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Nice straw man. When did I say MJ couldn't defend without hand checking? The point is it should be considered when comparing them. MJ would still be great without it but Jordan would be worse with Lebron's rules and Lebron would be better with MJ's rules. The tiny gap that exists right now (MJ > Lebron defensively) would converge rather quickly if they played under different rules.
It becomes super hard when you start trying to insert individual rule changes as a factor in this spot. So much has changed on the defensive end.
MJ would benefit from incredibly improved current team defense that elite teams play now.
MJ would benefit from teams being able to play zone.
MJ would be great for switching 1 though 4 today.
LeBron would be great if he could hand check.
LeBron would be great if he didn't have to worry about so many shooters (as today's players need to be)
LeBron would be great if he knew he had a big man behind him to help him out if someone gets by him.
LeBron would be great if he knew he could smack someone in the head and not get ejected.
I don't know. I don't think it's that close between them defensively (not talking about when they are switched on, I mean over the duration), that one rule change all of a sudden makes LeBron better.