Jordan, LeBron or Kobe?

carlos1223 · Post #1 » by **carlos1223** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 8:08 pm

Who would you take in their prime?

keltickings · Post #2 » by **keltickings** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 8:14 pm

Jordan right now.

No way do I choose Kobe.

The scary part of this is that we haven't seen Lebron in his prime, yet.
I'll say Jordan right now but the verdict on Lebron's greatness is still out.

Cyclical · Post #3 » by **Cyclical** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 8:45 pm

LeJorBe

Yeah, LeBron may not have hit his prime yet. Scary.

P2 · Post #4 » by P2 » Thu Mar 6, 2008 9:00 pm

Jordan all the way.

tombattor · Post #5 » by **tombattor** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 9:05 pm

You gotta say Jordan right now because of what he did in his career. At this point, it's pretty clear Kobe will never be Jordan because by this age, Jordan was clearly the best player in the league and winning championships.

Lebron's very young and ridiculously good, so he has a chance to overtake Jordan, but he's still got a long way to go.

CelticsWhat! · Post #6 » by **CelticsWhat!** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 9:23 pm

Jordan.

I don't care when LeBron reaches his prime or what numbers he puts up. He doesn't have the drive and unwillingness to lose that Jordan had.

BrokenLeftyJumper · Post #7 » by **BrokenLeftyJumper** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 10:26 pm

Kobe vs. Jordan - Kobe has clearly played with a better supporting cast earlier in his career. But Kobe at 29, has more championships than Jordan did at 29. And Kobe has a shot at a title this year as well. As far as being the best player in the league, I think its a tough comparison to make because Jordan never had a Lebron type player to challenge his superiority.

Lebron vs. Jordan - Lebron is clearly better at 23 than Jordan was at 23. Jordan was awesome, but Lebron just has no bounds to how good he can be. He's already either the best or second best player (behind Kobe) in the league. He's gonna need to win some championships, but I have a very hard time seeing him not winning some chips in the near future as long as he gets some more talent around him.

BillessuR6 · Post #8 » by **BillessuR6** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 10:28 pm

CelticsWhat! wrote:Jordan.

I don't care when LeBron reaches his prime or what numbers he puts up. He doesn't have the drive and unwillingness to lose that Jordan had.

tombattor · Post #9 » by **tombattor** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 10:38 pm

BrokenLeftyJumper wrote:Kobe vs. Jordan - Kobe has clearly played with a better supporting cast earlier in his career. But Kobe at 29, has more championships than Jordan did at 29. And Kobe has a shot at a title this year as well. As far as being the best player in the league, I think its a tough comparison to make because Jordan never had a Lebron type player to challenge his superiority.

Lebron vs. Jordan - Lebron is clearly better at 23 than Jordan was at 23. Jordan was awesome, but Lebron just has no bounds to how good he can be. He's already either the best or second best player (behind Kobe) in the league. He's gonna need to win some championships, but I have a very hard time seeing him not winning some chips in the near future as long as he gets some more talent around him.

The difference between Jordan and Kobe is this. When Jordan won, it was because he was in his prime and he had no match. When Kobe won, it's because Shaq was in his prime and Shaq had no match.

RoyHobbs · Post #10 » by **RoyHobbs** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 10:51 pm

BrokenLeftyJumper wrote:Lebron vs. Jordan - Lebron is clearly better at 23 than Jordan was at 23. Jordan was awesome, but Lebron just has no bounds to how good he can be. He's already either the best or second best player (behind Kobe) in the league. He's gonna need to win some championships, but I have a very hard time seeing him not winning some chips in the near future as long as he gets some more talent around him.

Clearly better? Jordan was averaging 37.1 ppg at age 23, along with 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 48.2% shooting.

Lebron is averaging 30.6 ppg, 8.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 48.7% shooting.

Arguably, Lebron's season is better, but I don't know if it's fair to say that he's "clearly" better at this point in their respective careers. Lebron is ahead of Jordan in terms of playoff success, maybe, but Lebron has also had a better supporting cast (as surprising as that is) and Jordan was playing against much better competition in his conference.

BrokenLeftyJumper · Post #11 » by **BrokenLeftyJumper** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 11:17 pm

Clearly better? Jordan was averaging 37.1 ppg at age 23, along with 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 48.2% shooting.

Okay, I will admit I had no idea Jordan averaged 37 points a game at 23. Holy moly, 37 a game, damn. I underestimated the nastiness of young Jordan. I stand corrected, Lebron is as good as young Jordan was.

I think its really splitting hairs as to which one of these guys is better. I don't think you can decisively say one is definitely better than the other. The championships variable is also inconclusive because they always played with different caliber supporting casts and a less considerable, but still significant, difference in competition.

Kobe won championships, but Kobe played with Shaq.
Jordan won championships, but the 90's lacked real stiff competition.
Lebron lacks a championship, but his supporting cast is brutal.

But just for the sake of argument, I really think when all is said and done, Lebron will be considered the greatest of all time.

keltickings · Post #12 » by **keltickings** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 11:34 pm

[/quote] But just for the sake of argument, I really think when all is said and done, Lebron will be considered the greatest of all time.[/quote]

I do believe this to be true but time will have to tell. Potential does not guarentee greatness. Lebron has everything on his side. Still he must prove he is better than Jordan. I look forward to this.

Post #13 » by **Bleeding Green** » Thu Mar 6, 2008 11:41 pm

LeBron.

Jordan never won without Pippen. Pippen was a legit MVP candidate when Jordan retired.

chakdaddy · Post #14 » by **chakdaddy** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 12:06 am

Give me Bird or Magic over any of them.

carlos1223 · Post #15 » by **carlos1223** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 12:21 am

You're all a bunch of LeBron nutriders. The 90s lacked stiff competition? What the hell are you talking about? Hakeem Olajuwan's Rockets, Patrick Ewings Knicks, Shaqs Magic, Tim Duncans spurs...I could go on and on.

vct33 · Post #16 » by **vct33** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 12:55 am

chakdaddy wrote:Give me Bird or Magic over any of them.

I almost agree. My list would go like this:

LeBron
Magic
Bird
Jordan

Kobe

Big Baby Burger · Post #17 » by **Big Baby Burger** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:00 am

You people are really out there.

Lebron and Ko-ME are playing in the post Jordan, handcheck-free era. The game is designed to make SG and SF's dominant. If Jordan started his career the same year that Lebron did, it wouldn't even be close. MJ played much, much better D than Lebron (Kobe is pretty solid on D) and was far more of a killer than LBJ or Kobe ever will be.

Jordan, all day every day.

threrf23 · Post #18 » by **threrf23** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:01 am

On one hand it would seem like blasphemy to say anything other than MJ.

But Lebron is MJ-esque right now and he hasn't hit his prime yet.

RoyHobbs · Post #19 » by **RoyHobbs** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:02 am

Bleeding Green wrote:LeBron.

Jordan never won without Pippen. Pippen was a legit MVP candidate when Jordan retired.

Two things:

1) What has Lebron won?, and

2) What teams the equivalent of the 1980s Celtics, Bucks, Pistons, etc., has Lebron had to face?

In his early career, Jordan played on teams that had supporting casts as bad, or worse, than any team Lebron has had. The competition he faced in his early career was also much, much superior to anything Lebron has faced.

People make it seem like what Lebron is doing is unprecedented. Jordan's numbers in his early career were every bit as good (again, against tougher competition, and without today's handchecking rules), and he went on to win six championships. It's a little tough for me to understand any rationale that puts Lebron ahead of Jordan as a player.

Post #20 » by **TMU** » Fri Mar 7, 2008 1:08 am

BrokenLeftyJumper wrote:
Clearly better? Jordan was averaging 37.1 ppg at age 23, along with 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 48.2% shooting.

Okay, I will admit I had no idea Jordan averaged 37 points a game at 23. Holy moly, 37 a game, damn. I underestimated the nastiness of young Jordan. I stand corrected, Lebron is as good as young Jordan was.

I think its really splitting hairs as to which one of these guys is better. I don't think you can decisively say one is definitely better than the other. The championships variable is also inconclusive because they always played with different caliber supporting casts and a less considerable, but still significant, difference in competition.

Kobe won championships, but Kobe played with Shaq.
Jordan won championships, but the 90's lacked real stiff competition.
Lebron lacks a championship, but his supporting cast is brutal.

But just for the sake of argument, I really think when all is said and done, Lebron will be considered the greatest of all time.

How dare you make such comparison when you have never watched young Jordan play, let alone hear about his ridiculous numbers.

For the sake of argument, you have no right to make such comparison.