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In the past few weeks there have been many discussions and debates about who is the greatest NBA player ever... Lebron James or Michael Jordan...

They both have a legitimate argument to being considered the best ever, except for Lebron. Any debate between the two is silly; there is simply no rational way of saying James is better unless you also count the mother's scoring prowess.

Is there even a question? Lebron isn't even better than Kobe, let alone the great MJ

LOL dude....lebron has been better than kobrick for the last 3-4 years,seriously...
Lebron is not on Jordans level but we should only debate after Lebrons career is over..

MJ changed the game for the better...Lebron might have started a trend in the NBA that makes these "super" three star teams and creates an extremely lopsided environment...Regardless of whose a better player, Jordan will always have a better legacy.

As far as whose a better NBA player, I can't honestly say because I never watched Jordan play (besides highlight clips, which don't say much). Even an NBA analyst would find it hard to compare two players of different eras, so I can't really talk but I honestly don't even think that Lebron is better than Kobe's prime and Kobe almost definitely isn't better than MJ (I'm using Kobe as a "mix" between the different eras, even though he isn't the best example).

This question reminds me of that commerical for Bad Teachers where the kid argues that Lebron is a better passer and rebounder than MJ and the adult says MJ has more rings. At the end of the day though, I think that's the only argument he needs though. While it is true that MJ had a better supporting cast, Lebron only got to the finals once with Cleveland, a favorite the past two seasons (if I am correct). More so, Lebron has quit too many times before. It's obvious to me Lebron won't quit on this Heat team, but that seems more to salvage what's left of his reputation (how bad would he look if he didn't win rings with this team) than to build on his reputation like in Cleveland.

Lebron didn't start any trend...he stole or went with other trends like MJ and KG's chalk toss to the Celtics Big 3, so I don't know where exactly you got your info on him being a trend setter. You want a trend, look at KD wearing his backpack during the post game interviews. You want another trend, MJ wearing long shorts ingame which I had mentioned before.

If you want to talk about two different eras, MJ's was tougher because they easily had tougher players and legit centers unlike today where there are people like Chris Bosh who are considered a "center" where they would have been a SF at best in Jordan's playing era. The only legit center nowadays is maybe Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol. There is really no inside presence in todays game which is sad because I see way to many PG/SG type players slashing their way through interior defenses like nothing. Ray Allen, a pure shooter, are long gone for high flying dunkers and true point guards like Jason Kidd are rare to find (Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and Steve Nash) and are being replaced by SGs being made into PGs (see Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook).

Analyst now would hands down agree that MJ is by far the greatest since Lebron decided to quit and jump ship to easy mode. Plus have you noticed that everyone compares the next best player to Jordan? (see Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Anfernee Hardaway, Grant Hill, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, etc) never Wilt or Magic or Bill Russell

Jordan never gave up a 15 pt lead in the 4th quarter at home in the Finals!

And he doesn't need to travel to make a good play.

A few things...
- I disagree with your "tougher players" in MJ's era. They officiated differently. Matter of fact, they changed the officiating to BENEFIT Jordan, not the other way around (like... Wilt for example).
- I do agree with you on fewer "power centers", but I'd suggest that there are more than just Howard/Gasol Jr.
- I disagree on Westbrook being a SG-turned-to-PG. He's simply still in the learning process of the game.

Your last point is very good: a lot of these "next MJ" comparisons aren't as good as Kareem/Wilt/Magic/Bird/Russell... forget MJ.

LOL dude....lebron has been better than kobrick for the last 3-4 years,seriously...
Lebron is not on Jordans level but we should only debate after Lebrons career is over..

That's a contradiction. Unfair to compare to Jordan, yet you feel it's ok to compare to Kobe?
LeBron's in his prime now, and he's yet to do anything like Kobe did in his prime.

how do you not see that MJ's era had tougher players? There were so many players that rivaled one another along with their teams. There isn't that physical rival presence in todays game because its all about finesse and flash. The only thing i see/saw anything remotely tough in todays game was that Pacers v Pistons game where the Pacers players went AWOL on the Pistons fans other than that we have a big guys like Bynum and Artest picking on a much smaller guy in JJ Barea, that's just weak and chump status. Charles Barkley hands down then is tougher than any player today PERIOD.

and as with the officiating, all sports protect and covet their stars from NFL protecting their QBs like Tom Brady, to the recent MLB trying to protect catchers like Buster Posey and Joe Mauer (trying to put them in different fielding positions for longer lasting careers). Kobe Bryant has gotten away with many calls and now Lebron James has definitely without a doubt seen many calls go his way never mind ESPN and David Stern put him on a pedestal giving him the "The Decision". Oh and if anyone had any effect on NBA rules it was Wilt dunking from the free throw line, along with widening the lane in an attempt to keep him and his finger-roll farther from the goal, implementing the offensive-goaltending rule and revising the rules regarding inbounding and free throws

and i would say that MOST if not every analyst would tell you that russell westbrook has always been a shoot guard as in his two years with the UCLA Bruins their PG was Darren Collison. so yes Russell Westbrook is a SG being turned into a PG and if you were following the commentating during the Mavs v Thunders series, all the analysts talked about how he isn't a point guard

as for the MJ comparisons, dude i've never ever heard people say who's the next Wilt or the next Larry Bird.

Gee... here's a surprise: a guy with your pseudonym leaping to Jordan's defense! Hehe... I kid. As stated before, I'm of the opinion that Jordan well-deserves his GOAT status... just so as we're clear on that!

how do you not see that MJ's era had tougher players? There were so many players that rivaled one another along with their teams. There isn't that physical rival presence in todays game because its all about finesse and flash. The only thing i see/saw anything remotely tough in todays game was that Pacers v Pistons game where the Pacers players went AWOL on the Pistons fans other than that we have a big guys like Bynum and Artest picking on a much smaller guy in JJ Barea, that's just weak and chump status. Charles Barkley hands down then is tougher than any player today PERIOD.

Tougher... because you say so? In lieu of anything beyond anecdotes, let's look at the facts: the main thing that's different about the game now is the way it is officiated. Players CANNOT do what they did in the 80s/early-90s because they will get hammered by officials, when "back in the day" it'd be let go. No blood, no foul... right?
It's that simple, isn't it?
Someone frequently accused of being soft throughout his career - Dirk Nowitzki - recently said
"What's tough? Punching someone in the face or hitting the contested shot at the end of a game?"

And surely you're not asserting that Ron Artest isn't "tough"...

Oh and if anyone had any effect on NBA rules it was Wilt dunking from the free throw line, along with widening the lane in an attempt to keep him and his finger-roll farther from the goal, implementing the offensive-goaltending rule and revising the rules regarding inbounding and free throws

Isn't that my point? Wilt had rule-changes come into existence to stop him. MJ had rule-changes come into existence to help him.

and i would say that MOST if not every analyst would tell you that russell westbrook has always been a shoot guard as in his two years with the UCLA Bruins their PG was Darren Collison. so yes Russell Westbrook is a SG being turned into a PG and if you were following the commentating during the Mavs v Thunders series, all the analysts talked about how he isn't a point guard

Surely that's at least a little bit of an exaggeration. Listen to Ryen Russillo on ESPN's NBA Today podcast. Russell Westbrook is still very much a player in development. That along with the presence of Collison at UCLA meant that he had to play at SG. Just because of that doesn't mean that we should pigeon-hole him into a role that neither he nor OKC particularly want.
Sure, he has a lot of work to do, especially in the decision making process... but even if we call him an SG, that doesn't excuse him taking that many shots when Kevin Durant's on the floor with him.

as for the MJ comparisons, dude i've never ever heard people say who's the next Wilt or the next Larry Bird.

Ummm... you're not reading.
I stated that these guys we're currently comparing to MJ aren't as good as the aforementioned players. It was merely a throw-away comment on how laughable it is that we continually look for the next greatest, when the reality is that those examined generally fall a long way short of guys who themselves a bit off 'being Jordan'.

But on your comment: you mustn't have been reading/watching/listening to the media lately. The comparisons of Nowitzki to Bird have been rife.

Last edited by malice at 6/5/2011 1:36:50 AM