Better Athlete MJ or LeBron?

[Mean_Streets]

Both in their athletic prime, who's the better athlete?

[ImmortalD24]

Obviously LeBron. next. NEXT.

[HouMac]

If you break them down by each athletic attribute, MJ comes off better. He's quicker, better overall leaper, more explosive in the half-court and has similar speed. But when you realize the fact that LeBron's a good 50+ pounds heavier and the stuff he does trail MJ at, the difference is very minimal. A testament to just how freakish he is. He's the best perimeter athlete to ever play this game.

[D.Brasco]

Michael Jordan. Could LeBron bat a .202 average?

[NO-KG-AI]

Imo, first step and short area quickness are far more important than size and strength on the perimeter. LeBron is 50 pounds heavier, way taller, a much better leaper and at least equally skilled, yet Dwyane Wade isn't THAT far off as a player.... why is that? First step is so damn important.

[kooldude]

Wade's quickness is just amazing considering that he's a bulky dude. The way he changes direction is basically Jordan, but a tad slower.

[RichardsRival3]

It depends who do you consider more athletic?

1) 6'4" 260 lb defensive end who runs a 4.6 or

2) 6'6" 340 lb defensive tackle with a gut who can dunk a basketball

3) 5'10 185 lb corner back who runs a 4.3 and can direction quickly enough to keep up with an Olympic caliber sprinter.

I'll go with Jordan he was much quicker and a slightly better leaper than LBJ. LBJ gets it credit for carrying around a lot more mass.

I think in their primes MJ blows by LBJ but, LBJ wouldn't blow by MJ he might be able to over power MJ in the post but, MJ would be able to keep LBJ in front of him.

[Dr Positivity]

Jordan is the better athlete

Lebron is the better physical specimen

[Harry Palmer]

IHe's the best perimeter athlete to ever play this game.

I think you could argue Vince Carter on pure athleticism. Freakish strong, freakish leaper, freakish agility, freakish body control, freakish quickness.

He just didn't put the time in to improve himself or the skills that would allow him to exploit his gifts enough.

Well, he did put in work one off-season. Worked on his outside J. And went from .288 3 pt shooter to a .403 3 pt shooter.

Freak.

LBJ is bigger, yeah. But you should read sometime about how freakishly strong Carter is, and without putting 1/50th of the work into it that LBJ et al do.

[Wade3Iverson]

Lebron.

[Jordan23Forever]

I think Jordan is the better athlete for basketball and Lebron would be the better overall athlete, because he could cross over into something like football, say, whereas MJ would have to seriously bulk up and we don't know if he would retain his speed or not whereas w/Lebron what we see is what we get.

People tend to seriously underrate MJ's athleticism nowadays, though. It's en vogue to act like LBJ/VC etc. are well beyond him as an athlete, but while each has athletic advantages over MJ, I don't think either matches his overall package, nor are their advantages large, or really relevant for basketball in particular. For what it's worth (since people love talking about "strength" nowadays), MJ was voted a top 3 pound-for-pound strongest player from the late 80's onward in player's polls despite his comparative lack of size. Magic said that Jordan was the strongest guard to ever play the game. Granted, Magic didn't play against every guard to ever play, but that's a strong statement that should give some indication about MJ's strength, which was a natural/wiry strength rather than a weight room strength.

Jordan is also the fastest point A to point B player in the halfcourt in history. He could get from 20, 25, or 35 feet out to the basket from a standstill or while changing pace faster than anyone ever. That's, like, really important for basketball and stuff.

[THROWBACK_91]

Bron

[Johnny Firpo]

If we're talking about basketball (as Jordan23Forever suggested) then it's easily MJ. Just faster, quicker (even for his position), a much better leaper, and has the quicker first step. And it's not like Jordan was skinny after he bulked up. Lebron is Top 5 all-time though in that regard, possibly third... (I guess Wilt should be first on that list...)

[INKtastic]

where does anyone get Jordan was a much better leaper? They both can/could dunk from the foul line. According to online stats, Jordan had a slightly larger vertical leap - 48" vs 44" but LeBron is 2 to 3 inches taller and has a 2" wider wing span, so they both get basically to the same height while LeBron is carrying 40 more lbs vs peak jumping Jordan, which was before he bulked up for his 7th season.

Here's the chart I found

http://vertcoach.com/highest-vertical-leap.html

here's another chart that says they both had the same 44" vertical leap

http://www.listafterlist.com/tabid/57/l ... story.aspx

Another place said Jordan was measured at 48" in college, but 42" early in his bulls career. LeBron is pretty consistently listed at 44". For speed, there are also reports that Jordan ran a 4.3 40 while LeBron ran a 4.4 40.

As for better athlete, I'm not quite sure how to pick one over the other. it's basically the same degree of athleticism in a different frame.

[pwayknicks]

LJ4mvp...the difference between leaping "48 and "44 is HUGE....as is the 1 tenth of a second on the 40....just look at how much it changes a guys ddraft position in the NFL...

While LBJ and Jordan get to the same place because of LBJ's size, the question is who is atheltic not who can touch a higher rim....

Jordan's vertical is 4 inches higher, hes quicker and had some out of control hang time....

[Johnny Firpo]

A couple of things. 4 inch is quite a difference, when it comes to verticals, and those 40 yard speed measurements, well... You can pretty much throw them out of the window, correct me if i'm wrong, but they're hand checked, right? Anyway, even if you stick to it, 4,3 is significantly better then 4,4, on 40 yard. I saw Jordan play a lot, and i saw Lebron play a lot, i think it's obvious that Jordan was a better leaper, and could go up a little higher, and if anything, i'm 100% sure he was a more explosive leaper. But, obviously, if you add that Lebron is a lot heavier, it's freakin' impressive, and it's a miracle that his body is still holding up.

[INKtastic]

LJ4mvp...the difference between leaping "48 and "44 is HUGE....as is the 1 tenth of a second on the 40....just look at how much it changes a guys ddraft position in the NFL...

While LBJ and Jordan get to the same place because of LBJ's size, the question is who is atheltic not who can touch a higher rim....

Jordan's vertical is 4 inches higher, hes quicker and had some out of control hang time....

a few things

- the 4" isn't consistently reported
- even if you assume the 4" difference to be true, given the difference in height/wing span, the peak of the jump is roughly at the same place, which is important for shot blocking, dunking, etc.
- the distance they jump is roughly the same

Also, the weigth/strength difference pretty much offsets the 4" and the 0.1 seconds. Basically if Jordan was carrying 20 or so lbs more of muscle, it'd probably cost him the 4" and the 0.1 seconds. And this becomes more relevant when you consider that Jordan ultimately decided he needed to add strength after his 6th season, sacrificing a bit of speed/vertical leap in the process.

[Chosen01]

Wade's quickness is just amazing considering that he's a bulky dude. The way he changes direction is basically Jordan, but a tad slower.

naah i believe Wade was fastter than prime jordan, maybe young jordan though.


bron was more athletic than jordan considereing his size.

[Jordan23Forever]

where does anyone get Jordan was a much better leaper? They both can/could dunk from the foul line. According to online stats, Jordan had a slightly larger vertical leap - 48" vs 44" but LeBron is 2 to 3 inches taller and has a 2" wider wing span, so they both get basically to the same height while LeBron is carrying 40 more lbs vs peak jumping Jordan, which was before he bulked up for his 7th season.

First off, I didn't say Jordan was a "much better leaper," but he's pretty clearly a better leaper simply because of his versatility. Lebron is ELITE off of one foot, and may even have an edge on MJ there. But Jordan takes a dump all over Lebron in two-footed jumping, jumping off a hop step, and quick jumping for offensive putbacks, second efforts etc. It's not even close in those categories.

For speed, there are also reports that Jordan ran a 4.3 40 while LeBron ran a 4.4 40.

I don't doubt that Lebron has comparable speed to Jordan (or anyone) over 40-60 yards, but MJ's short burst speed and acceleration (20-35 feet) is unmatched, and that's much more important for basketball.

[writerman]

ridiculous, the fanaticism of the Jordan arse-kissers....James by a fair margin.