How old would MJ have to be until you could beat him?

[Shot Clock]

Sheesh and that wasn't even with PennyWade on him

[mysticbb]

He couldn't make a single bucket against a scrubby asian guy after about 5 attempts and you could tell he was trying hard too..driving to the rim on every possession and trying his best on D.

Not quite sure whether you are serious or not, because Bryant isn't trying that hard at the beginning. He was fooling around a bit. Additional to that the guy Bryant played against is 6-4, 200lb professional from the chinese CBA league, not some random "asian scrub".

[alucryts]

He couldn't make a single bucket against a scrubby asian guy after about 5 attempts and you could tell he was trying hard too..driving to the rim on every possession and trying his best on D.

Not quite sure whether you are serious or not, because Bryant isn't trying that hard at the beginning. He was fooling around a bit. Additional to that the guy Bryant played against is 6-4, 200lb professional from the chinese CBA league, not some random "asian scrub".

ya kobe had a ton of open looks lmao he just tried gettin fancy and missed a few dunks lol

[bbms]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oc5usG2TA[/youtube]

[An Unbiased Fan]

1) I already said I had injuries, thus a railroaded basketball career.

Those injuries can't be that serious, if you really think you were able to beat a Jordan in 2003. If it is true what you are saying you are born in 1978, you were 24/25 in 2003. If you are 6'4'', as strong as you are claiming, as good as a shooter as you are claiming, as quick as you are claiming, you would have been at least playing professional basketball at that time. Injuries or not, someone with your body, strength, quickness and skills would be a challenge Anthony Parker for the Euroleague MVPs. Seriously, did you play professional basketball in your career? You just need to be honest to yourself.

Baron Davis is a freak athlete, strong and super skilled, he might be lazy a bit and sometimes pretty unmotivated, but he has the talent to be one of the best guards in the league. Beating Baron Davis is quite an accomplishment. Now, either your have the lowest basketball IQ ever or you are just making stuff up, because with your build you should be playing NBA basketball. Or, your injuries slowed you down, in that case you also wouldn't be able to win 1on1 against Jordan in 2003. And for sure you wouldn't dunk on him right now with 32.

You are underestimate how strong Jordan was in 2003. As he showed against the Nets he had no problem posting up Richard Jefferson, a guy bigger and stronger than you. Seriously, just read your own descriptions, it is either injuries, which means you weren't able to beat Jordan in an 1on1 in 2003 or you are overrating your own abilities. Otherwise you would have been a NBA player at this time. Heck, you pointed out Smush Parker playing in the NBA and you couldn't make it by using the injury excuse? It doesn't add up and I'm sure you know that.

Basketball wasn't my only option in life, I had serious family health issues which focussed my priorities toward home, and I was frustrated with my own injuries. This all made me think long and hard about my future. I was really more focussed on a tech startup I was working on than basketball by my junior year, to be honest. Could I have tried various routes to the NBA after college, sure. But it wasn't a major goal for me at that point.


Also, I had recovered from my various injuries well before 2003, so that wouldn't have been an issue. In a strict 1 on 1 game, I could have held my own against a 40 year old MJ, just I had done against other NBA level talent. This really isn't a big deal in all seriousness, because MJ DID lose 1 on 1 games, everyone has.

Btw, I played semi-professional soccer when I was in highschool (which means I got a paycheck for playing soccer for a 4th division team in Germany, not a huge one obviously), I know what an injury can do. I didn't play with scrubs, I played with a guy for example who became later the captain of a 2nd division team (2. Bundesliga) and I was able to beat him several times in 1on1 situations too. But that doesn't mean I could have kept up with that level years later after those injuries. So, either you faced an injury which would have kept you out too much, which means you couldn't beat Jordan in 2003, or you never had the body, strength, quickness and skills to keep up with a motivated NBA player or you played professional basketball in 2003, which means you were probably able to beat Jordan once out of 10. Heck, in 2003 the amount of 6-4 players which were stronger, quicker than Jordan while being better 3pt shooters in the NBA are pretty much 0. Guys like Kidd or Buckner had a lot of trouble to keep up with Jordan's strength at that time. Just matching Jordan's strength is great for a 6-4, being quicker and a better shooter makes you a lock as a rotation player.

That's pretty interesting, what was it like playing in Germany? The only thing that made me even think of playing overseas was the exposure to various cultures. Even playing in a low-level club must have been an amazing expeirence straight out of highschool.

And you make some fair points. I would obviusly need a couple months to get my legs, timing, and skill back up to where it needed to be back in 2003. But this thread is semi-serious, so I figured we were just assuming that both players are in top form when the 1 on 1 game scenario happens.

As for strength, it's perhaps too hard to guage. I had really good lower body strength(not just upper body), and was no pushover in the post. I'm just not sure MJ maintained his muscular strength into his 40's at the level you think. It seemed like he used his weight(the smart thing to do at his age) more than physical power.

Perhaps the bigger problem is that I'm much more critical of MJ's Wizard days than others. I try to erase that time from my memory because he was shell of his former self. He was slow, inefficient, his defense had suffered bigtime, and his muscle tone had diminished noticable. in 5 on 5 games, he could still be effective, but in strict 1 on situations, in an open court, no help defense, no screens, 40 year old Mj would be beatabel(and I'm sure was beaten in various 1 on 1 games during that time).

But the fun of a message board is the hypothetical, isn't it?

[Ming Kong!]

How can the NBA not be a major goal? If you think you had so much as a chance to make the NBA, there should be no excuse in the world to not go for it. Look at Andrei Kirilenko, he's probably suffered 20+ injuries in his career, and he's still playing at a high level in the NBA. Unless you can't walk any longer there should be no excuse. If there's a will, there is a way.

[Throwback24]

I could beat him right now.

[joelafan]

If i body fuse with kobe i could beat him right now.

[ahonui06]

MJ is still 6'6 and I'm still 6 feet. Height difference alone is a huge obstacle.

[sp6r=underrated]

This thread delivered

[Darain]

I'll wait till Jordan is 60 years old, then I'll clone myself, giving me youth and quickness to defeat him

[NYK 455]

This thread delivered

LOL

[ChuckTheD]

So he could play professional baskeball, but decided not to, that it wasn't for him. Then he proceeded to lead a life where he posts 3,000 times on a basketball internet forum where he casually tells tales of his glorious youth in between his Kobe championing.

Yall are getting trolled.

[Idunkon1stdates]

I could probably split games with a raw 22-year-old Jordan. Prime Jordan would beat me 7:3. And old Jordan would be a pushover (6:4 in my favour). I might be able to beat a 75-year-old AUF once or twice if my buckets counted as 3 and his counted as 1.

[bastillon]

So he could play professional baskeball, but decided not to, that it wasn't for him. Then he proceeded to lead a life where he posts 3,000 times on a basketball internet forum where he casually tells tales of his glorious youth in between his Kobe championing.

Yall are getting trolled.

[Gongxi]

Wow.

I first opened this thread when there were only a few replies, saw Ming Kong!'s first post about not beating him ever because even at 70 he'll be better than me at 50, etc etc, agreed, and closed the thread. I had no idea how this could've gotten to 9 pages, opened it up today, and I'm so awesomely surprised.

In retrospect, though, I can't believe AUF was allowed to vote in the retro player of the year thread, like he was a normal, nonretarded person.

[kobe808lak]

lolz @ pennywade

[DFolks]

Unbiased Fan, I can understand your confidence in your abilities and all, but we are talking about the GOAT. MJ. Not a 40 yr old Chris Childs, David Wesley, Danny Ferry, or even a Michael Finley. I myself struggle sometimes in not showing showing cockiness and arrogance when hooping with people at the gym I frequently go to downtown Chicago, as I have played very well against some talented ballers, and my confidence at one point was so high a couple years ago that I also thought I could beat a starting D-League player more times than not, but dude we are talking about MJ. Even at 40, the man was a top 30 player in the league. We are talking about him routinely scoring against 6'5-6'10 players and the occasional great layup on a 7 footer. I understand how you feel and your confidence after hitting many shots in a row in a pickup game, but dude, don't be delusional.

[NYK 455]

I train MMA and box, I could smash Anderson Silva and Roy Jones Jr. Dead ass serious.

[Don Draper]

LOL, I could have beat MJ back in his Wizard days, no doubt.

No.