OT | Lebron vs Jordan (poll)

[Wise1]

Do you think Manu is better than Clyde AB?

[AussieBuck]

Do you think Manu is better than Clyde AB?

I have no interest in following you down the rabbit hole.

[Wooderson]

There's really just no point in comparing the two unless you are only considering Jordans career up to age 28. Any other comparison is completely asinine. Even then though, Jordan's getting the nod. If LeBron had continued his dominant play through the Finals against the Mavs and came out with the victory / FMVP, I think it would be incredibly close.

Also, I think it's far crazier to think Durant is better than LeBron right now then it is to take LeBron over Jordan (up to age 28). It's pretty evident that non-basketball feelings about LeBron, as well as stylistic preference, infect people's ability to objectively compare the two.

[Ayt]

Durant is a phenomenal player, but he's not better than LeBron on either end of the court and it really isn't close. Defensively, the gulf is so massive that it is laughable to compare them. LeBron's vision and playmaking also clearly sets him apart from Durant offensively.

[REDDzone]

Taking any current player over Lebron is completely insane IMO. Like not a discussion just toss your ass in a padded cell kind of insane, but that could just be me.

fasho.

[HurricaneKid]

They play different positions in different ages. I hate the comparisons. If you are going to make them at least make them relevant. Ask if Kobe equalled MJ (clearly not). Ask about guys going into retirement how their careers stack up. Don't ask about guys who have 4 peak years left. If LBJ matches what he did last year with reg season MVP, FMVP, Gold Medal, 1st team all def, etc for the next 4 yrs then yes, absolutely. I mean MJ only had one title at 28. But to have so much left and be left with this question is frustrating.

I will say this: people say defense was so much more physical in MJs day. There hasn't ever been a player more equipped to play in such a game as LBJ. Also, the rules for defenses were absurd. Utah was able to play 2v2 for 10 years. The net result is that those two compiled enormous stats. Defenses are now capable of forcing "other guys" to beat them. Don't believe me? In MJs best season (IMO) 1990-1991, there were only 27 teams. Yet there were 10 players that avg 25+ppg and another 17 players that were 20+. So fewer teams, fewer points, but 27 guys that scored 20+. This year there are 11 players over 19ppg. So all the high volume guys got theirs. Can you imagine trying to defend LBJ without being able to bring help, or at least being able to attempt disguising where the help could come from? Because that is essentially how teams were forced to deal with MJ. If you had two offensive players strongside you had to have two defenders. You couldn't bring a third guy without losing your ability to fall back. Now teams are able to do so much more to prevent one or two guys from wreaking such havoc.

[El Duderino]

Christ, I should have known this was about Kobe.

Kobe hasn't been in LeBron's league since LeBron's 2nd year in the league. He might be the most overrated basketball player in the history of the NBA. The fact that he's even in the discussion with Jordan is proof that ESPN is a joke.

Yea, i wonder what exactly is Jordan's agenda by saying something as ridiculous as Kobe being better than LeBron?

Does Jordan feel some fear that James will go on a run winning titles?

[HurricaneKid]

I have worshipped at the alter of MJ for most of my life. But the guy is a dick and everything that he has said has been grotesquely self serving and dumb for a while. I don't grasp how he could possibly feel slighted as everyone reveres him. Yet he continues to take shots at everyone except for Kobe who is so clearly a lesser version of him. Besides, he has been laughably impotent in talent evaluation.

[emunney]

Didn't LeBron once say his favorite player as a kid was Penny Hardaway? I bet that rubbed Jordan the wrong way if he heard it.

[Newz]

Didn't LeBron once say his favorite player as a kid was Penny Hardaway? I bet that rubbed Jordan the wrong way if he heard it.

Penny Hardaway was everyone's favorite player as a kid though.

[trwi7]

Didn't LeBron once say his favorite player as a kid was Penny Hardaway? I bet that rubbed Jordan the wrong way if he heard it.

Penny Hardaway was everyone's favorite player as a kid though.

Except jerrod. He was somehow a Corey Brewer fan 15 years ago.

[Newz]

I will add this too...

I think Durant is closing the gap on LeBron, but LeBron is still a superior player at this point. I think LeBron and Jordan are pretty close with Jordan having a slight edge on him.

I don't really think Kobe at any point in his career is close to any of those guys though. He's easily the fourth best player out of those guys.

[HurricaneKid]

Anyone that saw the game last night saw the chasm between LBJ and KD. KD's statline was fraudulent. He scored 14 pts in the first 4 minutes of the 4th before LeBron came in. He made 15 FTs, half of which were on dubious calls. He basically didn't make a basket until the game was over and yet he somehow ended with 40. Meanwhile, LeBron was getting his whole team involved and dominating play. He took 5 miserable, late in the shot clock, heaves. He made 1. That accounts for half his misses. His 39/12/7 was a marvel and the movement that Mia played with was breathtaking. Maybe its just a bad matchup for OKC, but LeBron's game is so much more rounded than Durant's it was glaring to watch the contrast.

[DocHoliday]

Marques Johnson poster on the wall in MJ's dorm room

[Ayt]

I will add this too...

I think Durant is closing the gap on LeBron, but LeBron is still a superior player at this point. I think LeBron and Jordan are pretty close with Jordan having a slight edge on him.

I don't really think Kobe at any point in his career is close to any of those guys though. He's easily the fourth best player out of those guys.

He still isn't anywhere close to being a guy that you can run your offense through on a play by play basis and have him be both the scorer and facilitator. He's better at it this year, but if you think about all the truly elite players, you could run your offense through them play after play after play. LeBron is obviously an exceptional example of that. Even with a player as good as Wade and with Bosh, it still doesn't make sense to run the offense through someone other than LeBron on nearly every possession.

Durant is without question a beast on offense, but I think it is obvious that you can have a much bigger impact on an offense when you are both the primary scorer and facilitator. Durant has improved, but he's never shown the instincts or the natural vision to be a primary playmaker. He could certainly get to the point that he can facilitate more and more, but I can't ever imagine him being the kind of guy you marvel at while he orchestrates an offense like a LeBron.

Defensively they aren't in the same stratosphere.

This reads like I'm ripping Durant in a way, but that is more of a testament to how incredible LeBron is as a player.