NBA: Bill Simmons piece on Jordan vs. LeBron

I read it. It was interesting, although I think it's tough to compare the two since they play/played in very different eras and cultures.

I disagree with Simmons dismissing the idea of going to a small market team because chasing a ring there would be slumming it. Of course the narrative is important to Lebron, but he's a big enough deal that wherever he chooses to go automatically becomes the narrative. He's going to go wherever his best chance to win more championships is. I don't think that's Philly. He doesn't have time to wait for the kids to grow up. The most ready-made championship team out there for him is Houston if they can make the money work.
 
Jordan would have been hated if he played in the social media era.

Agreed. Kobe just barely got out in time, too. As it was everybody knew he was an ******* but Twitter was still more or less in its infancy when he was still relevant and not just a shot happy punch line at the end.
 
Let's not forget LeBron still has a solid 4-6 years left to play( assuming he avoids a major injury) and is currently averaging 26ppg 8rpg 8apg. I already consider him the GOAT, by the time he retires I think it's going to be hard to dispute.


That sound you just heard was every MJ superfan screaming "Count the rings!!!"
 
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Let's not forget LeBron still has a solid 4-6 years left to play( assuming he avoids a major injury) and is currently averaging 26ppg 8rpg 8apg. I already consider him the GOAT, by the time he retires I think it's going to be hard to dispute.

This is why it is hard to compare the two. Jordan would have the potential to avg 40 a night with the current rules. LeBron would be guarded totally different in Jordan's era. LeBron shares the basketball more, or is that because Jordan played in a era where sharing wasn't caring. I will say this, if you get a time machine, give them both their best teams that won titles, there is no way Jordan lets LeBron beat him. Jordan had a killer instinct like no one before or since. LeBron doesn't have that, which is probably a good thing for his likability, but not for his title chasing. That said, Jordan would have never left Chicago in his prime to play on someone else's team. Take a sabbatical yes, but he would never have left to go play with Charles Barkley in Phoenix.

I am not a LeBron fan, but he is certainly in the conversation of best ever. But for me, watching Jordan play basketball was better than watching LeBron play basketball. Maybe because I was 8-18 years old for Jordan's prime and I am older for LeBron so it isn't as magical.
 
This is why it is hard to compare the two. Jordan would have the potential to avg 40 a night with the current rules. LeBron would be guarded totally different in Jordan's era. LeBron shares the basketball more, or is that because Jordan played in a era where sharing wasn't caring. I will say this, if you get a time machine, give them both their best teams that won titles, there is no way Jordan lets LeBron beat him. Jordan had a killer instinct like no one before or since. LeBron doesn't have that, which is probably a good thing for his likability, but not for his title chasing. That said, Jordan would have never left Chicago in his prime to play on someone else's team. Take a sabbatical yes, but he would never have left to go play with Charles Barkley in Phoenix.

I am not a LeBron fan, but he is certainly in the conversation of best ever. But for me, watching Jordan play basketball was better than watching LeBron play basketball. Maybe because I was 8-18 years old for Jordan's prime and I am older for LeBron so it isn't as magical.

I hear that argument a lot and I just don't think it holds water. Guys didn't form superteams back then because they didn't have the power that players do now. But if they could have done it, they would have.

The way Lebron left Cleveland the first time was poorly executed. If he had just left nobody would have blamed him. Look at the **** rosters he dragged deep into the playoffs every year. He got roasted (rightfully so) for the Decision debacle and ensuing celebration of championships he hadn't won yet. But the actual move to Miami was the right thing to do. A great player finally got the opportunity to play with a great supporting cast (not a superteam).
 
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This is why it is hard to compare the two. Jordan would have the potential to avg 40 a night with the current rules. LeBron would be guarded totally different in Jordan's era. LeBron shares the basketball more, or is that because Jordan played in a era where sharing wasn't caring. I will say this, if you get a time machine, give them both their best teams that won titles, there is no way Jordan lets LeBron beat him. Jordan had a killer instinct like no one before or since. LeBron doesn't have that, which is probably a good thing for his likability, but not for his title chasing. That said, Jordan would have never left Chicago in his prime to play on someone else's team. Take a sabbatical yes, but he would never have left to go play with Charles Barkley in Phoenix.

I am not a LeBron fan, but he is certainly in the conversation of best ever. But for me, watching Jordan play basketball was better than watching LeBron play basketball. Maybe because I was 8-18 years old for Jordan's prime and I am older for LeBron so it isn't as magical.

Jordan already had a pretty stacked team.
 
Let's not forget LeBron still has a solid 4-6 years left to play( assuming he avoids a major injury) and is currently averaging 26ppg 8rpg 8apg. I already consider him the GOAT, by the time he retires I think it's going to be hard to dispute.

No it won't. He's not as great as Jordan. It's science.
 
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This is why it is hard to compare the two. Jordan would have the potential to avg 40 a night with the current rules. LeBron would be guarded totally different in Jordan's era. LeBron shares the basketball more, or is that because Jordan played in a era where sharing wasn't caring. I will say this, if you get a time machine, give them both their best teams that won titles, there is no way Jordan lets LeBron beat him. Jordan had a killer instinct like no one before or since. LeBron doesn't have that, which is probably a good thing for his likability, but not for his title chasing. That said, Jordan would have never left Chicago in his prime to play on someone else's team. Take a sabbatical yes, but he would never have left to go play with Charles Barkley in Phoenix.

I am not a LeBron fan, but he is certainly in the conversation of best ever. But for me, watching Jordan play basketball was better than watching LeBron play basketball. Maybe because I was 8-18 years old for Jordan's prime and I am older for LeBron so it isn't as magical.

If Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson would've never come along, you still think hypercompetitive Jordan would've stayed? LeBron played with a terrible supporting cast in Cleveland, can't blame him one bit for leaving in an attempt to win. He's supposed to stay with an incompetent organization because he's from there and they won the first pick?
 

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