Mikal Bridges says LeBron would get 90 a game against 86' Celtics (Burning Bridges ?)

[Greyhound]

LeBron would not average 90 vs the 86 Celtics.

LeBron wouldn't of been in the playoffs in 86.

LeBron wouldn't have came back in that 86 season. Woulda took the year off while complaining that he needs more help to the FO.

You are bragging about what exactly? The Bulls made the playoffs with a 30 and 52 record.

LeBron has never played on a team with a record that bad.

I think he makes the playoffs with a bar that low. It’s likely his body holds up (as is his history) and his team is better then 8th.

Well he did miss the playoffs last year Vs more saturated talent pool with several horrible teams.

He was injured as well (his team was in 4th place before he went down), however his team could not sneak into the playoffs with some slop like 30-52 (the Bulls record in 86).

The Lakers won 37 games last season.

[Greyhound]

People see dudes like Larry Bird and DJ and assume they are plumbers because they are not roided up muscle heads thats what this comes down to.

People see them and think they are greater because they watched them with their daddy.

See, we can all pull wild assumptions out the old derrière.

[GA34]

I’m dumber for reading this thread

[Ill News]

People see dudes like Larry Bird and DJ and assume they are plumbers because they are not roided up muscle heads thats what this comes down to.

People see them and think they are greater because they watched them with their daddy.

See, we can all pull wild assumptions out the old derrière.

It's not a "wild assumption" to think they're some of the greatest players in league history. There's plenty of reasons why those guys are Hall of Famers.

[whysoserious]

Lebron doesn't even average 30 in today's no defense, jack 3 era. Dumb comments from Bridges.

Lebron would be great in that era just as Jordan would be great in this era. That's the nature of being in the discussion for GOAT.

[Greyhound]

People see dudes like Larry Bird and DJ and assume they are plumbers because they are not roided up muscle heads thats what this comes down to.

People see them and think they are greater because they watched them with their daddy.

See, we can all pull wild assumptions out the old derrière.

It's not a "wild assumption" to think they're some of the greatest players in league history. There's plenty of reasons why those guys are Hall of Famers.

The wild assumption is the reason.

Because they watched them with their daddy. Try to keep up, guy.

[JonFromVA]

generation Z is pushing back against this MJ campaign.
I know some collegiate players who refuse to even watch it because anybody could doninate back then.
A whole generation of athletes who have little concept on basketball, but still excel at it. Its amazing.

NBA players were more in to snorting cocaine than weight training before Michael started doing it.

- Robert Parish is listed at 7-1 230lbs. Bird is 220. McHale and Walton are 210. DJ was 185, and Ainge was 175.

Compare that to a modern "finesse" team like the 2019 champion Warriors:

- Cousins 270, Bogut 260, Durant 240, Green 230, Iggy 215, Klay 215, Steph 190.

Basically the one guy that James loved to mismatch against (aka Steph) weighed more and was presumably stronger than either of Boston's starting wings. Lots of luck to Scott Wedman or Rick Carlisle dealing with James.

It's a fair assumption that in a more physical era, that a stronger/faster player would be unstoppable.

Heck, that's why Jordan was so good so fast in spite of barely being able to shoot when he entered the league.

But it's just unprovable/untestable opinion ... same as everyone else's.

[Klayforspicy]

generation Z is pushing back against this MJ campaign.
I know some collegiate players who refuse to even watch it because anybody could doninate back then.
A whole generation of athletes who have little concept on basketball, but still excel at it. Its amazing.

NBA players were more in to snorting cocaine than weight training before Michael started doing it.

- Robert Parish is listed at 7-1 230lbs. Bird is 220. McHale and Walton are 210. DJ was 185, and Ainge was 175.

Compare that to a modern "finesse" team like the 2019 champion Warriors:

- Cousins 270, Bogut 260, Durant 240, Green 230, Iggy 215, Klay 215, Steph 190.

Basically the one guy that James loved to mismatch against (aka Steph) weighed more and was presumably stronger than either of Boston's starting wings. Lots of luck to Scott Wedman or Rick Carlisle dealing with James.

It's a fair assumption that in a more physical era, that a stronger/faster player would be unstoppable.

Heck, that's why Jordan was so good so fast in spite of barely being able to shoot when he entered the league.

But it's just unprovable/untestable opinion ... same as everyone else's.

I understand what you're saying, but if physicality was really so important then Karl Malone and Shaq would have won titles in the 90s.

[Franco]

but he couldnt drop 20 on the mavs in 2011? i dont see much difference

To be fair a lot of the defense Mavs designed for LeBron was mostly illegal in previous eras. The best era for peak LeBron would be 80s followed by the era we entered around 2016 to now then mid to late 90s and the last would the 00s.
I would love seeing a guy like LeBron throwing elbows when on offense. Perimeter defenders would be terrified of following him on his drives.
Anyone who thinks that roaming defense isn't the best defense against LeBron doesn't know Basketball. LeBron would absolutely love playing in the 80s.

There was plenty of de facto zone played vs Jordan

Watch on YouTube

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5K-qGWkiKvQ#t=40[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NLv2F33snCE#t=92[/youtube]

Keep in mind that LeBron playing vs 80s/90s defenses means LeBron would be playing WITH 80s/90s teammates, so the floor-spacing would be almost non-existent relative to today. Defensive "walls" in the paint would be routine

Ah yes, the good old argument of “let me post a half dozen clips and streeeeeeetch that into the full game of an entire era”.

[BenoUdrihFTL]

To be fair a lot of the defense Mavs designed for LeBron was mostly illegal in previous eras. The best era for peak LeBron would be 80s followed by the era we entered around 2016 to now then mid to late 90s and the last would the 00s.
I would love seeing a guy like LeBron throwing elbows when on offense. Perimeter defenders would be terrified of following him on his drives.
Anyone who thinks that roaming defense isn't the best defense against LeBron doesn't know Basketball. LeBron would absolutely love playing in the 80s.

There was plenty of de facto zone played vs Jordan

Watch on YouTube

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5K-qGWkiKvQ#t=40[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NLv2F33snCE#t=92[/youtube]

Keep in mind that LeBron playing vs 80s/90s defenses means LeBron would be playing WITH 80s/90s teammates, so the floor-spacing would be almost non-existent relative to today. Defensive "walls" in the paint would be routine

Ah yes, the good old argument of “let me post a half dozen clips and streeeeeeetch that into the full game of an entire era”.

De facto zone defense was played in the 80s and 90s. Even if you weren't watching at the time, there's plenty of video evidence out there

[Franco]

There was plenty of de facto zone played vs Jordan

Watch on YouTube

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5K-qGWkiKvQ#t=40[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NLv2F33snCE#t=92[/youtube]

Keep in mind that LeBron playing vs 80s/90s defenses means LeBron would be playing WITH 80s/90s teammates, so the floor-spacing would be almost non-existent relative to today. Defensive "walls" in the paint would be routine

Ah yes, the good old argument of “let me post a half dozen clips and streeeeeeetch that into the full game of an entire era”.

De facto zone defense was played in the 80s and 90s. Even if you weren't watching at the time, there's plenty of video evidence out there

As well as there is plenty of handchecking and physical defense being played in the playoffs nowadays, yet you don’t see people stretching the truth to say it’s the norm.

The 80s and 90s didn’t have the same kinds of defenses they play nowadays, but they were also allowed to be more physical. Both things are true.

[Galloisdaman]

If Lebron were to play the 86 Celtics today with Dennis Johnsons ghost he might score 90 but the Celtics even at 50-60 years old would still be smart. They would just foul him 120 times knowing he could not even hit 70% of his free throws

[nikster]

Just like Lebrons 8 points vs the Mavs !

Mikal needs to be drug tested . When dude has no offensive game and didnt grow up watching MJ, he needs to realize he is not credible.

i disagree with Mikal (think everyone does), but the defense the Mavs used on Lebron that series would be illegal in the 80s

[BenoUdrihFTL]

Ah yes, the good old argument of “let me post a half dozen clips and streeeeeeetch that into the full game of an entire era”.

De facto zone defense was played in the 80s and 90s. Even if you weren't watching at the time, there's plenty of video evidence out there

As well as there is plenty of handchecking and physical defense being played in the playoffs nowadays, yet you don’t see people stretching the truth to say it’s the norm.

The 80s and 90s didn’t have the same kinds of defenses they play nowadays, but they were also allowed to be more physical. Both things are true.

80s/90s didn't have the intricate intermittent zone schemes and trapping/switching that you see today, but building walls in the paint was a thing. Of course not all defenses did it and the ones that did weren't using it every game, but elite playoff defenses did use it against Jordan and it's not even remotely stretching the truth to bring this up. I assume LBJ would be at the top of the food chain with MJ in the 80s/90s and would therefore receive the same treatment. Perhaps if LBJ ended up in the West he'd avoid the Pistons and Knicks, however the Supersonics were routinely using pretty blatant zone vs Hakeem in the 90s, UTA and SAS were known to pack the paint, etc

[RIP Kobe]

[og15]

Late 80s Pistons beat Jordan because they were one of the few teams that played defence. Jordan needed prime Pippen, a second superstar, to finally get past them.

Early 00s Pistons were better than the late 80s Pistons (one of the best defensive teams of all time) with the advantage of being able to play what would have been illegal defence in the 80s and LeBron scored at will on them. He got past his era's elite defence Pistons without the benefit of a player anywhere near as good as Pippen, and a coach nowhere near as good as Phil Jackson.

Actually that never happened, LeBron never got past a Pistons team that was a top 3 defense. To be accurate though, it was the mid-late 2000's Pistons, and they were no longer a super elite defense. Top 10, but not elite, this was not the 03-04 Pistons that had both lacks hand checking rules and zone defense on their side.

The 06-07 Pistons first of all no longer had Ben Wallace who was their DPOY super elite defensive guy. They were still solid at 7th in Drtg at 104.2 and a 53 win team, but not elite, and that was the one LeBron's team beat. As mentioned earlier, that Pistons team wasn't even as good defensively as the Celtics in terms of Drtg. The 85-86 Celtics were 1st in Drtg at 102.6.

We can even go back one season to the 05-06 Pistons, they were better defensively, still had Big Ben, though of course he was no longer in his prime. They were 5th in Drtg, 103.1, still very good, but this was still not the best itiration of them on defense which was the version with Larry Brown coaching. The Cavs pushed them to 7 and Lebron averaged 26.6 ppg in 45.9 mpg. He shot 44.2% FG / 27.6% 3PT, and his TS% was 51.6%. Quite good for a 21 year old, and he had three 30 point games in the series, but certainly didn't destroy them or produce with any ease. It's good to make sure we are at least accurate with easily researchable things in discussions like this.

[ballup]

Remember how Lebron was scrutinized for his lack of mental fortitude before his first championship run? Imagine that against one of the best trash talkers in league history.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[King4Day]

The best I could do to defend one of my favorite players on my favorite team is to say, he didn't grow up in the Jordan era.
I didn't grow up/watch Magic and Bird so I really don't know how good they were.

The biggest mistake Bridges made was saying this publicly. I'm sure many other newer players feel this way but are smart enough to keep it to themselves.
The unfortunately thing is, Mikal is a very smart player on the court. Too bad he let this get out there.

[JonFromVA]

generation Z is pushing back against this MJ campaign.
I know some collegiate players who refuse to even watch it because anybody could doninate back then.
A whole generation of athletes who have little concept on basketball, but still excel at it. Its amazing.

NBA players were more in to snorting cocaine than weight training before Michael started doing it.

- Robert Parish is listed at 7-1 230lbs. Bird is 220. McHale and Walton are 210. DJ was 185, and Ainge was 175.

Compare that to a modern "finesse" team like the 2019 champion Warriors:

- Cousins 270, Bogut 260, Durant 240, Green 230, Iggy 215, Klay 215, Steph 190.

Basically the one guy that James loved to mismatch against (aka Steph) weighed more and was presumably stronger than either of Boston's starting wings. Lots of luck to Scott Wedman or Rick Carlisle dealing with James.

It's a fair assumption that in a more physical era, that a stronger/faster player would be unstoppable.

Heck, that's why Jordan was so good so fast in spite of barely being able to shoot when he entered the league.

But it's just unprovable/untestable opinion ... same as everyone else's.

I understand what you're saying, but if physicality was really so important then Karl Malone and Shaq would have won titles in the 90s.

Shaq and Malone are bigs ... they need someone to get them the ball, can be denied the ball, can be doubled when they try to dribble and in Shaq's case flopped and fouled.

The NBA still had to make rule changes to prevent Shaq from dominating the game once he hit his prime and they both came up short vs MJ who by that time had become the NBA's blessed darling and meal ticket.

There's way to rationalize it ... just no way to prove it.

[510TWSS]

I'd tell Mikal it's better to be thought of as an idiot than to open your mouth up and confirm it, but that's probably too much mental calculus for one day.