Was listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN radio here in Philly my way to work. He said MJ is the "greatest scorer ever," but "LeBron may be the greatest ever to play the game." TBH, outside of the hardware and leadership (which the next interviewee, Brent Musburger) was talking about, I don't think MJ has anything on LBJ. Am I off base here?
Physically speaking, no one matches Lebron but young Shaq and a young Wilt. He's better than Jordan right now, but if he wins some championships and continues to play the way he does for another 5 seasons, he will be.
LaBron minus D-Wade and Bosch = no titles. I think James is going to be a great player, and maybe even top 5 all time when all is said and done.
LeBron is more physically talented than MJ, but physical talent isn't what made MJ great. LeBron can't touch the will to win and the willingness to work to get better than Jordan had. And it's above the neck that outweighs what's below it that gives the edge to Jordan.
Wilt was the SINGLE BEST overall player the game has ever seen. Look up how many rule changes came into being after 1960 to LIMIT his impact on other teams. He just didn't win alot of titles. MJ is probably the second best player all time. Lebron will join the discussion in the coming years. My List for best player - even for one day, not entire career, not just based upon career numbers, titles, etc.: Wilt Chamberlain Michael Jordan Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Magic Johnson Kobe Bryant I kinda think that the players on this list should have the following achievements: MVP, All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year, and NBA Title on their shelf!!!
Exactly. MJ treated games against the Clippers in December the same way he treated games against the Jazz in June. MJ had the talent AND an absurd need to win that borders on the psychotic. Once LeBron proves that he wants his 5th title as bad as he wants his first then he will be the best ever. Otherwise, nope.
It will NEVER matter what Lebron James does in basketball hence forth because he'll never have done it on his own! Lebron had to join with another MVP of the league and another allstar to win anything. Pippen was a great sidekick to Jordan but he certainly wasn't the MVP of the league with a ring already before joining Jordan. Throw in Bosh and Lebron's legacy will always have an asterik next to it. Lebron needed essentially two of the allstar east players in their prime to get it done. Jordan did not!!!!
I don't remember Grant or Rodman ever being allstars.... I think having an MVP of the league in Wade who already has a ring might be an upgrade...
James and Jordan are about the same level of player. James' supporting casts til now were pathetic, not at all comparable to teams Jordan won championships with. In terms of production, defense and ability to impose his will upon other teams, no matter how good the opponent, James is pretty equal to Jordan. I'd put Jordan ahead of James in all-time rankings due to Jordan's longer career but, barring injury, I expect to view James on the candidate shortlist for greatest ever, along with Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.
Jordan never quit on his teams in the playoffs, like Kobe and LeBron have done. That's it in a nutshell right there.
