Something that has not been mentioned in this thread, it really can not be argued that the East is not incredibly flawed weak right now. Perhaps the weakest it has ever been. While I hated seeing it, it wasn't completely unjustified for people to call us the weakest number 1 seed ever. Of the top teams in the east we don't really have a superstar. Neither does Toronto. Neither does Atlanta. Perhaps Wall is the closest to a superstar in his prime in the conference on a top tier team outside of Cleveland.
Who was Lebron beating to get to the finals?
Jordan's first 3peat really had some formidable teams. One of them was, ironically, the Cavs. The Cavs had a 4 time all-star in Mark Price, Brad Daugherty a 5x all star and Larry Nance a 3x all star. What team in the east this year is closest to that?
Other notable teams in the east included the 60 win Knicks team featuring superstar and future hall of famer Ewing in his prime with both Starks and Oakley making the all star the following year.
Even at team like the Pistons had a still effective Dumars and Thomas in the all star game and Dennis Rodman pulling down an astonishing 18 rebounds a game.
Unfortunately now when you think about the best players in the game Harden, Westbrook, Curry, Thompson, Durant, Lillard, Davis, Leonard are all in the west. How many east players even make the all-NBA teams 5 out of 15? It really is unfortunate because I would love to see the East be more competitive and the playoffs are honestly pretty boring at the moment.
The Bulls never won until the C's and Pistons declined.
Then the expansion era started, with half a dozen new teams watering down the talent pool. There were some great players in the 90's but the teams themselves had questionable depth.
The 1993 Houston Rockets won a championship with
Hakeem
Otis Thorpe
Vernon Maxwell
Kenny Smith
Robert Horry
Outside of Hakeem, that team is mediocre and starless. but they managed to beat the celebrated Knicks in the Finals.
Speaking of the Knicks, would Oakley make an all-star team in today's league? What role would he play? A Tristan Thompson type? Was Starks anywhere near as good as today's top guards? IMO he's a far cry from a Kyrie Irving or a Klay Thompson.
Outside of Ewing that Knicks time was wildly overrated IMO.
Who did Reggie Miller have? Rik Smits, the Davis boys and Mark Jackson? That's not a contending roster.
Jordan was the best player of this era and took advantage of some thin opposing rosters.
He never beat a team as good as the Cavs, Warriors, or probably even the current Spurs.
thank you. I made this point already multiple times but because I said it clay just disregards it as nonsense. The Bulls played exactly 4 teams with multiple HOFers on the roster in their 6 title seasons and two of them were the first season Pistons and Lakers that were old, which also happens to describe the other two which were the Jazz in the last two finals. Jordan had a very easy run during those title seasons as the both the East and West lacked any other juggernaut teams. Of the 7 teams James has played in the Finals only Dallas is comparable to those teams and the Celtics teams that Miami went through were also better teams.
You put any all time great on the Bulls with Pippen in the 90's and that team is dominating championships. There was just a void brought on by the 80's greats falling off a cliff and all of the expansion. The league might have looked a lot different if Bird didn't injure his back, Magic didn't get hiv, Thomas and Joe D didnt age overnight, and guys like Bias didn't kill themselves with drugs.
Moranis I am actually trying to address this point. One of your main points in saying Lebron is comparable to Jordan right now is the number of finals that Lebron made compared to Jordan.
I have been pointing out that the teams that Jordan had to get past every year in the east through the late 80 and the early 90's had multiple in their prime all stars. Compared to this, Lebron has had an extremely easy path getting to the finals the last 2 seasons and this season.
You have teams like the Wizards, Celtics, Raptors that have either 1 or at most 2 all stars. Of this group I think only Wall would be considered an in his prime all star. Can you really refute that and say these other teams in the top 4 are comparable to a Cavs team that had 3 multiple time all stars that Jordan beat every year? To me it isn't close.
I also think if you are consistent with yourself you agree the east has been pathetic the last couple of seasons cause I know you don't think the Celtics are a great team, yet were able to win the most games in it this year.
Also to be clear, I do give Lebron credit where it is due. Beating the warriors last year was very impressive, injuries and suspensions and all, that was a really good team that he beat once he got there and I give him credit for that. If he is able to win again this year and beat that team he will get even more credit and it becomes a lot closer.
However, he does not get credit for making the east finals when there are no legitimate contenders in it. If he is a superstar playing alongside two legit all stars and an embarrassment of riches as role players he NEEDs to do that and it gets him no closer to Jordan. It should also be pointed out that part of the reason the east became so bad during the start of his finals run is because in the process of forming the big 3 in Miami he gutted two promising potential contenders in the process. If Bosh stays in Toronto and grows with Derozen and they add a few more pieces, how good does that team become? Maybe they still get Lowry because they got him for cheap. Isn't that a very impressive team for Lebron to have to go through each year?
Topic: LeBron will likely pass Jordan this playoffs (Read 23164 times)