Alonzo Mourning: Prime Michael Jordan would average close to 50 PPG in today's NBA

[JeepCSC]

I meant that i think he would score less, but his efficiency might be higher.

Hm, but why would he score less? The championship Bulls were a fully-functioning offense, even if not quite as pass-happy as the Spurs. It wasn't simply Jordan going full iso for 48 minutes. Jordan was scoring within the framework of an all-time efficient offense. His scoring wasn't a hindrance to the offense, it was the catalyst.

[og15]

Mj would probably avg 38 or 40 if he was playing I'm this era at 22-29. The same way Westbrook had a triple double streak, mj would have 50pt streaks.

And you can't compare hardens ft attempts to mj's because mj tried to make all of his shots while harden sometimes reverts to flailing his arms similar to Durant.

With today's defense, Jordan is just going to catch fire immediately. Kobe Bryant is just as good as mj but the difference is Jordan made/makes simple plays look flashy and was a more efficient scorer.

Why? How many minutes are you playing him? What kind of team is he on where he's using so many possessions? People just spew out these numbers, but what's the context here.

Jordan did put up 28 FGA with 38%USG (37 PPG), and Westbrook is on 38%USG this season and only avg 27PPG, so 38 to 40 pts is definitely not far from stretch here.

Yea, once, on a 40 win team where the teams next leading scorer was Charles Oakley....

That's my point. Jordan on about any team is a 30 PPG scorer, high 20's at least. Above that, it becomes totally dependent on what kind of team he is playing on. He was only in the high 30's twice in his career and those were both years where Charles Oakley was the teams 2nd leading scorer. When he averaged 35 PPG, even per 36 minutes, the next best scorer was Sedale Threatt who played 45 games and averaged 15 pts/36. When he averaged 37 ppg, again, not even per 36 did they have anyone scoring at a high rate, 15 pts/36 was still the highest. Enes Kanter has a better scoring rate than anyone on those teams outside of Jordan had...

[kodo]

Another "back in my day" argument. He may not even average the amount he got back then with the strong-side loading/no illegal defense rules of today's NBA defenses. Hard to judge.

Thibodeau's strong side defense is bringing one extra help defender to the strong side of the ball leaving a man open on the far weak side.

Michael Jordan drew 3-5 defenders.

The extra help defender you see in today's defense is nothing compared to the defensive attention he drew back in his day.











It's all speculation without a time machine.

But I'll put my faith in what Joe Dumars and Alonzo Mourning believe. They were among the two best defenders in the most defensive dominant era of NBA history.

[reignfire]

It's weird seeing Katie Nolan talk to basketball personalities, seeing as how she seems to detest the sport so much. I really dig her otherwise.

What has she said/done?

[jumpstart]

Imagine MJ playing against the 76ers in today's league. I mean, Kobe put up 81 some years back.

[YogurtProducer]

Not saying I believe what I am about to post because I am too young to have grown up watching MJ but.

Just like how nowadays we don't see guys average 12/13+ assists a game, or 18+ rebounds, or 4+ blocks, why do we assume MJ will score his 37 ( or more ) a game? I think the game has just changed to the point where MJ today "could" score 40 a game, but he would hurt his team when he should just go for 30 and 10 or more assists with higher efficiency.

[JeepCSC]

Is it just me, or does the NBA have by far the saltiest retired players? You never hear this much "back in my day" whining from former players in the NFL, NHL, or even in the MLB (despite all the love for old-school purism in baseball).

Even more annoying is that this whining brings out all the nostalgia-blinded fans who echo the same old cliches about how much "softer" today's league is, as if we're supposed to forget that most of the rule changes they complain about were put into place during their beloved '90s.

I will say NBA fans are the most protective of their eras in either direction. Most MLB fans let the old-timers wax on about the pre-juice era without batting an eye, and NFL fans enjoying hearing stories about the Steel Curtain. Someone mentions Wilt, and it becomes a back-and-forth on why Shaq was more impressive before you can say "Kobe". It wasn't a coincidence that the first reply to Mourning's hyperbole was calling out Jordan the other way. It's a vicious cycle.

[jumpstart]

Imagine MJ isolating LBJ, lol. That would be so awesome to see. Jordan first step was so insanely fast. He would of school the sh*t out of LBJ!

sorry to turn this into a comparison...haha

[og15]

Imagine MJ playing against the 76ers in today's league. I mean, Kobe put up 81 some years back.

Now, there's the one that people should be arguing. If we stuck Jordan on the Sixers, then he would score a lot of points. Actually with all those young athletic defenders on that team plus Jordan you actually have an okay team

[Slava]

Imagine MJ playing against the 76ers in today's league. I mean, Kobe put up 81 some years back.

Now, there's the one that people should be arguing. If we stuck Jordan on the Sixers, then he would score a lot of points. Actually with all those young athletic defenders on that team plus Jordan you actually have an okay team

I think if he played the Knicks he'd drop 100 on them. He's not as good a 3 point shooter but if he wanted to push the pace and increase possessions, he'd do it.

[reignfire]

There's way more talent in today's NBA. Anyone who denies that, former player or not, doesn't know anything about what the league is today.

[og15]

Imagine MJ playing against the 76ers in today's league. I mean, Kobe put up 81 some years back.

Now, there's the one that people should be arguing. If we stuck Jordan on the Sixers, then he would score a lot of points. Actually with all those young athletic defenders on that team plus Jordan you actually have an okay team

I think if he played the Knicks he'd drop 100 on them. He's not as good a 3 point shooter but if he wanted to push the pace and increase possessions, he'd do it.

Oyy, the Knicks. I actually couldn't even watch the Clippers vs Knicks game comfortably because it felt like they didn't even know what defense was. Everything was just too easy. He wouldn't drop 100 because it would be a blowout

[ropjhk]

It's an exaggeration of course, but no doubt prime Jordan would easily run away with the scoring title if he played in today's NBA. Think of Russell Westbrook right now leading the league in scoring doing everything for his team. Put Jordan in a similar situation and he easily averages over 35 a game.

[jumpstart]

There's way more talent in today's NBA. Anyone who denies that, former player or not, doesn't know anything about what the league is today.

Yes and no. Kids start playing so early now that you would think. But there are plenty of guy in the game who have sh*t footwork. Guys used to master that stuff back in the day.

But on the contrary, you'd never see guys like Durant back in the day.

As the game evolves, so do the players. If you stuck all these guys in today's game back in the 90s, they have to adapt to that type of game and vice versa.

so, yes and no! lol

[JeepCSC]

Now, there's the one that people should be arguing. If we stuck Jordan on the Sixers, then he would score a lot of points. Actually with all those young athletic defenders on that team plus Jordan you actually have an okay team

Jordan was scoring lots of points on talented teams as well. His points per 100 possessions on his title teams were basically above anyone outside that one Kobe year. This idea that he could only score on talent-poor teams is misplaced.

[og15]

Now, there's the one that people should be arguing. If we stuck Jordan on the Sixers, then he would score a lot of points. Actually with all those young athletic defenders on that team plus Jordan you actually have an okay team

Jordan was scoring lots of points on talented teams as well. His points per 100 possessions on his title teams were basically above anyone outside that one Kobe year. This idea that he could only score on talent-poor teams is misplaced.

Well clearly you didn't read the rest of my posts if you think I'm implying that

[andrewww]

The overall takeway from former players...is that while there is more 'talent' in today's NBA, the rule changes (lack of handchecking for the most part unless you're someone like lebron who's allowed to hack without repercussions lol) make it sooo much easier to play offense. In other words, the league is too 'soft' and the game itself almost becomes more 'entertainment' than being an old school basketball game.

Ever wonder why there are so many great pgs nowadays? If you're allowed to hand check the smallest players on the court that is a huge advantage for the defense.

[[e]]

Hand checking rules really would benefit Jordan quite a bit. He was already near impossible to stop from getting to the rim, having a rule that says you can't hand check him would make it impossible.

He'd average more free throw attempts in today's rules, than the rules he played with. Him getting near 50 a game seems high though, although I wouldn't rule out ~40

[Heej]

Another "back in my day" argument. He may not even average the amount he got back then with the strong-side loading/no illegal defense rules of today's NBA defenses. Hard to judge.

Thibodeau's strong side defense is bringing one extra help defender to the strong side of the ball leaving a man open on the far weak side.

Michael Jordan drew 3-5 defenders.

The extra help defender you see in today's defense is nothing compared to the defensive attention he drew back in his day.











It's all speculation without a time machine.

But I'll put my faith in what Joe Dumars and Alonzo Mourning believe. They were among the two best defenders in the most defensive dominant era of NBA history.

Instead of explaining why you're wrong I'll let this video do it for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM_eCnTNt1Q

A defense that is loaded up before you attack is a lot more difficult to score on than a defense that's forced to clear out to one side and rotate over from the weak side. Also it's a lot easier to play knowing that you're either getting double/triple teamed or you'll have one whole side cleared out for you to operate, as opposed to playing against a defense that's always hovering in your vicinity but never fully committing to a hard trap so that they can cut off both the driving lane and passing lane.

Also, perimeter defenders across the board are more athletic now. There's a much greater wealth of dominant perimeter defenders now than there ever were back in MJ's day. Also, bigs across the league are in general more athletic and cover far more ground than those of years past. Sure there were a few that stand out like Olajuwon, Robinson, Mourning, Ewing, etc but across the board (ncluding non-star and backup bigs) the length and speed we have in the league now is on another level compared to the bigs MJ had to score around/over.

Now this is offset by the heightened physicality. Not only on the perimeter where players could wear you down over the course of a game with handchecking, but also on drives to the rim where those hard fouls take a lot of energy out of you. They were two completely different eras and difficult to score in their own ways, but the cerebral defenses that completely eat up space all over the court we see nowadays are more difficult to deal with.

[reapaman]

Whenever someone says you can't touch a player today, they should be immediately notified that the last 8 years have resulted in the lowest amount of fouls called in NBA history. Many people have zero idea what effect the "rule changes" really had.

Plus Zo is a flip flopper, you can't trust what he says. Not long ago I remember him saying Lebron could outplay Jordan if they were to matchup and now he's saying that Jordan can average 50? Come on now .....