Better Athlete MJ or LeBron?

[Wharton Alum 08]

Athletically there is a huge difference between Lebron and Jordan. Lebron is obviously far more athletic than Jordan.

I could name some other players in the league that are more athletic or were more athletic than MJ:

Vince Carter
Jason Richardson
Andre Iguodala
Shawn Marion

Lets not even start with scrubs like James White.

At first I thought it was just Rose, now I see it's anything Bulls. Are you mad at the Bulls because Chuck and KJ never got a ring? Dude you're a joke. Go get a 5 buck box and stop posting. Jason Richardson? He can jump high but Jordan was quick and fast something Richardson could never dream of being. That's just one example. Vince maybe but the others please.

[MarJJMar]

Please, MJ is the best ever, but if you think athletically he is even in the top 10 all time you are a fool.

Lebron to MJ in terms of athleticism is like comparing Dwight Howard to Tim Duncan.

[Jordan23Forever]

Athletically there is a huge difference between Lebron and Jordan. Lebron is obviously far more athletic than Jordan.

I could name some other players in the league that are more athletic or were more athletic than MJ:

Vince Carter
Jason Richardson
Andre Iguodala
Shawn Marion

Lets not even start with scrubs like James White.

lol @ this entire post. JRich? Iguodala? Yeah...no. lol @ "huge difference."

[Harry Palmer]

Well, athleticism is usually broken down into 3 types. You have your linear athletes (think run, jump, lift...ie, think football), you have your motor skills (specific refined skills, often involving eye/hand coordination, etc. Think baseball) and you have integrated athleticism (body control, agility, balance, etc.)

Basketball is usually more a combination of linear and integrated, more heavily leaning to integrated. You'll have elite level guys in one way...ie, Dwight Howard, young Shaq, etc. And you have elite level guys in the other way, for example T-Mac before his body went to hell, or D-Wade now.

IMO the best athletes are the guys who combine these aspects. As such, the very top guys (that I've seen...can't comment on Wilt or Oscar or whatever) are, for bigs, Hakeem and D-Rob, for points Rose, Francis and Marbury, and for swings, Carter, LBJ, Drexler and MJ.

(I think people are forgetting Drexler. Not nearly as skilled as MJ, but arguably a better athlete; almost certainly a better linear athlete.)

The best of that bunch is, imo, Carter, He most combines integrated and linear athleticism at elite levels.

I would say, between MJ and LBJ, MJ wins in integrated and LBJ in linear, though both score high across the board. But I feel LBJ's wins overall, and is probably second only to Carter, and indeed the only one I can think of who rivals Carter.

So I would pick LBJ between the 2, but I would also point out that the kind of athleticism which most translates to basketball would be integrated, and thus favors MJ as a player, and additionally he probably grades out highest in the 3rd type, motor skills, although that's mostly a guess until I see LBJ play baseball or golf or something else involving that kind of specific refined skill. LBJ would make the superior football player, while MJ (as we know) translates well to baseball because his motor skills are high.

BTW, everyone talks about Wade and Kobe, but the current player who most reminds me of MJ physically is easily Rose.

[_BBIB_]

Please, MJ is the best ever, but if you think athletically he is even in the top 10 all time you are a fool.

Lebron to MJ in terms of athleticism is like comparing Dwight Howard to Tim Duncan.

Well the gap isn't that big but I agree with your premise

[Shaqsquatch]

Love basketball but Jordan looked SLOW when he was running after balls in those minor league highlights back in 94. A big long legged giraffe gliding in the outfield. Beating seven footers off the dribble is one thing.........

AI is was a great NBA athlete. Go to any top 50 NCAA football team and youre gonna find about half a dozen guys who can blow prime AI's socks off. Yeah I know AI was once a fine HIGH SCHOOL option QB. Had AI chosen football he wouldve most likely wound up as a dime a dozen cornerback at some school.
NEWSFLASH
Wilt 's best efforts in track at Kansas wouldnt stand up at most high school meets today.
There once was a ridiculous thread about Rodman possibly making the 92 Olympic 400x4 squad!!??!! yeah right. You have any idea who was on that squad? Michael Johnson, Quincy Watts ( Olympic record holder) Butch Reynolds (the world record holder -still is) and some other guy wayyy faster than Rodman. The Mens 400 meter relay is USAs best track event and that was their dream team squad.

[Shaqsquatch]

Love basketball but Jordan looked SLOW when he was running after balls in those minor league highlights back in 94. A big long legged giraffe gliding in the outfield. Beating seven footers off the dribble is one thing.........

AI is was a great NBA athlete. Go to any top 50 NCAA football team and youre gonna find about half a dozen guys who can blow prime AI's socks off. Yeah I know AI was once a fine HIGH SCHOOL option QB. Had AI chosen football he wouldve most likely wound up as a dime a dozen cornerback at some school.
NEWSFLASH
Wilt 's best efforts in track at Kansas wouldnt stand up at most high school meets today.
There once was a ridiculous thread about Rodman possibly making the 96 Olympic 400x4 squad!!??!! yeah right. You have any idea who was on that squad? Michael Johnson, Quincy Watts ( Olympic record holder) Butch Reynolds (the world record holder -still is) and some other guy wayyy faster than Rodman. The Mens 400 meter relay is USAs best track event and that was their dream team squad.

Could Lebron play in the NFL? Most likely yes....not as a wide reciever.( yeah, again I know in H.S. hes was ....) He would be a tight end. Somewhere between Antonio Gates and Kellen Winslow...Winslow is 6'5 , 250 easy and Ive seen him leap over players, hit the ground and keep running. I think he is every bit an explosive athlete as Lebron is.

[Jordan23Forever]

Yeah, Jordan was slow. That's why on youtube I can find at least half a dozen plays of him dribbling 3/4 of the court in 3-3.3 seconds. Know what the best times at the NBA draft combine are for 3/4 court sprint WITHOUT dribbling each year? 3.1-3.3 seconds. And MJ did this while dribbling, routinely, even at the later stages of games. But you're right, he was SLOW.

[ElGee]

Look--Jordan was a great plaer. But like a lot of great players his excellences get exaggerated (lots of younger posters here say that about Wilt...) In general, Jordan's athleticism is overrated. He's not in the class of say a David Thompson purely as an athlete. maybe not even in Vince Carter's class, and I'm no Carter fan, or David Robinson's..Jordan was a very good athlete, yes--but not an outlier like Thompson or LeBron. His sucess was not based on his athleticism--there have been quite a few better pure athletes in the NBA than Jordan.

I understand what you're getting at, but when you can do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EfHnG-e-vE

And are one of the quickest athletes for your size, described almost universally as "very strong," you have to be considered as an outlier, no?

I think Pippen was a better athlete, so I suppose it might be an issue of semantics. And how in the world is *Vince Carter* a better athlete????

Jordan FT line dunk is the most overrated dunk of all-time. First of all most people who have immortalized that dunk are ignorant of the fact that Dr. J invented it and also ignorant of the fact that heck even Brent Barry could do that dunk and he did it from further back than MJ.

If anyone think Jordan is a better athlete than Lebron, they are defining athlete far too much by skill over physical talent.

Jordan dribbles, clutches the ball next to his head and frog-kicks his legs. James White is the only guy I've seen with a better free throw dunk. (And that includes Pippen, who jumped from behind the free throw line.) Brent Barry - c'mon.

[INKtastic]

did anyone add this video to the dunking from the foul line disucssion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQLUvMNRQ-o

[JordansBulls]

When I think of the Better athlete I think of the olympics.

[RichardsRival3]

MJ is the better athlete because of 2 reasons

1) A quicker 1st step (though LBJ has a very good 1st step)

2) MJ's change of direction was much better than LBJ. That is part of the reason why MJ was a better individual defender than LBJ.

[eatyourchildren]

I think Harry Palmer came in and napalmed this thread. Read it, it's enlightening.

[Silver Bullet]

Well to be fair to White, couldn't he have been a track star in multiple different events such as jumping and the 200m? That's pretty insane. Let's not act like it is preposterous to compare MJ to White. White is one of the best athletes we've ever seen.

He's really not, though. There are at least a dozen athletes currently playing in the NBA who I'd take over him (in their primes). Never heard anything about him being elite in the 200m or any sprinting event. I find it hard to believe from having watched him play, as his speed is nothing special.

You are joking right.

You make it sound like White and Jordan are neck and neck when jumping off one foot and Jordan is better at everything else. This is crazy.

First off, jumping off o one foot, it's not even close. Jordan jumped off the free throw line - White jumped off the free throw line while doing the Vince Carter between the legs dunk.

His nickname is Human Flight, he routinely dunks on 12 foot rims, he's the only human we have ever known to have come within a mm of touching the top of the backboard. And you make it sound like he's neck and neck with Jordan. Please.

Second off, as usual, you have no idea what you are talking about. Watch some of his dunk contests, it's not even close even jumping off two feet. As a leaper, Jordan is nowhere in White's league.

Third, you talk about change of direction ability. Well that is irrelevant. Your change of direction depends as much on handle as it does on athletic ability. I'm pretty sure Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt won't have great change of direction.

Fourth, it is ridiculous to compare Jordan's first step to Iverson's. Jordan was blowing by guys like Byron Russell and John Starks. Iverson was blowing by Tyrone Lue. Do you not see a difference there ?

[eatyourchildren]

Uhhh....lol

[ElGee]

did anyone add this video to the dunking from the foul line disucssion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQLUvMNRQ-o

Hahahaha. That's awesome. I watched it about 8 times.

Now, is that linear athleticism?

[Jordan23Forever]

lol @ Silver Bullet continuing to think that White is a better athlete than MJ. And yes, Jordan is a better overall leaper than him due to versatility. Can you show me an in-game dunk of White's off two feet or off a hop step? And yes, one-footed leaping White is superior, but not amazingly so -- White wasn't taking off from the top of the key or anything. And again, MJ's acceleration, quickness, body control, reflexes etc. all trump White.

This is not even close.

[Sedale Threatt]

I think Harry Palmer came in and napalmed this thread. Read it, it's enlightening.

Best post in the thread, and nobody even responded. Instead we get more youtube clips.

[ElGee]

I think Harry Palmer came in and napalmed this thread. Read it, it's enlightening.

Best post in the thread, and nobody even responded. Instead we get more youtube clips.

It was a great post...except for the bit about Vince Carter. Didn't think a tangent about Vince was warranted...

[ronnymac2]

^^^Yeah, I'm happy I read Harry's post. It broke things down nicely. I learned something from it.

I'm also happy that Silver Bullet is posting in this thread, but for vastly different and insanely comical reasons. Haha