LeBron James

[The Oi]

Skip was saying a 50 year old Jordan who hasn't played professional ball in 12 years would dominate Lebron....which is just disrespectful anyway you look at it

Eh. Skip is Skip.

He doesn't believe what he's saying and the worst thing that can happen to him is another Richard Sherman situation where one of the guy comes into his house to call him out and Skip out-talks him.

Regardless, everyone in the world knows that current LeBron would demolish current Jordan, including Skip.

Skip also knows saying things like that will get him more clicks.

 

[Chris]

Wasn't Skip saying current though? Which is asinine.

I think prime Jordan wins, but it's very close. He'd post up LeBron and just keep shooting the same jumper over and over to get in LeBron's head and maintain possession. And if LeBron ended up blocking one or two, Jordan would have no problem crossing him up and getting into the lane for some layups and short fades.

LeBron would bull his way into the lane, but I think Jordan could strip him enough times to win.

If they played to 11 five times, I think Jordan would win 3-2 and most games would be within 2-3 points of each other.

Yes, Skip was saying current, and it was the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Which is saying a lot.

 

[The Oi]

Yes, Skip was saying current, and it was the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Which is saying a lot.

I've seen video of Jordan playing against some younger kids and he moves around pretty well, for a 50 year old.

Horrible things would happen to his body if he tried to guard a 30 year old 6'8 260 pounder who can do everything.

The only reason it wasn't a moronic thing to say is that he wasn't saying it because he believed it, but rather because by saying it he makes himself more well known and makes money off of it.

 

[Rainman]

https://youtu.be/rR9pDQoAtjE

 

[Rainman]

 

[Rich]

I always hear about how much tougher defenses were when Jordan was winning titles. Obviously it's tough to compare / contrast, but just to give reference, 15 teams in the NBA gave up less than 100 points per game this year.

90-91: 2
91-92: 3
92-93: 3
95-96: 15
96-97: 23
97-98: 24


I mean were defenses really better in the late 90's than earlier in the decade? Or did offenses just get worse?

I'd also like to see how Jordan's career would have developed in a league where zone defenses were legal.

As far as one on one vs LeBron, i think it's silly to think LeBron would get dusted by Jordan. He's physically superior to Jordan in every way. We're talking about a 6'8", 260/270 pound guy who ran a 4.3 / 4.4 40 at his athletic peak. They'd give each other fits defensively. Jordan would out-finesse him, but LeBron would bully him. It's a lot closer than people think.

Just fine. They've been legal for years and they are used extremely sparingly. They don't work in the NBA.

 

[AZCavs]

Just fine. They've been legal for years and they are used extremely sparingly. They don't work in the NBA.

They weren't legal at any point during his career. The alteration of the illegal defense rules is essentially what's turned the NBA into a jump shooting league. I'm sure he would've dominated, but I wonder if he would've developed the mid range and post games earlier in his career.

 

[Rich]

They weren't legal at any point during his career. The alteration of the illegal defense rules is essentially what's turned the NBA into a jump shooting league. I'm sure he would've dominated, but I wonder if he would've developed the mid range and post games earlier in his career.

I know they weren't legal at any point in his career. But they've been legal for a long time and are used very rarely. Point was that, just like today, if they were legal during his day they would have been used on rare, rare occasion and would have had little impact.

I'd say the league has become more perimeter oriented because there just aren't many skilled post players like there used to be. I don't know why that is, but it's not just an NBA problem. Good, skilled big men are rare in college too.

 

[Paul]

Here's a disturbing stat.

LeBron's FG % this playoffs: 42%
His 2 point FG % : 49%

14.6% from downtown.

So basically if he would just stop shooting 3s he would be doing about as well as he always does..his career 2p FG % in playoffs is 52%.

 

[KI4MVP]

I know they weren't legal at any point in his career. But they've been legal for a long time and are used very rarely. Point was that, just like today, if they were legal during his day they would have been used on rare, rare occasion and would have had little impact.

I'd say the league has become more perimeter oriented because there just aren't many skilled post players like there used to be. I don't know why that is, but it's not just an NBA problem. Good, skilled big men are rare in college too.

There's more to legalizing zone than just allowing people to play a zone. Players can sag off of the guys they are defending, they can double team off of the ball. If a team has a poor offensive player they can basically ignore him. It used to be you had to be within so many feet of the guy you were defending or it was illegal defense. All of that can be done today without actually being in a zone defense but was illegal defense 25 years ago. Today the only illegal defense is to be in the lane for 3 seconds when you aren't covering a player. Today's defenses absolutely take advantage of the rules change all of the time, not just when they are in a zone defense.

 

[Prime 1978]

For everyone talking about not being able to play zone in Jordan's playing days, guys were able to hand check. You'd get guys like Derek Harper who could literally steer an an offensive player with is hands, as long as he didn't make contact with his body.
If you notice, on a lot of Jordan's driving highlights, he's swiping a hand away while driving.

I think the no hand no checking rule change balances out the zone rule in terms of competitive advantage.

 

[KI4MVP]

For everyone talking about not being able to play zone in Jordan's playing days, guys were able to hand check. You'd get guys like Derek Harper who could literally steer an an offensive player with is hands, as long as he didn't make contact with his body.
If you notice, on a lot of Jordan's driving highlights, he's swiping a hand away while driving.

I think the no hand no checking rule change balances out the zone rule in terms of competitive advantage.

Where are these highlights?

The no hand check rule has to be the most overrated rule change in history. Good defenders never depended on hand checking. It was never anything more than a crutch for bad defense. Here is a video of prime Michael Jordan against the bad boy pistons. I don't see a single play where a hand check was used to gain an advantage.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHcG09_kh8


Good teams didn't slow Jordan down by hand checking him. They did the same thing they do to LeBron, throw the whole team at him when he has the ball. Here's another video that shows the knicks defense over multiple games/years against Jordan, this time showing the things they did to make things tough on jordan, where is hand checking being used to slow him?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-qGWkiKvQ

 

[Prime 1978]

Where are these highlights?

The no hand check rule has to be the most overrated rule change in history. Good defenders never depended on hand checking. It was never anything more than a crutch for bad defense. Here is a video of prime Michael Jordan against the bad boy pistons. I don't see a single play where a hand check was used to gain an advantage.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHcG09_kh8


Good teams didn't slow Jordan down by hand checking him. They did the same thing they do to LeBron, throw the whole team at him when he has the ball. Here's another video that shows the knicks defense over multiple games/years against Jordan, this time showing the things they did to make things tough on jordan, where is hand checking being used to slow him?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-qGWkiKvQ

Here's a guy talking about it for 10 mins.
I don't know if you are old enough to remember the games, but anyone who is knows hand checking is a real thing.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMZ1lUz9rI

 

[Bballguy4]

For everyone talking about not being able to play zone in Jordan's playing days, guys were able to hand check. You'd get guys like Derek Harper who could literally steer an an offensive player with is hands, as long as he didn't make contact with his body.
If you notice, on a lot of Jordan's driving highlights, he's swiping a hand away while driving.

I think the no hand no checking rule change balances out the zone rule in terms of competitive advantage.

Hand checking is still going on.

 

[Prime 1978]

Not to the extent back then.
Once a guy is driving, refs tell u to get your hands off of them. It also could be an extended had whereas now the most u can get away with is the forearm.