Who are the good 1 on 1 Defenders MJ faced?

[Bel]

The three best perimeter defenders MJ faced in the playoffs are quite clear, all were at their peaks at the time:
1. Moncrief
2. Rodman
3. Payton

Moncrief won back to back DPOYs in 83-84 and played rookie Jordan in a 1-3-1 zone, and Jordan absolutely eviscerated him (to be clear, Moncrief shredded Jordan on offense too, since rookie Jordan wasn't a good defender). Bulls GM Rod Thorn noted on their first meeting: "Milwaukee, they had the defensive player of the year, Sidney Moncrief. They double teamed him in the second half from the midcourt line in and couldn't stop him. They had Moncrief, Pressey, Junior Bridgeman, and Don Nelson was a defensive guru at the time, believe it or not...Whatever they did, he scored. In the fourth quarter, he must have scored 15,16,17 points, just won the game by himself, and I was thinking, 'Wow,' we've really got ourselves a player here."

The two best after that were Dennis Johnson and Joe Dumars, two perennial 1st team defenders.

The funniest part about these "arguments" is that they claim the 96-98 Bulls were stacked defensively with Rodman joining Jordan and Pippen (the guy who was traded for bench player Will Purdue straight up at age 35), and ignore that peak Rodman, the years he was earning 2 consecutive DPOY's, guarded Jordan in tandem with Joe Dumars.

Though of course the best defenders in that era against Jordan (and all perimeter drivers) were rim protectors, because bigs could clog the lane so effectively and rough you up. If you wanted to get a layup in a half-court set you had to beat 2-3 players minimum. Ironically the very title, in framing the discussion as '1on1 defenders,' basically exposes the ignorant fools here. It would take all of 10 minutes of watching tape to realize nobody was ever playing 84-93 Jordan 1on1 without help.

[twyzted]

Now guys like Kawhi, Iguodala & co are not big enough to guard Lebron lmaooo.

Kawhi at 6’7 230 & a 7’3 wingspan isn’t equipped to guard Lebron...

Iguodala at 6’6 225 & a 7’0 wingspan isn’t equipped to guard Lebron....

Who’s next? Paul George? Tony Allen? Bruce Bowen? Funny enough, there were hardly any guys built like that in Jordan’s era. These dudes have legit SF size with the lateral quickness of a SG. A throwback guy like Anthony Mason was more of a small PF than an actual wing.

It’s honestly embarrassing the lengths you go to. If you guys weren’t so fixated on calling ppl who don’t think Jordan = GOAT idiots, you’d actually have a better perspective.

Ahh i see youre not very good at reading.
Jordan is 6"6 ~210lbs
Starks is 6"3 180lbs
Hornacek is 6"3 190lbs
Russel is 6"7 220lbs
Kevin johnson is 6"1 190lbs
Majerle is 6"6 215lbs
Drexler is 6"7 210lbs
Payton is 6"4 180lbs
Scott is 6"3 195lbs
Dumars is 6"3 195lbs
Rodman is 6"7 210lbs

Lebron is 6"9 250lbs
Bowen is 6"7 185lbs
Kawhi is 6"7 230lbs
Iguodala is 6"6 215lbs
Marion is 6"7 220lbs jordan at the age of 38-39 put up more points then prime lebron

So as you can see the difference in sizes of defenders jordan and lebron is not that much. Ignoring how good they are at defending. We are only talking about sizes ok? catch the drift?
And nobody said they were to small to guard him that is something you made up.
Hope you understand

[mademan]

There weren’t many 6’8 super athletes the likes of kawhi or iguodala that often in his day. No reason to deny that. It’s what morey intimated when he said the athletes are a lot better today.

We consider Lebron a super athlete, but his last playoff run he was matched up with OG Anonoby Paul George siakam jaylen brown and Tatum. All large strong quick super athletes that weren’t prevelant in the league 20 years ago.

Jordan dominated more relative to his league than anyone else, but I’m not sure why people have to fight the idea that the average talent in the league today, both offensively and defensively, is significantly better. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement

[Norm2953]

I'm no Lakers fan but one of my favorite players is Michael Cooper who was a guy who could match
up with defensively against the best players on the other team at four different positions. Think
of Coop as similar to Klay Thompson but he also matched up in a number of memorable battles
with Larry Bird.

[HypeMode]

There weren’t many 6’8 super athletes the likes of kawhi or iguodala that often in his day. No reason to deny that. It’s what morey intimated when he said the athletes are a lot better today.

We consider Lebron a super athlete, but his last playoff run he was matched up with OG Anonoby Paul George siakam jaylen brown and Tatum. All large strong quick super athletes that weren’t prevelant in the league 20 years ago.

Jordan dominated more relative to his league than anyone else, but I’m not sure why people have to fight the idea that the average talent in the league today, both offensively and defensively, is significantly better. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement

Exactly. Guys like Paul George and Siakam are light years ahead of Majerle and Starks athletically. And in size too. Jordan rarely faced a 6' 5-6' 8" wing player who was 200+ lbs and athletic. Those players are a dime a dozen today.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

I hope I live long enough to see the quarantine kids feed the OP and his generation the same **** sandwich arguments about Lebron that they're trying to feed us about Jordan, Magic, Bird, etc.

[nzahir]

The three best perimeter defenders MJ faced in the playoffs are quite clear, all were at their peaks at the time:
1. Moncrief
2. Rodman
3. Payton

Moncrief won back to back DPOYs in 83-84 and played rookie Jordan in a 1-3-1 zone, and Jordan absolutely eviscerated him (to be clear, Moncrief shredded Jordan on offense too, since rookie Jordan wasn't a good defender). Bulls GM Rod Thorn noted on their first meeting: "Milwaukee, they had the defensive player of the year, Sidney Moncrief. They double teamed him in the second half from the midcourt line in and couldn't stop him. They had Moncrief, Pressey, Junior Bridgeman, and Don Nelson was a defensive guru at the time, believe it or not...Whatever they did, he scored. In the fourth quarter, he must have scored 15,16,17 points, just won the game by himself, and I was thinking, 'Wow,' we've really got ourselves a player here."

The two best after that were Dennis Johnson and Joe Dumars, two perennial 1st team defenders.

The funniest part about these "arguments" is that they claim the 96-98 Bulls were stacked defensively with Rodman joining Jordan and Pippen (the guy who was traded for bench player Will Purdue straight up at age 35), and ignore that peak Rodman, the years he was earning 2 consecutive DPOY's, guarded Jordan in tandem with Joe Dumars.

Though of course the best defenders in that era against Jordan (and all perimeter drivers) were rim protectors, because bigs could clog the lane so effectively and rough you up. If you wanted to get a layup in a half-court set you had to beat 2-3 players minimum. Ironically the very title, in framing the discussion as '1on1 defenders,' basically exposes the ignorant fools here. It would take all of 10 minutes of watching tape to realize nobody was ever playing 84-93 Jordan 1on1 without help.

Rodman is great ofc and MJ lost to the pistons 3 times in a row
Moncrief was early in MJ's career when he was losing early in the playoffs
Leads us to his 1 finals matchup when GP didn't guard him the 1st 3 games and it was MJ's worst finals

Compare that to:

Iggy
Draymond
Klay
Bowen
Prince
Kawhi
Marion
Durant
Paul George
Jimmy Butler

And it is not ever Lebron vs 1 guy, Lebron has played in an era with defensive help, unlike MJ

Team D with help where 3-4 guys are focused on you>hand checking (also helped MJ on the other end, and would benefit Lebron as well)

[twyzted]

There weren’t many 6’8 super athletes the likes of kawhi or iguodala that often in his day. No reason to deny that. It’s what morey intimated when he said the athletes are a lot better today.

We consider Lebron a super athlete, but his last playoff run he was matched up with OG Anonoby Paul George siakam jaylen brown and Tatum. All large strong quick super athletes that weren’t prevelant in the league 20 years ago.

Jordan dominated more relative to his league than anyone else, but I’m not sure why people have to fight the idea that the average talent in the league today, both offensively and defensively, is significantly better. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement

How is that even relevant to the discussion was lebron ever guarded by taller players?
Kawhi and iguodala arent even 6"8
Only paul george and siakim are 6"8 of those you listed.

[prolific passer]

The three best perimeter defenders MJ faced in the playoffs are quite clear, all were at their peaks at the time:
1. Moncrief
2. Rodman
3. Payton

Moncrief won back to back DPOYs in 83-84 and played rookie Jordan in a 1-3-1 zone, and Jordan absolutely eviscerated him (to be clear, Moncrief shredded Jordan on offense too, since rookie Jordan wasn't a good defender). Bulls GM Rod Thorn noted on their first meeting: "Milwaukee, they had the defensive player of the year, Sidney Moncrief. They double teamed him in the second half from the midcourt line in and couldn't stop him. They had Moncrief, Pressey, Junior Bridgeman, and Don Nelson was a defensive guru at the time, believe it or not...Whatever they did, he scored. In the fourth quarter, he must have scored 15,16,17 points, just won the game by himself, and I was thinking, 'Wow,' we've really got ourselves a player here."

The two best after that were Dennis Johnson and Joe Dumars, two perennial 1st team defenders.

The funniest part about these "arguments" is that they claim the 96-98 Bulls were stacked defensively with Rodman joining Jordan and Pippen (the guy who was traded for bench player Will Purdue straight up at age 35), and ignore that peak Rodman, the years he was earning 2 consecutive DPOY's, guarded Jordan in tandem with Joe Dumars.

Though of course the best defenders in that era against Jordan (and all perimeter drivers) were rim protectors, because bigs could clog the lane so effectively and rough you up. If you wanted to get a layup in a half-court set you had to beat 2-3 players minimum. Ironically the very title, in framing the discussion as '1on1 defenders,' basically exposes the ignorant fools here. It would take all of 10 minutes of watching tape to realize nobody was ever playing 84-93 Jordan 1on1 without help.

Rodman is great ofc and MJ lost to the pistons 3 times in a row
Moncrief was early in MJ's career when he was losing early in the playoffs
Leads us to his 1 finals matchup when GP didn't guard him the 1st 3 games and it was MJ's worst finals

Compare that to:

Iggy
Draymond
Klay
Bowen
Prince
Kawhi
Marion
Durant
Paul George
Jimmy Butler

And it is not ever Lebron vs 1 guy, Lebron has played in an era with defensive help, unlike MJ

Team D with help where 3-4 guys are focused on you>hand checking (also helped MJ on the other end, and would benefit Lebron as well)

Never heard of "the Jordan Rules"

[HypeMode]

Compare



to




Iguodala is significantly bigger than Starks. He's also quicker, faster, and more athletic and 4 inches taller. It's easy to see who would be more difficult to face

[prolific passer]

Compare



to




Iguodala is significantly bigger than Starks. He's also quicker, faster, and more athletic and 4 inches taller. It's easy to see who would be more difficult to face

Damn Jordan looks good and Lebron looks meh.

[TheGOATRises007]

The three best perimeter defenders MJ faced in the playoffs are quite clear, all were at their peaks at the time:
1. Moncrief
2. Rodman
3. Payton

Moncrief won back to back DPOYs in 83-84 and played rookie Jordan in a 1-3-1 zone, and Jordan absolutely eviscerated him (to be clear, Moncrief shredded Jordan on offense too, since rookie Jordan wasn't a good defender). Bulls GM Rod Thorn noted on their first meeting: "Milwaukee, they had the defensive player of the year, Sidney Moncrief. They double teamed him in the second half from the midcourt line in and couldn't stop him. They had Moncrief, Pressey, Junior Bridgeman, and Don Nelson was a defensive guru at the time, believe it or not...Whatever they did, he scored. In the fourth quarter, he must have scored 15,16,17 points, just won the game by himself, and I was thinking, 'Wow,' we've really got ourselves a player here."

The two best after that were Dennis Johnson and Joe Dumars, two perennial 1st team defenders.

The funniest part about these "arguments" is that they claim the 96-98 Bulls were stacked defensively with Rodman joining Jordan and Pippen (the guy who was traded for bench player Will Purdue straight up at age 35), and ignore that peak Rodman, the years he was earning 2 consecutive DPOY's, guarded Jordan in tandem with Joe Dumars.

Though of course the best defenders in that era against Jordan (and all perimeter drivers) were rim protectors, because bigs could clog the lane so effectively and rough you up. If you wanted to get a layup in a half-court set you had to beat 2-3 players minimum. Ironically the very title, in framing the discussion as '1on1 defenders,' basically exposes the ignorant fools here. It would take all of 10 minutes of watching tape to realize nobody was ever playing 84-93 Jordan 1on1 without help.

Rodman is great ofc and MJ lost to the pistons 3 times in a row
Moncrief was early in MJ's career when he was losing early in the playoffs
Leads us to his 1 finals matchup when GP didn't guard him the 1st 3 games and it was MJ's worst finals

Compare that to:

Iggy
Draymond
Klay
Bowen
Prince
Kawhi
Marion
Durant
Paul George
Jimmy Butler

And it is not ever Lebron vs 1 guy, Lebron has played in an era with defensive help, unlike MJ

Team D with help where 3-4 guys are focused on you>hand checking (also helped MJ on the other end, and would benefit Lebron as well)

This again?

I mean seriously....

You guys never watched the Pistons-Bulls games clearly.

[Antinomy]

There weren’t many 6’8 super athletes the likes of kawhi or iguodala that often in his day. No reason to deny that. It’s what morey intimated when he said the athletes are a lot better today.

We consider Lebron a super athlete, but his last playoff run he was matched up with OG Anonoby Paul George siakam jaylen brown and Tatum. All large strong quick super athletes that weren’t prevelant in the league 20 years ago.

Jordan dominated more relative to his league than anyone else, but I’m not sure why people have to fight the idea that the average talent in the league today, both offensively and defensively, is significantly better. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement

Exactly. Guys like Paul George and Siakam are light years ahead of Majerle and Starks athletically. And in size too. Jordan rarely faced a 6' 5-6' 8" wing player who was 200+ lbs and athletic. Those players are a dime a dozen today.

It hurts their pride to admit it.

A guy like Craig Ehlo was Jordan’s primary defender in a big playoff rivalry. It’s not even close.

[LKN]

Compare



to




Iguodala is significantly bigger than Starks. He's also quicker, faster, and more athletic and 4 inches taller. It's easy to see who would be more difficult to face

FFS you people are morons.

Starks is absolutely quicker than Iguadola. It's honestly not even that close.... and that's the whole point. It doesn't matter how strong, tall, etc you are if you can't stay in front of someone.

LOL, it's like I'm trapped with insane people.

[TheGOATRises007]

Antimony may be a good poster, but he can't be taken seriously when it comes to MJ.

He scoffed at the notion CP3(as if I said a scrub defender) could defend MJ better than Kawhi despite footage of CP3 guarding Lebron extremely well this very season - AND numerous Lebron fans on the PC board believing that Lebron can't attack CP3 off the dribble nor go at him.

[prolific passer]

There weren’t many 6’8 super athletes the likes of kawhi or iguodala that often in his day. No reason to deny that. It’s what morey intimated when he said the athletes are a lot better today.

We consider Lebron a super athlete, but his last playoff run he was matched up with OG Anonoby Paul George siakam jaylen brown and Tatum. All large strong quick super athletes that weren’t prevelant in the league 20 years ago.

Jordan dominated more relative to his league than anyone else, but I’m not sure why people have to fight the idea that the average talent in the league today, both offensively and defensively, is significantly better. It shouldn’t be a controversial statement

Exactly. Guys like Paul George and Siakam are light years ahead of Majerle and Starks athletically. And in size too. Jordan rarely faced a 6' 5-6' 8" wing player who was 200+ lbs and athletic. Those players are a dime a dozen today.

It hurts their pride to admit it.

A guy like Craig Ehlo was Jordan’s primary defender in a big playoff rivalry. It’s not even close.

To be fair. Jordan owned all the cavs shooting guards from 88-93.

[LKN]

I have never met a fan base so insecure in my entire life. FFS you know I could post crap like this over and over again:



But that would be stupid, because I'm perfectly happy to admit that LBJ is an ATG player who has succeeded against all kinds of defenders.

[LKN]

Exactly. Guys like Paul George and Siakam are light years ahead of Majerle and Starks athletically. And in size too. Jordan rarely faced a 6' 5-6' 8" wing player who was 200+ lbs and athletic. Those players are a dime a dozen today.

It hurts their pride to admit it.

A guy like Craig Ehlo was Jordan’s primary defender in a big playoff rivalry. It’s not even close.

To be fair. Jordan owned all the cavs shooting guards from 88-93.

Uber athletes like Ron Harper and Gerald Wilkins didn't do any better.

[Catchall]

Lebron has never been the same caliber of one-on-one scorer as Michael Jordan. Lebron takes a jumper or he bullies his way to the rim, but he doesn't have the array of one-on-one moves that Jordan had, regardless of who's guarding him.

[anatomicbomb]

Can we quarantine some posters from the rest of the forum?