What Would Lebron Have To Do To Surpass MJ

[osamu]

Simple. Get back up to his 30/8/8 level, but not at the detriment of his team's performance. Run some historic offenses, as well as continue anchoring elite defenses. Win a DPOY, a couple more scoring titles. Get 2 or 3 70+ win seasons in there. Win 5 or 6 straight titles, going through a super team in at least 3 of the 4 rounds each time. Be the Finals MVP in each title run. Have several monster series in which he single handedly carries the team (especially in the finals). Utterly dominant in the clutch beyond anything seen before. Bag a few more MVPs.

Maybe after all that, go back to Cleveland and win them a title. Become the All Time scoring leader, maybe 2nd all time. Rack up 7500+ assists and rebounds.

Then I'll consider it

Logical answer +1

[MaxRider]

Simple. Get back up to his 30/8/8 level, but not at the detriment of his team's performance. Run some historic offenses, as well as continue anchoring elite defenses. Win a DPOY, a couple more scoring titles. Get 2 or 3 70+ win seasons in there. Win 5 or 6 straight titles, going through a super team in at least 3 of the 4 rounds each time. Be the Finals MVP in each title run. Have several monster series in which he single handedly carries the team (especially in the finals). Utterly dominant in the clutch beyond anything seen before. Bag a few more MVPs.

Maybe after all that, go back to Cleveland and win them a title. Become the All Time scoring leader, maybe 2nd all time. Rack up 7500+ assists and rebounds.

Then I'll consider it

Logical answer +1

and win couple of slam dunk contest

[osamu]

well,

10 scoring titles, 1 DPOY, 6 rings and finals MVPS, 5 MVP's

best scoring average of all time, and above all, dominate everyone in the league, not finding a match or debate (AKA Dwyane/Dwight/Kobe etc to Lebron).


The rest of the competition is too close.

I still don't understand people who say rings = GOAT. Russel's not the GOAT. Horry isn't. If Kobe had 7, he wouldn't be, and even he knows that.

And so on.

MJ came into the league winning the championship with the game winning shot, and (exception Wizards) left the league winning the championship with a game winning shot.

Every finals, he put up ridiculous numbers, legendary moments (91 he scored 13 consecutive FG and "the move", 92 he hit the 6 3's in a half against the Blazers, 93 he had game winners and the most ridiculous stats IMO of any finals performance all-around, later on 2 winners against Jazz, game winning assist, etc).

Lebron is not legendary. Sorry.

And then you have those that argue Era, this and that. Yeah, then how did MJ put in 20 PPG at age 38, shattering oldest player scoring records? There's really no arguement so far.

We'll see 7 years from now if it's shaping up. Lebron has had his chance last year to win a series and LEAD a team. Couldn't do it.

And this is coming from a fan who actually likes Lebron (hate Wade though)

agreed

[Bertrob]

Shave his head

[Barack Oballa]

He has zero chance to surpass Kobe much less Jordan or KAJ.

[dballislife]

its gonna be tough but not impossible, u can argue that jordan was probably the best player in the league for all of his 12 full seasons with the bulls.....bron needs be the clear cut best player in the league for the next 7-10 seasons, putting up near 30 7 7, and surpass jordan in championships

[MaxRider]

he's about 66% to Karl Malone
just need to get to the final one more time and lost

[Shkodran_Plako]

Stay in Cleveland and win 7 rings

/thread

[LascelleL]

Stay in Cleveland and win 7 rings

This was it. Don't tuck tail and run to join up with two other franchise players because you couldn't hack it with 60+ win teams. And not dump on your city on the way out on national television.

Yup especially since he was the hometown kid in a city that was experiencing a championship drought

[ImissJordan]

He has zero chance to surpass Kobe much less Jordan or KAJ.

I think that would make for a more interesting argument, for sure. Even then, LeBron has pretty much shot himself in the foot.

Kobe won three rings as a sidekick and had to listen to countless detractors say things like 'insert any All-Star guard with O'Neal and you have the same result', so he forced Shaq out, scored a bajillion points, secured an MVP trophy, went to three straight Finals and won back-to-back rings as "the guy".

LeBron went from being the man on a team custom-built for his strengths, but was short on secondary star talent. So he ran to Miami, which had Wade and Bosh in place - all in their prime, mind you - then choked on an epic level in the Finals.

If LeBron does win three or four or even five rings with Miami (unlikely), how can we ever be sure that he could've gotten it done without Wade? (let alone Wade AND Bosh).

Comparing him to Michael, though? Just lock this sucker up.

[Visceral]

Become as good as Kobe.

[BoshtimusPrime]

He has zero chance to surpass Kobe much less Jordan or KAJ.

Zero chance? It's possible. Four rings with three Finals MVP's should be enough.

LeBron will never pass MJ. The only active player who has a chance is Derrick Rose.

[JamesNaismith]

Have MIA trade him or Wade somewhere and then win 7 chips....so basically he would have to live in his world of Inception.

[ImissJordan]

He has zero chance to surpass Kobe much less Jordan or KAJ.

Zero chance? It's possible. Four rings with three Finals MVP's should be enough.

LeBron will never pass MJ. The only active player who has a chance is Derrick Rose.

Derrick Rose has a chance to surpass MJ? What?

And no, four rings with three Finals MVP's isn't enough. Three rings with Wade/Bosh and two WITHOUT Dwyane Wade (or any other MVP calibre talent) would make them about even.

[ShabazzMuhammad]

if lebron gets 5 rings then he passes Kobe easily, he has all the hardware Kobe has except for finals MVP.

[ImissJordan]

if lebron gets 5 rings then he passes Kobe easily, he has all the hardware Kobe has except for finals MVP.

Why 'easily'? Because he has one more MVP than Bryant? Kobe was regarded by many as the best player in the league from 2005-2008, despite having Kwame Brown as his centre and Smush Parker as his point guard.

Their peaks were pretty similar in terms of dominance; what's separated them has been Kobe's ability to win with AND without Shaq. LeBron has failed with AND without Wade, so winning some championships now on Wade's watch doesn't change anything.

[Visceral]

Not to mention Bosh, who is an All-Star caliber player.

[NBA Fan 1234]

if lebron gets 5 rings then he passes Kobe easily, he has all the hardware Kobe has except for finals MVP.

So finals MVPs don't matter? Robert Horry has more rings than Kobe and MJ...is he better? IMO, he needs to win more championships than MJ did to surpass him-- he can win a few with Wade and Bosh, but he also has to prove that he can do it without Wade.

This thread also isn't about passing Kobe...it's about passing MJ.

[ShabazzMuhammad]

if lebron gets 5 rings then he passes Kobe easily, he has all the hardware Kobe has except for finals MVP.

Why 'easily'? Because he has one more MVP than Bryant? Kobe was regarded by many as the best player in the league from 2005-2008, despite having Kwame Brown as his centre and Smush Parker as his point guard.

Their peaks were pretty similar in terms of dominance; what's separated them has been Kobe's ability to win with AND without Shaq. LeBron has failed with AND without Wade, so winning some championships now on Wade's watch doesn't change anything.

If he manages to some how get to 5, then some of those championships will be won with a run-down, aged Wade and an over the hill Bosh (if they're even still on the roster by then).

so the playing field will be fair, trust me. People act as though Wade will be in his prime forever.

[ImissJordan]

Not to mention Bosh, who is an All-Star caliber player.

Of course he is, a third option posting 19/9 on 50% shooting is a luxury not many other teams have...Miami's second option is a first option, and their third option is a second option.

And they STILL lost.