CCS Cover - Opinion piece on James

[RamiTheBullsFan]

LeBron: Escaping The Shadow of a Basketball Icon | Chi City Sports l Chicago Sports News - Blog - Message Board - Fans

 

[Lex L.]

I didnt like it. I thought it got bogged down with an over emphasis on physical attributes and a general tale of the tape comparison.


Also, you misspelled 'scenario' towards the end.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

good eye about the typo. The reason I went into such detail with the physical components was to show that, imo, James is the more dominant of the two in that area. You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who thinks James > MJ, but the comparison on a pure athletic basis is one that seems to go in 'brons favor.

 

[Lex L.]

good eye about the typo. The reason I went into such detail with the physical components was to show that, imo, James is the more dominant of the two in that area. You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who thinks James > MJ, but the comparison on a pure athletic basis is one that seems to go in 'brons favor.

See. I disagree. I think LeBron is a combination of Karl Malone and Magic Johnson but with speed. I think when you look at physcal attributes to translate to basketball, Jordan was at least as good as James is. If youre looking for a football player, then maybe you go with LeBron...but we're talkign about basketball.

The other thing is that I think people forget how athletic Jordan was. I think the fact that the more recent memory of Jordan is of him being older affects peoples memories of how he was, say, 84-93.

I remember reading that Jordan could run a mile in under 5 minutes, which is outstanding considering he's not a runner. Thats amazing stamina and it shows up late in games. When other guys faded, Jordan didnt.

Jumping, I would say is in favor of Jordan. LeBron is 6'8 and Jordan was 6'6. But the part of jumping that comes into play mostly is jumping in the lane. Jordan is without peer when jumping in the lane. His ability to contort his body, absorb contact, and still concentrate are physical traits that are in play here that affect this. Plus, he had the skill to put the proper english on the ball when putting it on the glass. Jordan was a master at jumping in the lane. It required jumping ability, balance, strength, body control, and concentration. Body control and focus are huge. LeBron is straight-linish in comparison.

LeBron is bigger than Jordan and in a basketball sense it both works for him and against him. Jordan could take the corner and encounter a defender and pull up and hit a jumpshot on a dime. Again body control is huge here. Its a little more difficult for LeBron to pull up in that scenario because he is a victim of physics. He has so much mass.

Jordan also had an amazing first step. LeBron is explosive too but I think his abilty to get by guys partly comes from people not wanting to get in his way.

LeBron is stronger but there was also never really a time where you said, "if only Jordan was stronger, he could have pulled that play off."

Thats my comparison and contrast of their meaningful physical attributes in terms of how it translates to basketball.

But I also think in general, we should kind of avoid comparisons. Just let Jordan be Jordan and let LeBron be LeBron. If we get LeBron and people are constantly comparing him to Jordan, its going to be less fun to watch. Its kind of like watching the Lord of the Rings when you read the book. If youre grading the movie by comparing it to the book, its hard to enjoy the movie. Id rather let LeBron be LeBron and appreciate that.

 

[Bullsman24]

Lol well physically tyrus Thomas is better than Steve Nash. We shoulda traded for him I guess

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Yeah I agree with all of that. I could go on and on about Jordan's mechanics but you pretty much said it as well or better than I could have. There is no question that they are different players, which different approaches to the game. Jordan's finese game is more dominant than LeBron's. Jordan's skill was more polished and he probably had better leaps than 'bron. But the main point I wanted to get across is that James has a body-type that is unmatched in a lot of way. He's a different monster than anybody the NBA has had because of brute power, fastness, and height/length - combined. And that is scary... we both know that he doesn't have the on-man defense of Jordan & Kobe... nor their art and mastery in their back-to-the-back game... but LeBron definitely has some room to improve there... sorry if I seemed like I was short-changing MJ because, trust me, that is never something I'd intend on doing... lol.

Still, I can't see Jordan being able to play all 5 positions on the floor effectively-sound. 1, 2, 3, and even 4 yes. In the case of 'Bron... he definitely can...1-through-5.

 

[Lex L.]

Yeah I agree with all of that. I could go on and on about Jordan's mechanics but you pretty much said it as well or better than I could have. There is no question that they are different players, which different approaches to the game. Jordan's finese game is more dominant than LeBron's. Jordan's skill was more polished and he probably had better leaps than 'bron. But the main point I wanted to get across is that James has a body-type that is unmatched in a lot of way. He's a different monster than anybody the NBA has had because of brute power, fastness, and height/length - combined. And that is scary... we both know that he doesn't have the on-man defense of Jordan & Kobe... nor their art and mastery in their back-to-the-back game... but LeBron definitely has some room to improve there... sorry if I seemed like I was short-changing MJ because, trust me, that is never something I'd intend on doing... lol

I hope you dont think I was trashing your article. That wasnt my intention. Its apparent you put some thought into it. But I think there needs to be scrutiny when it comes to physical attributes and how they translate to basketball. Again, if I was looking for a football player, I might go with LeBron. But, like I said, his physical attributes work against him in some ways too.

Also, I saw that you mentioned Kobe. I wouldnt even put Kobe in the same class athletically as Jordan. The reason Jordan was able to go to the basket more is because he was the better athlete...and thats evident in their shooting %s.