I was listening to Greeney on ESPN RADIO earlier this morning and his question of the day was “If LBJ wins two more titles to get to six does that make him the GOAT over Jordan?”
First off IMHO if championships are the measuring stick then Bill Russell is the GOAT because the man won 11 out of 13 titles and I believe 8 in a row! Secondly as far as LBJ vs MJ....I always go with Mike because of the one thing he had over LBJ. THAT KILLER INSTINCT! On more than one occasion I have heard LBJ say “I went into chill mode during that third quarter”. Anybody who saw Jordan play knows the Man didn’t have a “chill mode”! He came at you all game long 120%! And my last point in MJ vs Russell vs LBJ is this.....MJ won all six of his titles with one team as did Russell with the Celtics! That means MJ and Bill had stay and play through slumps, rebuilds and additions/substractions to win their titles.
LBJ on the hand, had to team hop to three different teams to win four titles to teams that either had the pieces in place or had to add another superstar. So as much as I like LBJ..MJ to me is the GOAT! And again if titles is only measuring stick then it’s Bill.
1. The "MJ has a killer instinct and Lebron doesn't" argument is incredibly unoriginal, lazy, and just flat out false. On essentially every statistic that you could somewhat gauge "clutchness" (4th quarters, last 2 minutes of close games, playoff "potential final shot in 1 score games, playoff elimination games, playoff closeout games) Lebron thrives in every possible category and thats JUST HIS SHOOTING. I don't have a photographic memory, but I promise you I've seen the graphics on all those categories I've listed and Lebron excels across the board, ranking higher than MJ in some. I also despise the fact that Lebron gets ripped for making perfect basketball reads damn near every-time and willingly giving up the ball to open shooters in final shot opportunities. Like he did when he gave it up to give Danny Green, the teams best 3 point shooter, a shot at NBA immortality (Green misses, Kerr makes, Lebron gets roasted, MJ gets applauded). Forgot the player, but you guys probably know, this happened at the very end of the game in one of the finals losses to the Warriors (K Love maybe?). Granted, I'd take MJ over Lebron for 1 single play to win the game, but it's not by much and very end of game situations are a very small subset of overall greatness.
2. Your last point is just as eye rolling to me as the first one. Like Jordan wasn't universally regarded as a great player who couldn't win at the biggest of stage for MANY years UNTIL he got a championship roster around him, headed by arguably the best #2 option in the history of the NBA with his legendary defense and ability to score/affect games without demanding the ball away from Jordan. You're going to sit there with a straight face and tell me that Jordan, the unworldly competitor that he was, DOESN'T leave Chicago if Pippen didn't come along? As he constantly got squashed by the Pistons and the Celtics for trying to be a one man show. Dude's 100% out the door.
The argument also sucks because you completely discredit the challenges it takes to actually win a title on 3 separate teams with complete roster overhauls. I've just always found it funny that this should be a notch in favor of Jordan when he had the advantages of continuity in their roster/management. Meanwhile, Lebron has to play with the emotional headcase that is Kyrie Irving, and while D Wade is an all time great, he had already passed the peak prime of his career and he's an imperfect fit alongside Lebron. AD is actually the first superstar Lebron has ever played with who complimented his game perfectly. MJ had his perfect running made in Pippen, and the legendary Phil Jax, for all 6 championships.
3. I'll actually give you credit for not being lame enough to use the "Jordan is perfect at 6-0 and Lebron isn't". Another clear illogical conclusion people come to. How Lebron somehow gets discredited for getting further than MJ 4 times. IMO it's Lebron 10, Jordan 6. Also, Lebron is 4-4 in the finals because F KD and the Warriors. Literally impossible.
Btw, I still got MJ in a narrow lead . I just hate these same damn arguments that are completely baseless. If Lebron wins 2 more its Lebron 12, Jordan 6, and the NBA finals would be a push at 6-6.