Close the door on the Lebron/MJ Argument

[Uman85]

After being swept by the Spurs in his first ever Finals appearance and now cowering in the spotlight of this year's Finals, it's time to end the comparison of James to Jordan. Leaders step up in big games. Lebron clearly is showing that he's not the leader and clutch player that Jordan was.

 

[Glide2keva]

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there "With a clutch gene!" Because he (lebron) doesn't have one.

truth.com

 

[Utahbullsfan]

truth.com

Lmao!!

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

i think that door has been closed longer than you think

 

[FirstTimer]

Don't care if he's not Jordan. He's thebest player on the planet and I'd take him in a heartbeat.

I also think that mentioning the slob ass Cavs team bron carried to the Finals in comparison to any Finals team Jordan was on is laughable.

 

[nwfisch]

Don't care if he's not Jordan. He's thebest player on the planet and I'd take him in a heartbeat.

I also think that mentioning the slob ass Cavs team bron carried to the Finals in comparison to any Finals team Jordan was on is laughable.

Agree, I still think its too early to begin to compare those 2.

 

[Chi-Town Brahma]

 

[DCguy]

I never saw the comparisons. To me LeBron is the second best player on his team. All I hear is how LeBron had no help in the playoffs when he was in Cleveland. Now he got D-Wade carrying the team and he can barely contribute. He is supposed to be a lockdown defender and Berea and Terry are running circles around him. This guy is good, but he was prematurely crowned. To me Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league and probably will be until he retires. I would put Wade second then LeBron.

 

[AE23]

Lebron has only begun to pay his dues in the NBA, its not easy to win a ring.

 

[houheffna]

Lebron is playing bad, but no doubt he is the best player in basketball...Wade is not better than Lebron...by no means...

 

[FirstTimer]

All I hear is how LeBron had no help in the playoffs when he was in Cleveland.

Because it was true.

Now he got D-Wade carrying the team and he can barely contribute.

Bron carried Wade in the first few round so while Wade has had the far better Finals performance I think it's incredibly short sighted to ignore LeBron carrying the Heat up until the Finals.

He is supposed to be a lockdown defender and Berea and Terry are running circles around him

Terry has had some decent 4th quarters but he's still not shooting that well, outside of Game 5. I really don't think James' defense has been that bad. In fact (one of the)the main story after the first few games was how good his defense was. I think your evaluation is incredibley "what have you done for me lately". James has had some bad games and hasn't played well in the 4th but I've never seen someone register triple doubles and get accused of "not caring".


James game all along reminded me more of Oscar and Magic's anyways as more of a point forward/point wing type player. I never understood the want to compare him to Jordan anyways.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

I never saw the comparisons. To me LeBron is the second best player on his team. All I hear is how LeBron had no help in the playoffs when he was in Cleveland. Now he got D-Wade carrying the team and he can barely contribute. He is supposed to be a lockdown defender and Berea and Terry are running circles around him. This guy is good, but he was prematurely crowned. To me Kobe Bryant is the best player in the league and probably will be until he retires. I would put Wade second then LeBron.

it was a pretty good post until you got to the bolded part

kobe is damn good player dont get me wrong...but he is also ermmm...a bit overrated

he is a clutch player, but his clutch % is actually not that great

he has never averaged close to 50% in a season nor has he averaged 7 assists or rebounds in a season(lebron and jordan have done both)

not to mention kobe had shaq in his prime for 5 or 6 seasons...

yes kobe is a great leader but he's outside the top 10....atleast for me

he is a better outside shooting poor man's jordan..

he didnt win MVP till his what..12th season? didnt win finals mvp until his 13th...

plus he is seriously on the decline now...i think he has won his last title

btw..can anyone find a stat sheet that had a bunch of kobe-lebron comparisons...i found it earlier and now i cant find it...after looking at that i seriously thought to myself how anyone could think kobe is better than lebron(besides being clutch and winning titles)

seriously lebron is the best player in the world...but when it comes to the mental game...he whimps out sometimes especially in the finals...is it because he's tired? Probably not? Is it because rashard lewis screwed his gf? I doubt that ever happened It's probably the fact that lebron feels too much pressure on himself and is scared to be aggressive because of possible criticism..not to mention some of the dallas guys are really getting into his head...he probably thinks too much...ironically in a 4th quarter situation in the finals...that's probably a good time to zone everything out and aim to score the ball.period...use instincts....thats what jordan did thats what kobe(sometimes) does/did...

but people have short memories...lebron was great in the 4th quarter against the bulls in the conference finals while wade sucked it up...but obviously the finals matter more...where lebron has laid an egg not only this season but in 07 as well...

i will say that i did not think the heat would make the finals this year...i am surprised because i thought they would have chemsitry issues(which they did and i really still think they do) and lose to the celtics or bulls....but lebron played well....one thing that i have also seen that is really puzzling is lebron and wade's relationship scoring wise....lebron was 4-6 last night without wade...4-13 with him....maybe its just one game....but i cant remember a time in this playoffs that both guys have really been on their A game...maybe game 1 of this finals?

and yes...we'd all like to criticize lebron for choking now with wade and bosh...but lets also remember that these guys are still learning how to play with each other....thats the scary thing...you look at dallas and they are a veteran team and have been with each other for a while....they always close out....

thats really the main difference i see....miami is definitely more talented..but dallas is the veteran team and they dont flinch against anything...while lebron and the rest of the heat have had trouble in the 4th quarter ALL SEASON because they are still learning how to close out games together...whether or not lebron and miami's 4th quarter issues will linger on for years is debatable

and now...to the jordan comparison....THEY DONT EVEN PLAY THE SAME POSITION....you cant compare lebron to jordan as players in the first place...you can i guess compare their careers...but time is running out for lebron(yes i know he's 26) and he's got some ground to make up if he wants to get close to matching jordan's accolades

 

[kellmanX]

After being swept by the Spurs in his first ever Finals appearance and now cowering in the spotlight of this year's Finals, it's time to end the comparison of James to Jordan. Leaders step up in big games. Lebron clearly is showing that he's not the leader and clutch player that Jordan was.

I never understood the comparison in the first place really. Jordan took the NBA to new hights, won 6 NBA golden rings and has so many legendary moments that its almost ridiculous! He has won everything there is to win, and he did it in times when most of the best players to this date was still playing.

Michael Jordan is for many people what defines basketball, and how people can even start talking about LeBron and MJ in the same way, is beyond me!
He needs to emulate and even go further than mr.basketball to even have that discussion valid! He is so far away reaching Jordan, that he simply does not have the chance I belive to even begin to catch him. NBA fans have been desperate for years now to get a "new" Michael Jordan, and LeBron has been a victim to that. Cause he is a great player, and will probably go down as one of the better players in NBA history.
But if you ever watched Magic Johnson, Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, you would know how ridiculous this hole discussion really is.

Christ, LeBron has not won anything, and if he does win one ring this year, he is not the man that made the hole difference! Miami is and will forever be Wade`s team and city. LeBron will always for me be the guy that left "his" franchise" in a bad way to have Wade and Bosh win it with him. So he can keep doing his dance moves and be one of those stupid stars that show up on talkshows and events wearing sunglasses...inside.

LeBron will never be a Michael Jordan, no one will! There will forever only be one mr. Air Jordan!!

 

[FirstTimer]

yes kobe is a great leader but he's outside the top 10....atleast for me

Kobe is still locked securely in my Top 5.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Kobe is still locked securely in my Top 5.

dont get me wrong..kobe is a great player

but i think people overrate him because they are searching for a legend in this post-jordan era which has been relatively down imo especially when a guy like steve nash(who is also a great player) does not average 20 points per game and plays mediocre defense and gets awarded two mvps....i guess thats more of a product of the teams record but that still puzzles me

and i wonder how kobe would have done on lebron's cleveland teams...that isnt really rhetorical its a genuine curiosity of mine..we got a taste of it from 04-07 when he had mediocre players around him and he was scoring 30 PPG but he never did jack in the playoffs until they got gasol pretty much gift wrapped and he learned to grow up

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

LeBron will never be a Michael Jordan, no one will! There will forever only be one mr. Air Jordan!!

well..yes

i mean its not like there is going to be another jordan clone(although kobe did his best to try to copy jordan but i've always thought jordan especially when he was younger resembles wade now)

but at some point someone will overtake jordan as the greatest of all time...unless humanity does not survive the next 50-100 years which is very possible....even then in the next 20 years a guy could pop up and completely dominate the league....you never know

 

[DCguy]

Well, I am not even a Kobe fan, but he just knows how to will his team to wins come playoff time, even though he needs a dominant big man, at least offensively dominant. But LeBron to me is a good player who puts up stats, but stats don't win championships. Wade can pass, can shoot and can attack just as well as LeBron and Wade doesn't have to travel or crab dribble to do it. LeBron is a good player. But to me Wade is the better player of the two.

When Terry needed to score, he did, and LeBron was all on him. I see ESPN making excuses for him saying he wasn't "engaged in the game" but they have a hard time dealing with the fact that sometimes, other players will get the best of you and that is exactly what is happening to LeBron down the stretch of games.

 

[BNB]

Well, I am not even a Kobe fan, but he just knows how to will his team to wins come playoff time

Didn't do it this year...

mostly because he lost a step... or 3.

That's why he isn't #1 anymore.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Didn't do it this year...

mostly because he lost a step... or 3.

That's why he isn't #1 anymore.

i dont think he's actually been the best overall player since 2008

but that's just me

he's done well in the finals..and has had great teams around him..but lebron has been the best even if he lacks mental toughness

dirk's performance this finals and postseason overall has probably been the most impressive i've seen since wade in the 06 finals and maybe even as far back as jordan

 

[FirstTimer]

Wade can pass, can shoot and can attack just as well as LeBron

No he can't.

LeBron is a better player than Wade. He's the best player on the planet.

Wade doesn't have to travel or crab dribble to do it.

Every NBA player travels.

Go back and look at some of the travels MJ got away with. It happens. LeBron is FAR from the only player in the NBA who travels.

When Terry needed to score, he did, and LeBron was all on him.

And when the MVP of the league needed to score Lebron shut him down then closed out the game.

Lebron hasn't had the best Finals. We know. But to some how paint with broad strokes about LeBron James as aplayer based on the last few games when he carried the Heat for the previous 15 or so is off base.