2018 LeBron was absolutely capable of carrying 4 dudes to a title. Just unfortunate that they ran up against the most stacked team of all time.
Pfff. Micheal Jordan > Labron James.
Even James knows that by wanting to wear Jordans number. NBA was better back in Jordans time too.
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Yeah, the iso ball and need for big men to be super versatile has pushed the game outside the perimeter or inside the foul circle. It’s all about numbers and analytics now. The game back then had a little of everything. It had big men with amazing post moves, great mid-range shooters, and sharp shooters.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great players today and triple-doubles galore. Love watching some of these individual efforts, but the league is broken because the players have way too much power today.
Kyrie Irving would not be in the league back in the day if he pulled the sht he’s been pulling for the past five seasons. The superstars are protected way too much, players throwing their hands up and saying they’re not happy can force themselves on a new team, and Twitter has absolutely made some of these players toxic. Ja Morant’s posse starting sht with opposing team players is so messed up. Suspend the player…not his friends and family. They’ve also made the NBA (Lebron being the worst) a social platform for every racially motivated/social injustice reported in the news.
Today’s ‘extra’ is off-putting and players need to relinquish a little power back to the league.
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FLBJ…… both of them !
96 Bulls?
I will say MJ had the greatest basketball coach ever. Phil Jackson has more rings than MJ. LeBron never had a coach of that caliber. Many greats have as many rings as their coaches. LeBron has more than any coach that coached him and the coaches haven’t won a championship since.
Not knocking MJ, he’s still a GOAT. But Bron met and exceeded the hype from HS.
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Each decade has these debates:
1960s Russell vs Chamberlain
1970s Russell vs Chamberlain vs Jabbar
1980s Bird vs Magic
1990s Shaq vs Olajuwon vs Ewing vs Robinson
2000s Jordan vs Bryant
2010s James vs Bryant vs Jordan
2020s James vs Jordan
It’s mind candy for basketball fans. There is no right answer.
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Jordan made the players around him better. Unless LBJ recruited superstar free agents how many titles does he have? Jordan has six. Pippen? Draft and trade. Horace Grant? Drafted. Both in 1985.
Major free agents? Ron Harper and Dennis Rodman, for the second three-peat. It’s all about the rings. Wilt got the scoring records, Russell got the rings.
Sorry Rockets fans, Rockets never got close to a title when Jordan played a full year. If Jordan hadn’t left, you’re talking a Celtics type dynasty from the 60’s
Want to say LBJ is the greatest 4, ok, I can agree with that. But GOAT, no. Jordan has more hardware, including a DPOY, 5 MVPs, 6 NBA Finals MVPs. and 6 rings. Finally, who has the highest career scoring average in NBA history? Jordan.
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What you’re actually describing is that Jordan was drafted by a better organization.
Also majorly disagree about if Jordan hadn’t retired they’d have won 8 titles. His retirement set up the second three peat. He’s said so himself. Guy was gassed.
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Jordan made the Bulls a better organization. Outside of the Jordan years, no NBA finals. One league MVP. Look at the United Center banners, there aren’t many that weren’t in the Jordan years.
Jordan didn’t fully retire, he went to play baseball. Rumors have persisted for years, it was suggested that he step away from the game because of his gambling…
Of course Jordan made the Bulls better. But they also drafted extremely well and made quality coaching hires. The Cavs by comparison were a completely incompetent organization. Terrible draft record and zero commitment to winning.
For the record I don’t even think James is better than Jordan. However, the Bulls were clearly a better run organization than the Cavs.
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He needed a break from all his gambling escapades. 
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What every Rocket’s fan wanted back in the day was a Bulls vs Rockets NBA Finals match up. Shame it never happened for all Basketball fans to witness.
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You’re making my point why Jordan is the GOAT and not LBJ. The Bulls weren’t much better than the Cavs. the Cavs were better than the Bulls when Jordan got there. Once he got there, the Bulls were better. Once they beat the Pistons, they didn’t lose a playoff series were Jordan played a full season for 8 years. Toni Kukoc and Stacey King, but not much else. They signed complimentary pieces, Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Bill Cartwright, Bill Wennington. Coaches, a couple of dogs (Loughery and Albeck) a doug (Collins) and a coach with no NBA coaching experience before hired by the Bulls, (Phil Jackson.) Took a little while to get it right.
As far as a Bulls - Rockets series, it would have been great to see.
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The Bulls organization during Jordan’s run with them was a vastly more competent organization than the Cavs were during LeBrons time there. Not really a debate.
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The Rockets went 5-1 against the Bulls during the first three-peat. They were a matchup nightmare for him. Jordan is quoted as having said “Thank God they’ll never be in the Finals.” And then they were just a season after he retired.
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The Bulls went 57-25 in 1992-1993 and beat the Suns in the finals. Jordan retired and the Bulls went 55-27. Lebron’s Cav team was 61-21 and lost to the Celtics. The next year he left for Miami and they were 19-63.
I always wondered how LBJ would’ve done if the Cavs built around him the way the Bulls built around MJ. He had to go up against dynasty’s and super teams as a one man show.
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So the Jordan v Lebron debate to me kind of vibes down to this. How am I treating them as an organization? If overall I’m going with an “Army of One” strategy 100% in going Lebron. He took a bunch of nobodies to the finals which is further than Jordan ever carried his nobodies. But if I’m going to start and build a dynasty then it’s clearly Jordan.
LeBron vs MJ is pretty even. To me it boils down to if you gave a knife to both of them, LeBron would stab you in the back and MJ would stab you in the gut. I’d rather see it coming, so MJ is the best. In reality, Michael seemed more of a cut-throat with a killer instinct. LeBron gets credit for having a longer career and the accumulation of stats. But all things equal regarding teammates, if I had one game to win and had to pick one or the other, I’d pick Jordan, then Magic. But picking LeBron is a great alternative and I wouldn’t second guess anyone for choosing James.
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