no, if lebron had pippen and pjax he would he be in the GOAT discussion. Lebron's "stats" are better than MJ's.
and i say this as a Lebron hater.
LeBron's numbers in the playoffs this year have been extremely good but his competition has also been pretty weak.
If he can keep up what he's been doing into the NBA finals it will be one of the greatest playoff performances of all time but my guess is his numbers will see a dip once he faces a more worthy adversary.
Last edited by EYESCREW; 06-09-2012 at 04:45 PM.
Reason: And the obv 4th quarter disappearing act...
Depends which MJ ur talking about. Peak MJ (u know the one that never titled and won like 4 playoff series) is probably the GOAT. Winner MJ v current lebron is more interesting, I think its reasonable to take labron for a season and give Jordan the edge as a closer. I still assert that both a) lebron is underrated as a closer and b) the idea that MJ 'learned how to win' is ridic...but Jordan was a closer of the likes we've never seen.
I think one thing that is never really considered when this discussion comes up, is that its certainly possible that the 'clutch situation' seems to favor a Jordan rather than a lebron since he's a more effective mid-range player. When u match both of them up there's lots of things lebron does better like rebounding/passing/defense, but when defenses tighten up and driving is less of an option, Jordan certainly has an edge when u need to score which wud lead to him being more successful in clutch situations.
This is a very well thought out post, especially the 2nd paragraph.
So well thought out that I will not be posting the vid of Bad Teacher.. eh why not, it's a great short clip anyway.
Will LeBron ever develop a mid-range game, that might come close to Jordan's? He seriously worked and is continuing to work on his post game..
no, if lebron had pippen and pjax he would he be in the GOAT discussion. Lebron's "stats" are better than MJ's.
and i say this as a Lebron hater.
I'm not sure no applies to anything I said in my post. Maybe replace no with "On top of what you said". Bron is already in the GOAT discussion among those in the know. His stats aren't better than MJ's, they are very comparable though.
Depends which MJ ur talking about. Peak MJ (u know the one that never titled and won like 4 playoff series) is probably the GOAT. Winner MJ v current lebron is more interesting, I think its reasonable to take labron for a season and give Jordan the edge as a closer. I still assert that both a) lebron is underrated as a closer and b) the idea that MJ 'learned how to win' is ridic...but Jordan was a closer of the likes we've never seen.
I think one thing that is never really considered when this discussion comes up, is that its certainly possible that the 'clutch situation' seems to favor a Jordan rather than a lebron since he's a more effective mid-range player. When u match both of them up there's lots of things lebron does better like rebounding/passing/defense, but when defenses tighten up and driving is less of an option, Jordan certainly has an edge when u need to score which wud lead to him being more successful in clutch situations.
I'm glad someone else sees it too. Very, very well said.
LeBron's numbers in the playoffs this year have been extremely good but his competition has also been pretty weak.
If he can keep up what he's been doing into the NBA finals it will be one of the greatest playoff performances of all time but my guess is his numbers will see a dip once he faces a more worthy adversary.
I don't get this. Both Indiana and Boston are very good defensive teams. OKC's better all-around, but not as good as those 2 teams are defensively.
He's probably saying it because the East road to the finals this year is much easier than the West with Howard/Rose going down, but yea, Boston/Indiana are both good defensive teams.
we discussed lebrons defense a few years ago it was clear that when he became right around 26 or 27 years old he would be a better defender than jordan and its true. he went from soft to solid to elite (the night he guarded kobe in a game a few years ago in the 4th and kobe looked like a helpless little kid) to goat
this stuff about jordan being clutch and lebron not is just BS. please show some definitive evidence. the whole notion of clutchness is largely BS imho. did the Bulls ever even play a game 7? i can't remember one. they dominated series from beginning to end.
of course, this is only with pippen and pjax.
not sure how clutch jordan is with zdronus illgauskas or moe williams as the 2nd option.
we'll see. lebron has a lot of talent around him but he seems to lack the competitive fire that jordan had. this is a hollywood team of punk bitches. jordan would never put up with that. nor would he defer to anyone. he was a winner and the whole team fed off of that. just like bird and magic and zeke.
but dirk was a soft bitch like lebron and he figured it out and stopped crying. so we'll see.
bottom line: jordan won a bunch of rings cause his coach and teammates were very good. lebron has yet to do that. therefore jordan is clutch and lebron isn't.
but totally igonre their 4th quarter playoff shooting %s or playoff stats.
ur team winning means ur clutch and if they lose it means u r not clutch.
we'll see. lebron has a lot of talent around him but he seems to lack the competitive fire that jordan had. this is a hollywood team of punk bitches. jordan would never put up with that. nor would he defer to anyone. he was a winner and the whole team fed off of that. just like bird and magic and zeke.
this is his 2nd season with teammates that can ring.
you take lebron off of any other cavs team and they are a top 5 lottery team.
dont wanna hear it bird had 3 mvps and 3 rings by the time he was lebrons age took a last place team to the best record in nba his rookie year and champs the next. magic 5 rings and 3 mvps man. mj 6 and like charles said man michael is the mvp every year he played. show me the rings man.
dont wanna hear it bird had 3 mvps and 3 rings by the time he was lebrons age took a last place team to the best record in nba his rookie year and champs the next. magic 5 rings and 3 mvps man. mj 6 and like charles said man michael is the mvp every year he played. show me the rings man.
tremendous lack of diamond sharp wisdom in this post
he's a choker game 6 aint game 7 and even u gotta admit he choked last year in the finals and that is unforgivable. jordan bird and magic would NEVER do that.
r u fin kidding me. dude has a nice game 6 but that isnt even the finals. how u can choke an ENTIRE FINALS SERIES and still be goat is beyond me. anatta weeps for todays youth. so soft so easily taken in.
he's a choker game 6 aint game 7 and even u gotta admit he choked last year in the finals and that is unforgivable. jordan bird and magic would NEVER do that.
r u fin kidding me. dude has a nice game 6 but that isnt even the finals. how u can choke an ENTIRE FINALS SERIES and still be goat is beyond me. anatta weeps for todays youth. so soft so easily taken in.
bird and magic aren't on the same level than Lebron. And if you want a recap of Magic chocking in the finals someone posted a nice compilation a few pages ago
he is playing a team that lost all its centers. a team that lost its best perimeter defender. a team thats average age is 68. they are going 7. he teams with a top 5 player, he had a top big man last year too. he cant make it work. he choked AN ENTIRE FINALS (THE FINALS- u may have heard of it). jordan would NEVER do this. his team is hollywood. u think they disrespected jordan? christ.
same old 6 championships because Jordan was the only player on those teams that in all actual facts they played 1 on 5, normally against the rules but Jordan was just too good.
this is a very...desperate argument. More accurately they should say "ITS THE ONLY ARGUMENT I HAVE!" because it is.
this stuff about jordan being clutch and lebron not is just BS. please show some definitive evidence. the whole notion of clutchness is largely BS imho. did the Bulls ever even play a game 7? i can't remember one. they dominated series from beginning to end.
of course, this is only with pippen and pjax.
not sure how clutch jordan is with zdronus illgauskas or moe williams as the 2nd option.
This isn't really the forum where you're going to need to make this argument often. Most posters here agree that the notion of clutch is somewhat overrated, that guys like Lebron get underrated wrt it, and guys like Kobe get overrated wrt it. That Jordan obv benefited from his supporting cast/coach. And that Lebron is obv really good at basketball.
yeah magic was a choker and lebron is clutch. HES NEVER WON A FIN GAME 7. christ u think the ******ness of the spurs fans seeped into their play cosmically and that is why they lost 4 st8 like a bunch of sick nuns?
how do u choke an entire FINALS SERIES. not like game 7 or w/e BUT THE ENTIRE FIN SERIES AWAY? choker.