RiseOfTheEmpire wrote:When people simply watched Jordan play, they thought he was the best player they have ever seen. His game was that beautiful. His one handed, numerous pump fake shots on drives were something else. The up and unders, reverse layups, the hangtime, the finishing ability....it was poetry in motion, you could play Jazz music to his highlights.
It was 1991, after one ring, that the media, fans and people in general started saying he was the best player they had ever seen. It wasn't his rings, accolades, awards, it was his GAME.
The footage they have of him from the 80's is only about 30% of the total games he played, what you see is only a small percentage of the **** he actually did on the floor. All the Youtube clips, highlights, are all rehashed footage seen again and again. But if you saw him live, you would understand why people who even hated him like I did growing up, understood he was a different animal. It's why we aren't impressed by Lebron's physical dominance, because his game leaves a lot to be desired after having watched the actual best to ever do it play.
Lebron and others are just not that. These guys are stat stuffers, winners, champions, whatever, but their game cannot touch Michael's. Kobe was Michael Lite, but after he dedicated his life and game to copy Michaels, and even then it was a big "Meh". He just didn't have the natural physical ability to do the things Jordan did. The Mitts.
I remember watching a Bulls game with my late grandma, who knew nothing about basketball, would just watch the screen when the games were on. I remember till this day what she said one night she saw Jordan...he finished an up and under, no look over the shoulder And 1 layup after scoring many points in a row.
"Wow, they come down while he is still in the air, he doesn't even look. It must be impossible to stop him because nobody can stay in the air with him. WHAT IS THIS MAN??"
She had no clue who Micheal Jordan was, but even to a 70 year old lady from a village in South Asia, his game spoke to her. She didn't know about his scoring titles, future rings, stats, dominance. All she knew was that she was watching somebody do something that nobody else could replicate on the court.
The first time my father saw him, against the Knicks in the playoffs, he asked...."is that the best player in the league? He is so much better than everybody else on the court." He knew. Not from looking at the number of points he was scoring or his championships....just by watching him MOVE on the court.
That's why he's the GOAT. Forget Wilt's numbers, Russels rings, Lebron's stats across the board. It was Jordan's game, his style of play coupled with his dominance that made people say damn, that's the greatest player we've ever seen.
My thoughts on your post -
Michael was indeed all that you said. He was the reason I started playing basketball. BUT, players in EVERY SPORT are wildly more skilled and athletic now. It's cos of sports science, medical advancements, diet, cryotherapy and a lot more stuff behind the scenes we don't know of.
Mike was so far ahead of the players he played with 20-30 years ago, not as athletic as Lebron, Russel Westbrook or even Zack Lavine(yeah, that name sounds ridiculous next to MJ, but youtube their dunk contests. While you're at it, youtube Hamidou Diallo, Aaron Gordon & Derrick Jones Jr too just for fun)
More than likely MJ would be one of the top 5 players of this era, maybe even the best, but never by such a fat margin as he had in the 90s. What he could do back then was novelle like Henry Ford's assembly line. It had never been done before - 'BEFORE' being the key word. He would absolutely be one of the best in this era too, but to disregard where the sport is now VS. then if just ignorant.
Players like Curry, KD, Kyrie might perhaps have tougher time in that era cos of he physicality, but let's not pretend that Lebron will be any less of a player in the 90s than he is now.
Look at his resume -
-The Sturdiest player ever - 260-280 lbs of pure muscle. Will probably force the Bad Boys into early retirement given the freedom to take a swing every once in a while, if not the occasional charge or hard foul. Hand checks worked on Steve Nash and Reggie Miller and skinny (pre 1990) MJ, not Lebron.
-Undeniably top 5 Basketball IQ and top 2 passers in the game(Skip Bayless thinks he's no. 1 & 1/2(with Magic) on those counts respectively). Knows how to pass when he's 19, not when Phil Jackson forces him to do it. Will not score 63 and 49 in back to back games against the 86 Celtics, but will score the once in a lifetime 25 final points of the game, get his team mates involved offensively, so they're involved defensively, and perhaps win, rather than being swept repeatedly.
-Not a natural scorer, but averages 27 ppg at a higher clip than MJ, and makes up more than the 3 point deficit with the additional assists/hockey assists on offense.
-Ability to guard 5 positions when he wants
-Has done considerably well with worse(sometimes literally the worst) teams and coaches in the league. Has never been coached by a top Coach - Spoelstra is decent, but does he still have his job in Miami without Lebron's 2 titles, and did he really teach him anything.
-Wasted 11 years with the worst owner in the league just to bring a championship to his hometown with an under 30 win team. Yeah.. run that team with Kyrie and Love and see if they even make the playoffs. Mike never had to go to a game 7 with what was a 55 win team without him.
-Has comeback from a 3-1 finals deficit.
-Never took a break from the game, cos of his father's death or cos management wouldn't give him the coach he wanted despite going pro 3 years earlier, and going to 9 X 7-game playoff finals. There were 29 other teams that would've happily hired Phil on a record contract, had Mike asked for it. The first retirement is acceptable, but the second one.. boohoo.. mental toughness my a*s.
I can't say with absolute certainty that Lebron would've be better than Magic, Bird, Kareem, Isiah & MJ in that era, but neither can anyone say he wouldn't have kicked the living **** outta them.
As for Kobe, his downfall was not being himself. Kobe wasn't short of natural ability on any count - had superior footwork, vision and shot mechanics. Mike just did what he figured best for Mike. Kobe should've done Kobe.
