Are people really considering Lebron a better player than Jordan? SERIOUSLY!?

[LarBrd33]

Didn't watch the final game vs boston or the final heat game vs Bulls, but sounds like in both instances the Celts/Bulls were up big with minimal time remaining and LeBron ripped out their hearts.  Would you consider that pretty Jordan-esque?

He's the greatest player alive.  He has the potential to be the greatest ever if the Heat rattle off 7 titles.

Pippen was better than Wade

[barefacedmonk]

He's the greatest player alive.

Bill Russell is dead?

[LarBrd33]

He's the greatest player alive.

Bill Russell is dead?

Think Russ can take Bron in a game of 1 on 1? 

Come on now... you know what I'm saying.  LeBron is the best player alive.  I think all scottie was saying is that he has the potential to have a greater career than Jordan. 

[Finkelskyhook]

He's the greatest player alive.

Bill Russell is dead?

Think Russ can take Bron in a game of 1 on 1? 

Come on now... you know what I'm saying.  LeBron is the best player alive.  I think all scottie was saying is that he has the potential to have a greater career than Jordan. 

The messiah is the most physically gifted player in basketball history....Maybe sports' history.  Hard to argue that. 

At some point, I truly believe the NBA audience is going to get beyond the numbness of the messiah basically having no rules.  With his raw physical gifts, talent, and the fact that virtually every gave he plays in is an overt 8-on-5 fiasco...Either audiences are going to see the messiah's NBA games as more of an exhibition than a competition...Or they're just going to tire of what's painfully obvious...And the residual cockiness and arrogance he shows after every contrived conquest.

Russell didn't need officials in his back pocket to be the greatest player the game has ever known.  If he has the work ethic great players had before him, the messiah will rise to levels we've never seen within the same rulebook Russell played under.  His physical gifts dictate that.  If not, nobody will know how good the messiah could have been.  He doesn't have to expand his game because he can travel, foul, and protest at will.

[LarBrd33]

I can't be the only Celtic fan here not seething in total jealousy of King James.  I respect how dominant the guy is.  He's an incredible player and clearly the best in the world right now.

I said it in one of the other crybaby Bron hate threads... I hated Jordan when he first started winning titles, because he was an enemy of the Celtics.  Eventually when I accepted the Celtics were irrelevant I could appreciate Jordan's greatness. 

Same thing is going to happen here.  You all just need to go through the stages of grief.  Celtics are yesterday.  Bron is now.

[KCattheStripe]

Socrates did the same thing.  He got named the wisest man in the world.  Then he said Athens should be run by a philosopher king.  He was the most famous philosopher in town. Logically he should be king.  Poison the youth.  Tell them democracy has problems.

The Philosopher King was Plato's idea.

Plato wrote about it first.....in which Socrates speaks about it .....he has Socrates saying lots of stuff I guess

I guess Pippen isn't the first to muse that Bron is better than Jordan

The Republic is not actually Socrates' ideas, Plato uses the his teacher as one of the character's in his dialogue to further his own ideas. It's not a written record of Socrates' teachings.

[LarBrd33]

just watched the highlights of game 5.  http://www.nba.com/video/channels/playoffs/2011/05/28/0041000305_mia_chi_gm5_super_highlight_mix.nba/index.html

Yeah... I'd say that's pretty Jordan-esque.  The Bulls were up 12 with like 3 minutes left and James just destroyed them. 

[action781]

I'm not saying he is or isn't..... but Lebron is REALLY good.  I can't stand (borderline hate) him, but he is REALLY good.  I mean, I can't really imagine seeing another player in my lifetime that is more athletic and talented than him.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

How is this crazy? Jordan's probably the better player but Lebron's definitely in the discussion. For evidence, look at how poorly Cleveland played this year. For further evidence, look at how the Heat have quickly dispatched the two best teams in the East.

Compared directly, Jordan's got the edge in scoring, intangibles, and smarts, but Lebron's more athletic and bigger. He's also probably a better defender. It's a lot tougher to play defense in this era than when handchecks were allowed.

I saw how poorly Cleveland played this season but answer this... how good were the Bulls after Jordan (until Rose)? Hell, if it wasn't for the legacy of Jordan people wouldn't have remembered who the Bulls were since he retired!

[chambers]

Fact: Lebron joined 2 all stars (one of whom is the best 2 guard in the NBA) in their prime.
He has no rings yet.

Jordan won 6 rings (could've had at least 2 more if not for retirement). How many could he have won if he joined Clyde Drexler or Barkley or played with some of the pistons bad boys?

Lebron although not as skilled as Jordan, is probably the greatest athlete we've ever seen on the court and has already proven to be one of the best players ever.
But he'll never lead a team to a championship, let alone six, without the help of Bosh and Wade.

Jordan had Scottie.
Lebron has Wade AND Bosh.
Case closed.

[KCattheStripe]

Fact: Lebron joined 2 all stars (one of whom is the best 2 guard in the NBA) in their prime.
He has no rings yet.

Jordan won 6 rings (could've had at least 2 more if not for retirement). How many could he have won if he joined Clyde Drexler or Barkley or played with some of the pistons bad boys?

Lebron although not as skilled as Jordan, is probably the greatest athlete we've ever seen on the court and has already proven to be one of the best players ever.
But he'll never lead a team to a championship, let alone six, without the help of Bosh and Wade.

Jordan had Scottie.
Lebron has Wade AND Bosh.
Case closed.

Dennis and Horace don't like to feel excluded.

[Celtics17]

It's so very hard to compare players of different eras. To many of us it seem just yesterday that MJ was wagging that tongue and dunking on everyone. I will always argue that Wilt was the most athletic and the most dominating player ever. One thing I do know, Pippen was a better player then anyone Lebron has played with, bar none. Pippen would eat Wade alive, shut him down on D and post him up all day on offense too. Rodman was the best rebounder the league has seen since Wilt and was also one of it's best defensive players of the past 25 years too. Put an 'in his prime Pippen and Rodman' next to Lebron and he wins several rings too.

[chambers]

It's so very hard to compare players of different eras. To many of us it seem just yesterday that MJ was wagging that tongue and dunking on everyone. I will always argue that Wilt was the most athletic and the most dominating player ever. One thing I do know, Pippen was a better player then anyone Lebron has played with, bar none. Pippen would eat Wade alive, shut him down on D and post him up all day on offense too. Rodman was the best rebounder the league has seen since Wilt and was also one of it's best defensive players of the past 25 years too. Put an 'in his prime Pippen and Rodman' next to Lebron and he wins several rings too.

This is up for debate because I 100% disagree.
Don't get me wrong I think that Pippen was great but I don't know if on his own he would be considered a franchise player.
It's hard to say because Pippen was never really without Jordan whilst he was in his prime. (other than when they lost to the Knicks once MJ retired).
As someone else said, it's very hard to have these arguments about players from different eras because the majority of it is opinion based.

[adamantium17]

“I knew deep down in my heart, as much as I loved my teammates back in Cleveland and as much as I loved home, I knew I couldn’t do it by myself against that team,” - Lebron on the Cs.

Now I won't say MJ would never say this given a similar situation, but he certainly made the likes of Luc Longley, Bill Wennington,and Will Perdue look good. It was always Jordan and the bulls, never Jordan ALONE.

So if "better" purley pertains to skill and talent, with complete disregard for dominance and respect around the NBA, yeah Pip may have a point.

But still.... Michael Jordan > Lebron James.

 

[Chelm]

Look, he obviously needs rings to get into Jordan's stratosphere, but I don't think it's that ridiculous of a comparison to make at this point.  Don't forget how good the players around Jordan actually were...

2010 to 2011 Cavaliers:  61-21 to 19-63 (-42 games)
1993 to 1994 Bulls:  57-25 to 55-27 (-2 games)

Don't get me wrong, I would arguably rather see the Lakers win a championship than Lebron, but I honestly think he has the ability to do spectacular things on the court and has an opportunity to meet/surpass Jordan over the course of his career.