big enough to play for the high school varsity team" He learned he could just jump over everyone - plus he hit a 10 inch growth spurt. Height didn't matter when he had a 50 inch vertical.

"Jordan will sit on the bench when he attends UNC" He was a starter and hit the game winning shot for an NCAA title his freshman year.

"Jordan will never surpass the greats of the game" He beat the best in the game when it mattered.

"Jordan can't win a championship" He then won six of them - three in a row, twice"

"Jordan can't defend" - he became defensive player of the year

"Jordan can't hit 3's" - did you see the finals game against the Trail Blazers?

"Jordan can't come back from baseball to play basketball" He did - and he won 3 more championships.

The only thing Jordan didn't do well was own a winning basketball team; however, he is a pretty smart businessman regardless. He's the most professional professional athlete I've ever seen.

#23 shouldn't be retired from the Bulls franchise or even the league. That number should be completely retired from our numeric system out of respect for the greatest professional athlete ever.

Its hard to argue against myth, most of the post like your have the intangibles that you can not prove one way or another. The he refused to lose. If that is true why did it take him so long to even get to a finals.

I have questions that I'd like you to answer:

Who brought their teams to an NBA final quicker Jordan or Lebron?

How old were they when they did this?

Who knows the game better? Who was the better passer and had more assists.

Who is the better three point shooter?

Who would you really draft first as 19 yr. olds?

I'm no MJ fan boy,in fact I'm an Ohio fan boy...AND...I used to regularly argue Magic was the best player ever (until reality struck me in the face) AND I hated and hate the Tar Heels, but you all are idiots. At least as of right now, MJ is clearly the greatest basketball player, as to Southern man, here's my responses:

Who brought their teams to an NBA final quicker Jordan or Lebron?

-First, how is this relevant? Second, are you familiar with the 80's Celtics and Pistons? You know, the two GREAT teams the Bulls had to get through? Who's the equivalent in the East during the James era?

How old were they when they did this? -How does this pass as analysis?

Who knows the game better? Who was the better passer and had more assists. -So John Stockton was better than both because he had more assists and is a better passer? No. This is just one small skill set. BTW, James is a better passer.

Who is the better three point shooter? Again, a specific skill, and neither are very good at it.

Who would you really draft first as 19 yr. olds? MJ, because he's better.

alrighty then wrote:

Jordan had a great team? He willed his team to greatness. When he played the league was alot more physical then it is today, he got beat up nightly. They drafted a div 2 player in Pippen and he was able to take his game to a high level since Jordan was double and triple teamed. It also took Jordan 8 yrs to win a ring. The league had many super star's then. Take Jordan every night of the week and twice on Sunday.

I'm a Jordan fan but a Jordanless bulls team won 55 games at someone else pointed out. See this:

Same article seems to says stats favor Jordan over Lebron.

For the record, I like LeBron a lot and I think he's an athletic marvel. I enjoy watching him play basketball but he is not even close to MJ. Honestly, it isn't fair to him (or anyone) to try to compare.

Your question of who could carry a team to a title faster is like asking who, b/w two guys, could retire first. Guy A might retire first and live a terrible existence while Guy B might retire later and live high on the hog as a result.

Once Jordan got there, he didn't look back. LeBron can't say the same.

Next, regarding the question of who I would draft at 19 - just like the guy who sprints the first lap of the mile doesn't always win, the guy drafted first at 19 doesn't usually win. Jordan was the third pick of the draft. Were the other two guys better than MJ that day? Were they EVER better than MJ?

Are we talking like one on one here, or if they had identical teams?

Also, who would be better if Jordan had Lebron's physical attributes and skills and vise versa?

Of course it matters how soon they got their teams to the finals and how old they were at the time. Its a huge factor comparing what Lebron did as a teenager plus a couple against what Jordan did in his prime.

Also knowledge of the game, assists, rebounds, and three point shooting are ALL IMPOTANT factors. How could they not be??

aslkfdjkldsajf;dsaf wrote:

Are we talking like one on one here, or if they had identical teams?

Also, who would be better if Jordan had Lebron's physical attributes and skills and vise versa?

Not one on one. Take ten average NBA teams and place either Jordan or Lebron on the team. Most team would do better with Lebron over Jordan. Jordan's great skill was one on one basketball. Lebron plays great team and one on one basketball.

Your last statement makes no sense. Jordan was a better athlete. Lebron is a better basketball player.

Jordan wanted the win. James runs hot and cold.

I would take MJ, Magic, Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Big O, Bird ahead of James as team-oriented winners. Gen-X ballers tend to be narcissists-- except for the Spurs. Pop is the reason.

Try 2 Think wrote:

Bob Bakian wrote:

Oh please. As if you know how Pippen feels towards Jordan. Try to think before you post. Lets look at some facts though. Pippen picked Jordan for his hall of fame induction. If Pippen ALWAYS felt very tired of being Robin, then how come he picked Jordan for this?

OK, so you are just trolling. Nobody could be that stupid.

Well done, I suppose. 3/10

You admit defeat. Whenever someone can't come up with a response on here, they drop the topic & resort to name calling.

Pippen knows more about basketball than letsrun.com.

Pippen says Lebron > Jordan

Lebron > Jordan

End of discussion.

southern man3 wrote:

aslkfdjkldsajf;dsaf wrote:

Are we talking like one on one here, or if they had identical teams?

Also, who would be better if Jordan had Lebron's physical attributes and skills and vise versa?

Not one on one. Take ten average NBA teams and place either Jordan or Lebron on the team. Most team would do better with Lebron over Jordan. Jordan's great skill was one on one basketball. Lebron plays great team and one on one basketball.

Your last statement makes no sense. Jordan was a better athlete. Lebron is a better basketball player.

I would say that Lebron is a better athlete and Jordan the better player.

I would say that Lebron is very slightly better skilled as an all-around basketball player. However, because of Jordan's absolute hatred of losing, to an unhealthy extent, I would probably pick MJ if I was making a team.

As an aside, I'm not sure if it has been discussed, but the coaching at Cleveland during Lebron's first stint there was abhorrent. It was wrenching to watch.

my name is judge wrote:

However, because of Jordan's absolute hatred of losing, to an unhealthy extent, I would probably pick MJ if I was making a team.

This is a very good point. MJ was obsessed with winning and getting his way. In basketball (or sports) you are heralded as a hero, if his outlet would have been something other than sports, it could have gone the other way. This is a mental attribute - attribute one.

Attribute two was that Jordan was probably the most athletic sports figure of all time. This certainly carries you a very, VERY long way. This is a physical attribute.

Attribute three is that MJ worked tirelessly so that he didn't have to lose. His hatred of losing fueled him and was known as "work ethic" - his was a work ethic that far surpassed any other sports figure. When he came in the league he could not shoot well or defend.

The last attribute was that MJ went all day and all night. I doubt the guy needed more than 3-4 hours of sleep per night. This could also be tied into the first mental attribute. Some people are wired this way but most are not. When you're awake more than other humans, you can do more - more practice, more mental preparation, more learning, etc., etc. I know from personal experience that some of the most successful people I know simply don't sleep much. This was MJ.