People are confusing comparing talent in a vacuum and supporting casts. The best the Heat ever were was the 2013 season and still when it came down to it they played some of their best ball with old Shane Battier, old Ray Allen, and Mario Chalmers on the floor.
Wade and Bosh are amazing players, and Boshs ability to go from the inside guy he was in Toronto to the p&r blitzing perimeter shooter he was in Miami should be commended. But these two were horrid fits next to LeBron. Fit matters. And the fact of the matter is he's pretty much never had good team construction until now. Kyrie isn't great, but his shooting ability makes him a passable 2nd best player. Obv not near as bad as those first 7 years in Cleveland which are as lol as it gets.
Pippen, otoh, was a perfect 2nd option. An above average creator who always guarded the other teams best player.
Fidstar-
MJ is not in LeBrons league as a defender. Would recommend checking
this out. Combine that with versatility, LeBron can legit guard any position in the modern NBA, Jordan wouldn't be able to. Pippen could though!
I think MJ as a defender gets overrated bc analysis and schemes were a lot more simplistic*. He got some steals so he was a great defender. The tape shows a lot of easily defendable schemes (so his athletic/skill edge is more valuable) and not a lot of moving. I'd bet a lot (obv unprovable) that he'd be perceived differently if he had to deal with the switching/rotating/extending of today's game. Especially with the offensive burden he always carried. It's a different world. It's not the 80s where you ran 1 guy off a ball screen to get a mid range jumper and nobody could shoot so defenses cud just pack it in.
Last edited by GeoffRas22; 05-26-2017 at 01:27 PM.
Reason: *pretty great I say this and then blockzzzzz