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It is very hard for me to judge Russell and Wilt because I never saw them play. I think both deserve to be in the discussion. I am unwilling to accept the consesus of a bunch of sports writers etc. who suggest that Wilt was only chasing individual numbers, because in my experience, they;re often more about telling a good story than the objective truth.

As for MJ, everyone seems to remember the championship MJ -- but before that, he took a lot of heat and a lot of shots and missed a lot of buckets. To paraphrase Colbert....great player or greatest player? But like I said, its a debate -- one which Lebron might eventually be the answer too. Honestly, if you had a pick one player who was a champion from season one in the NBA, it would have to be Magic. MJ had a lot of learning to do. So does Lebron, evidently.

MJ had a lot of learning to do

Sure, he had a lot of learning to do but in his first season:

Win Shares
1. Larry Bird*-BOS 15.7
2. Michael Jordan*-CHI 14.0

Player Efficiency Rating
1. Larry Bird*-BOS 26.5
2. Michael Jordan*-CHI 25.8

From the time he joined the bulls, even up to the year prior to them winning the championship, look at the 2nd/3rd highest PER on his team:

84-85:
Player PER
Michael Jordan 25.8
Orlando Woolridge 19.5
Quintin Dailey 15.2

85-86 (injured, played only 18 games)
Player PER
Michael Jordan 27.5
Orlando Woolridge 19.6
Quintin Dailey 18.1

86-87
Player PER
Michael Jordan 29.8
Sedale Threatt 16.2
Charles Oakley 14.2

87-88
Player PER
Michael Jordan 31.7
Sam Vincent 16.1
Charles Oakley 15.4

88-89
Player PER
Michael Jordan 31.1
Craig Hodges 14.9
Scottie Pippen 14.9

89-90
Player PER
Michael Jordan 31.2
Horace Grant 16.6
Scottie Pippen 16.3

From the time he joined the bulls, even up to the year prior to them winning the championship, look at the 2nd/3rd highest PER on his team:

Lets run these for lebron (yeah, it's beating a dead horse, at this moment in time, to say LBJ isn't as good as MJ):

03-04
Player PER (LBJ was 19 his first year, compared to MJ who was 21)
Carlos Boozer 20.8
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 20.2
LeBron James 18.3

04-05
Player PER
LeBron James 25.7
Drew Gooden 19.7
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 19.5

05-06
Player PER
LeBron James 28.1
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 21.9
Drew Gooden 17.6

06-07
Player PER
LeBron James 24.5
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 18
Drew Gooden 16.5

07-08
Player PER
LeBron James 29.1
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 18.7
Joe Smith 14.9

08-09
Player PER
LeBron James 31.7
Zydrunas Ilgauskas 18
Mo Williams 17.2

I wonder if LBJ would have been more successful getting the team he had his first 2 years later in his team with cleveland. surprised how bad his supporting cast was in 07-08, almost as bad as MJ's in 08-09.

So if teammates matter now...what's wrong with Lebron seeking out good ones to help him win a championship?

Can't compare them until James' career is over however I definitely think that THE KING will surpass MJ.
Let's talk...

- LeBron had no NCAA experience... Jordan had spent 3 years with -in my opinion- the best college in the US. That's definitely a bonus fo James...

- While a rookie, James made an instant impact in the Cavs, improving them by 18 wins. Jordan also improved Bulls but by only 10 wins... Second bonus for James

- To be fair, Jordan selected to start the Eastern Conference Allstar team while a rookie, while James didn't...

Now let's talk about statistics

Jordan
PPG: 30.1
APG: 6.2
RPG: 5.3

James
PPG: 27.7
APG: 7.0
RPG: 7.1

So, obviously Jordan is a better scorer, while James is a better All-Arounder... Sounds equal to me...

- Jordan has 14 All-Star appearances, James has already 7. I think that James will play (if he stays healthy - I wish for it) for about 10 more years. Won't he be 7 more times an All-Star? I definitely think he will...

- Jordan has 5 MVPs... James has only 2... He has been an MVP candidate with Miami's 2nd seed in the East. Miami will keep improving. It's a matter of time Miami finishes first in Regular Season. Multiple times. So expect Wade with a couple of MVPs in 7 years from now and James with another 3.

- Jordan has 6 NBA Titles. James has nothing. However, Jordan won his first NBA Title in 1991 when he was 28 years old...














JAMES IS ONLY 26!!!

Last edited by Ricky Davis at 8/22/2011 7:42:02 AM

quite optimistic your calculations Bulls and the Knicks are franchises who have more development potential then the Bulls, and in West there are still the Lakers and the Thunder(imho the team i expect most over the next 5-6 years) who could beat Miamis as. Which makes your title and MVP wishes quite difficult.

Jordan make the step from a player who played a lot through his athletic to a finesse player, leBron have this step ahead of his.

Also LeBron temanmate Wade is in the mix for the MVP title, which makes it harder for both and hey to be the best player of all time you should be easily the best in your team right? Pippen was a very great player(often in the top 3-5 of all time SF), but nobody said Jordan was number two.

And ok he played more allstar games, cause he played longer if his career take that long ;) But honestly, thats an popularity contest Ming got there without playing and if u could elect MJ i am quite sure he would be still participating there.

Last edited by CrazyEye at 8/22/2011 8:02:34 AM

LeBron, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving are definitely over Pippen in the All-Time SF list and players like Worthy, Wilkins, Barry can ''steal'' Pippen's 6th spot...
In SGs, it's clear to me that Wade is number 3 behind MJ and probably Jerry West. Also, Miami is clearly D-Wade's team which makes it even harder for LeBron to claim the Number One title...

Big 3's first season was successful even if haters want to say the opposite. Miami was 2 games far from the championship. There is no opponent that can beat them in the East (4-1 the Celtics, 4-1 the Bulls).
By acquiring Dalembert and ex-superstars like Redd, Ford or T-Mac Miami automatically improves in terms of regural season wins. So, I'm not optimistic when I say the MVPs are close, quite realistic I would say...

LeBron won't have to make the step you mentioned because of his size. If he feels that his athletic ability is overshadowed by his age he will develop a post game using his size (which is not hampered by age)

there are also espn writer who put him behind bird, erving and before Bron ;)

And i wouuldn't put Wade on 3 or even 2, he is not even the best active SG in my eyes at least in the all time category(and still you could argue that it is still his team, and not Brons).

1. Johrden
2. Bryant
3. West
4. gervin
5.havlicek(is more Sg to me)

then comes a bunch of dudes on Wades level:
Drexler, Miller, Maravich, Sam Jones, Dumars

Last edited by CrazyEye at 8/22/2011 8:39:51 AM