How many Magic and Bird seasons over 2018 LeBron?

1993Playoffs · Post #1 » by **1993Playoffs** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 4:59 am

How many Magic/Bird seasons are better than LeBron in his 15th season at 33 years old?

uberhikari · Post #2 » by **uberhikari** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 5:07 am

Probably 84/86 and 87/88 Bird and 87-90 Magic. So 8 seasons.

TheGOATRises007 · Post #3 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 5:07 am

Would personally take none.

Maybe 86 Bird and 87-88 Magic.

No-more-rings · Post #4 » by **No-more-rings** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 5:27 am

Hard to say since Lebron’s regular season was less than stellar, but turned it up pretty crazy come postseason. I’d probably take 2-3 of Magic and Bird’s best years but i’m not completely sold on it.

MyUniBroDavis · Post #5 » by **MyUniBroDavis** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 5:31 am

2018 bron is peak bron to me, although 2017 is easier to argue for

Contextually the only thing that had any practical value to bron for that entire second Cleveland stint except maybe 2015 was the playoffs, so I don’t care about his RS at all

In that regard 2018 bron pretty easily for me

2klegend · Post #6 » by **2klegend** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 6:32 am

'85 - '87 Magic, '84-'86 Bird are better than Lebron '18.

1993Playoffs · Post #7 » by **1993Playoffs** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 6:38 pm

2klegend wrote:'85 - '87 Magic, '84-'86 Bird are better than Lebron '18.

I think the gap is too large in the playoffs to take 85 Bird over 2018 LeBron.

PhiEaglesfan712 · Post #8 » by **PhiEaglesfan712** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 6:55 pm

I'm not taking any Bird season over 2018 LeBron. I can see a case for Magic's 85, 87, and 88 seasons, but I prefer LeBron's 2018 season because of his playoff run.

Dutchball97 · Post #9 » by **Dutchball97** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 6:59 pm

I'd probably take 84 and 86 Bird and 87 Magic here.

falcolombardi · Post #10 » by **falcolombardi** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 7:16 pm

there is a case for 2018 lebron to be the best offensive version of him although admiteddly he was not as impactful in defense

it may be the fanboy in me talking but i lean towards none

although 84 and 86 bird and 87 and 88 magic habe good cases

70sFan · Post #11 » by **70sFan** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 7:39 pm

Again, we miss this project so much...

viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2129778

RCM88x · Post #12 » by **RCM88x** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 8:22 pm

70sFan · Post #13 » by **70sFan** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 8:35 pm

Anyway, these are the only ones I'd consider:

Bird: 1984, 1986 and 1987
Magic: 1987, 1988 and 1990

No other season has a case in my opinion. 1989 Magic might be there without the injury, 1991 Magic was too bad defensively in my opinion (his offense was comparable). Any other Bird season just wasn't good enough in postseason to compete.

homecourtloss · Post #14 » by **homecourtloss** » Sun Jun 5, 2022 10:06 pm

Probably ‘86 Bird and ‘87 and ‘90 Magic if we’re looking at entire seasons, but for peak playoff prowess I don’t think I could take any though these Bird/Magic seasons come close. LeBron’s defense fell off but as evidenced by his bounce back in 2019 and especially 2020 and 2021, it wasn’t a structural/capability fall off but one where he poured everything into offense k owing defensive effort wouldn’t reap any benefits.

JordansBulls · Post #15 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Jun 6, 2022 3:35 am

1993Playoffs wrote:How many Magic/Bird seasons are better than LeBron in his 15th season at 33 years old?

Only possible answers are:

Bird 1984-1987
Magic 1985-1989

Homer38 · Post #16 » by **Homer38** » Mon Jun 6, 2022 12:15 pm

JordansBulls wrote:
1993Playoffs wrote:How many Magic/Bird seasons are better than LeBron in his 15th season at 33 years old?

Only possible answers are:

Bird 1984-1987
Magic 1985-1989

Magic lost with the HCA in 1986 and Bird in 1985

ardee · Post #17 » by **ardee** » Tue Jun 7, 2022 5:09 am

None honestly.

2018 LeBron was his peak on offense. Neither Magic nor Bird was ever enough of a positive on defense to outweigh that gap.

70sFan · Post #18 » by **70sFan** » Tue Jun 7, 2022 6:27 am

ardee wrote:None honestly.

2018 LeBron was his peak on offense. Neither Magic nor Bird was ever enough of a positive on defense to outweigh that gap.

To me it's James who needs to outweigh the gap on defense against Magic. Johnson is the GOAT offensive player in my opinion.

RCM88x · Post #19 » by **RCM88x** » Tue Jun 7, 2022 12:25 pm

To me the gap is scoring is just titanic in the playoffs.

Reg Sea 2018 Lebron: 36.2 Points Per 100 poss +6% TS
Playoff 2018 Lebron: 42.5 Points Per 100 poss +6% TS

Reg Sea 1987 Magic: 31.1 Points Per 100 poss +6% TS (peak scoring)
Playoff 1990 Magic: 30.8 Points Per 100 poss +6% TS (peak playoff scoring)

Reg Sea 1988 Bird: 37.6 Points Per 100 poss +7% TS (peak scoring)
Playoff 1984 Bird: 32.2 Points Per 100 poss +7% TS (peak playoff scoring)

Now, if there was some sort of massive defensive gap to consider as well, maybe they could have an argument, but I don't think that's the case at all. Magic has a playmaking edge but to me it's not enough to makeup for the immense scoring gap like it is with maybe 2014 Lebron or something.

I also think it's worth noting that Lebron probably did this with less talent than either Bird or Magic ever had to play with in either of their respective careers, certainly less offensive talent.

Colbinii · Post #20 » by **Colbinii** » Tue Jun 7, 2022 12:53 pm

With the goal of winning an NBA Championship in mind--none.