Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

[st0rmb11]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

I think before it's all said and done LeBron (if he remains healthy) will be the best basketball player surpassing Jordan. Look what he's done at the age of 25. Jordan didnt win his first title til he was 27. If LeBron wins one this year he'll be a year ahead of Jordan as far as titles go.

If LeBron had entered the league at the same age as Jordan, then yes. But LeBron came in 3 years younger than Jordan did. LeBron is entering his 8th year. Jordan won in his 7th year.

But I do think that before all is said and done, if he wins several titles and somehow continues to put up numbers of 30, 8, and 7, he could very well get himself into the discussion.

[BaselineBakes]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

So while Lebron is a new beast, he's in a better overall pool of athletes so his gifts dont stretch him ahead like Jordan.

Wouldn't that make it even more impressive for Lebron to do what he does and make it look easy being guarded and opposed by athletes with similiar athleticism?

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

Wouldn't that make it even more impressive for Lebron to do what he does and make it look easy being guarded and opposed by athletes with similiar athleticism?

No, because Lebron is not doing what Mike was doing. Just look at the games, look at Mike's numbers. Mike looked like he was playing against children most of the time. People literally didn't know how to react to him. Until the mid 90s, there was no gameplan for what Mike was doing. Lebron can be compared to Kobe, Wade, T-Mac in his prime, Durant.

Mike was averaging almost 38ppg with a high FG% without shooting 3s and on a TRUE bum squad. No former All Stars and all that. Just bums. Dudes whose names you don't even KNOW, lol.

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but head to head, I don't think Lebron would appear more athletic than Mike, nor would he dominate him physically. Looking at Lebron vs. Kobe(not as athletic as Mike) and Lebron vs. Wade(not as big as Mike), I think Bron would have nightmares facing Jordan.

But would Pippen have as many nightmares facing Bron? I don't know. Pippen was a great, great athlete with good height, long arms, a high defensive IQ and the role of defensive stopper.

Lebron would look bigger and stronger, but with Mike's agility and superhuman reaction time, I think it'd look like a wash from a purely physical standpoint.

[dragonyeuw]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

If LeBron had entered the league at the same age as Jordan, then yes. But LeBron came in 3 years younger than Jordan did. LeBron is entering his 8th year. Jordan won in his 7th year.

Thank you, just came in to post this.

[BaselineBakes]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

Mike looked like he was playing against children most of the time.

I feel the same way watching Lebron.

People literally didn't know how to react to him. Until the mid 90s, there was no gameplan for what Mike was doing.

So wouldn't it make it more impressive that Lebron is doing similar things to what Jordan is doing number wise while playing against a set game-plan that has been in place to stop superstars since the mid Jordan era and better athletes in place to defend him?

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but head to head, I don't think Lebron would appear more athletic than Mike, nor would he dominate him physically.

I think it would be close but I'd give the edge to Lebron in the athletic and physicality columns, just my opinion though and were all speaking in hypotheticals.

My train of thought though is that the athletes just get more athletic from year to year and in my opinion I've never seen an athlete of Lebron's size do the things he is doing on the court with such success against prime competition.

I'm not as versed in the athletes of Jordan's era but I think it would be safe to say that today's athletes are the greatest we've seen and Lebron is the cream of the crop athletic wise.

It's easier to find a 6'6" guard with the athletic ability of a Jordan than it is to find a 6'8" forward with the athletic ability of a Lebron, and I'm not saying it's easy to find either just easier.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

I feel the same way watching Lebron.



So wouldn't it make it more impressive that Lebron is doing similar things to what Jordan is doing number wise while playing against a set game-plan that his been in place to stop superstars since the mid Jordan era and better athletes in place to defend him?



I think it would be close but I'd give the edge to Lebron in the athletic and physicality columns, just my opinion though and were all speaking in hypotheticals.

My train of thought though is that the athletes just get more athletic from year to year and in my opinion I've never seen an athlete of Lebron's size do the things he is doing on the court with such success against prime competition.

I'm not as versed in the athletes of Jordan's era but I think it would be safe to say that today's athletes are the greatest we've seen and Lebron is the cream of the crop athletic wise.

It's easier to find a 6'6" guard with the athletic ability of a Jordan than it is to find a 6'8" forward with the athletic ability of a Lebron, and I'm not saying it's easy to find either just easier.

There has not been a 6'6" guard with Jordan's athletic ability since he's been in the league. Don't mistake athletic ability with jumping ability. Look at the whole package: jumping, speed, agility, balance, strength and athletic reaction time. There are some guys who have had jumping ability close to Mike's, but those dudes usually lack in either speed, agility or strength. The two guys closest to Mike's overall athletic package are probably Kobe and Wade, but Kobe lacked the hops and Wade lacks the size.

[BaselineBakes]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

There has not been a 6'6" guard with Jordan's athletic ability since he's been in the league.

I agree 100%

The two guys closest to Mike's overall athletic package are probably Kobe and Wade, but Kobe lacked the hops and Wade lacks the size.

That's my point though, Jordan has peers to his athletic ability at his size, IMO Lebron does not have peers at his size and athletic ability. That's all I'm really saying.

[TMagic]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

Born, what you doing homie?

Quick edit:

C'mon, Born, don't feed into the LeBron vs. MJ thing.

[24]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

I can perfectly understand this if Lebron Stayed with the Cleavland Cavilers and helped build them up until they won a few titles but Lebron is nothing more than a backstabbing moron that will now be playing the role of sidekick instead of hero

[BaselineBakes]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

Born, what you doing homie?

Quick edit:

lol, I'm gonna stop 2, I'm sorry I dragged you into this Born.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

Born, what you doing homie?

Quick edit:

I'm honestly not trying to get into the vs. thing. It's about context and being accurate about the criteria of judgement. As I've said, you simply can't compare Lebron to Jordan, because he hasn't had the time to do those things, and comparing their relative time spent in the league, Lebron doesn't enjoy the separation that Jordan did, as an individual player.

It's all about context.

Also, this is Lebron/MJ, which has a few more years before it really gets old. Kobe/MJ is dead and done. It's more people's personal hatred than real basketball talk. Mike/Bron hasn't been quite as corrupted yet.

[RonnieG]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

I agree 100%



That's my point though, Jordan has peers to his athletic ability at his size, IMO Lebron does not have peers at his size and athletic ability. That's all I'm really saying.

The problem is that athletic attributes that apply to football dont necessarily apply to basketball. If you were looking for one NBA player to be an NFL player, it could easily be Lebron. Basketball is a different story though. One of the most underestimated attributes is body control...in air agility. Its not like Lebron is constantly running over people because he cant control his momentum. But still, there are guys who are better at this than him.

[PrettyT11]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

For the record Oscar never says directly that LeBron is better than Jordan. He even mentioned how silly it is to talk about a player legacy while their still playing.

Actually he did. I say the thing on SportsCenter he he said about Barkley saying LeBron would never be MJ and Oscar said so are you saying LeBron isn't as good as MJ. Then the reporter flat out asked Oscar does he think LeBron is better than MJ and his exact words was LeBron is in a class of his own.

[Rocky]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

There has not been a 6'6" guard with Jordan's athletic ability since he's been in the league. Don't mistake athletic ability with jumping ability. Look at the whole package: jumping, speed, agility, balance, strength and athletic reaction time. There are some guys who have had jumping ability close to Mike's, but those dudes usually lack in either speed, agility or strength. The two guys closest to Mike's overall athletic package are probably Kobe and Wade, but Kobe lacked the hops and Wade lacks the size.

I disagree...



But he lacked one very important thing.....heart.

[da ThRONe]

Re: Oscar Robertson says LeBron better than Jordan...

I disagree...



But he lacked one very important thing.....heart.

Some people are riding the Jordan bandwagon way too hard. There are plenty of player with Jordan like talent. It wasn't Jordan talent that separated MJ from other people. It was more his work ethic and will.