Quote:
Originally Posted by nol
Thing is, you could never be too much of a liability on offense back then because at the very least you could stand far away from the basket and prevent your guy from helping out on Jordan. This is actually something that doesn't show up in the box score for Rodman: he spent the vast majority of his time on offense either providing "floor spacing" (which is pretty much the best thing you can do when you have a scorer as talented as Jordan on your team already) or flying out of nowhere for an offensive rebound.
Jordan's teammates have been substantially better than LeBron's. The same stats we look at today that show how Draymond Green is one of the top 10 players in the league despite his modest points per game average would have given guys like Rodman, Horace Grant, and even Toni Kukoc pretty convincing All-Star cases during their best years with the Bulls. Pippen would be looked at as a top-5 player at the time rather than a lucky sidekick. The Bulls won 55 games the year Jordan retired; this season the number one most compelling argument for LeBron as MVP was that the Cavs played as poorly when he wasn't on the court as the Thunder did minus Westbrook.
I'd say Jordan was maybe more individually dominant at his peak (while playing under defensive rules that made it easier to be a one-on-one scorer) but LeBron would have to fall off quite rapidly (as in not be considered a top-10 player in the league 2 years from now) for him to not end up slightly better career-wise. Since 2012, every team LeBron has faced in the Finals is much better than any team Jordan ever went up against.
If everyone else on your team can handle their business, Jordan would be your guy, but LeBron's passing and defensive versatility give you the best chance to win if you're overmatched elsewhere.
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Rodman was providing no spacing. He played on either side of the paint on the baseline. The team statistically played better on the offensive side of the court with him off it. He had a negative OBPM every year he played in Chicago. You can compare Lebron and Rodman on the defensive end. But Draymond is a plus offensive player and Rodman was not.
Lebron played with two other Hall of Famers in their prime. Jordan never had a third option as good as Chris Bosh. You can argue the Bulls fit together better, but pure talent you can't. I also don't think Kukoc was an All-Star caliber player. Nice role player but we saw what happened when he had to be a #1 option.
The Warriors are definitely better than anyone Jordan played in the Finals but you're really undervaluing those Jazz teams. The 96-97 team was really good and beat some great teams in the West. Plus I'd argue the East was much harder in Jordan's era than it is today.