Thread: Michael Jordan: How quickly they forgot

Yet again, why he is the greatest of all time, and will always be

jordan allday

I should start naming threads differently, but yeah, greatest of all time.

How Quickly They Forget

MJ > *

comparing jordan to lebron is pointless, lebron's career isn't half over nor has he hit his peak.

now if lebron came out and said, "I'm better than MJ at this point in my career (or ever)" then argue all day.

I don't think he ever will be. Not even sportswise, but in general. I don't see him having the same impact Jordan still has. But we already had that discussion.
Let me just quote Jordan on this

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. The interview aired on the NBC telecast of the event. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

Jordan wouldn't have called Magic, Bird

I have the utmost respect for MJ. He's my all-time favorite player in my all-time favorite sport (both as a spectator and a participant).

That being said, it's a little disingenuous for him IMO to talk about then versus now. The league was a lot different back then, and it was run differently. There were less teams, which meant there was more talent everywhere. To have multiple star players on a single squad wasn't as much of a luxury back then. So many teams from the 80s and 90s that you could rattle off multiple stars, often with solid role players:

1) Lakers - Magic/Kareem/Worthy. 3 HOFers. Then add in Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, Mychal Thompson, etc.
2) Celtics - Bird/McHale/Parrish/Dennis Johnson. 4 HOFers. Danny Ainge and a revolving cast of solid role players (Bill Walton's last hurrah, Cornbread Maxwell, etc.).
3) Pistons - Isiah/Dumars/Rodman. 3 HOFers. Add in Vinnie Johnson, Rich Mahorn & Bill Laimbeer. When Isiah retired in the 90s, Dumars took over the point and Grant Hill (who in his prime, was most definitely a top 25 caliber player) came along.
4) Pacers - Reggie Miller (HOFer) combined with Detlef Schrempf, Rik Smits and Dale Davis? Those 4 in their primes would make the core of a top team today.
5) Knicks - Patrick Ewing (HOFer) with Charles Oakley, Doc Rivers/Mark Jackson, etc. would also be a top team today.
6) Cavaliers - don't laugh. Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper, Mark Price, Craig Ehlo? They typically gave the Bulls a tough time in the playoffs.
7) 76ers - Dr. J & Moses Malone (HOFers) with Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones and later Charles Barkley (HOFer)? These guys weren't chopped liver either for much of the 80s and early 90s.
8) Jazz - Karl Malone & Stockton (HOFers) with Mark Eaton, Jeff Hornacek, Jeff Malone, etc.? Again, a title contending squad if they were together in their primes now.
9) Blazers - Clyde Drexler (HOFer) with Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams & Kevin Duckworth as your starters, with Cliff Robinson as a 6th man? Again, likely title contenders if they were in their prime now.
10) Warriors - heck, just for kicks & giggles, even my beloved Warriors with Run TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond & Chris Mullin) could be strong playoff contenders nowadays.
11) Magic - Shaq & Penny Hardaway (when Hardaway was performing at a Top 25 all-time level for a number of years until he blew out his knee) paired with the likes of Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott and (later) Horace Grant weren't pushovers for the Bulls in the 90s.

MJ didn't win a title until he got a solid team around him (Pippen & Horace Grant being the most important, then later Rodman & Toni Kukoc when Grant went to the Magic). Like LeBron in his Cavalier years, MJ's Bulls struggled until he got a decent core around him.

All that being said, MJ NEVER disappeared during playoff games, and he was at his peak in Finals games. LeBron can't be put in the same convo with MJ until LBJ learns that he has to be the best or second-best player out of both teams on the floor in every single game, no matter what the defensive schemes being thrown at him are. There's a big difference between being a killer and an assassin, and it's not to hard to figure out which one describes LBJ and which describes MJ........

mj for the win

mj hands down!

no competition for MJ