Man I can't stand Lebron James

I just wanted to say that. Long live Michael Jordan. 6-0 NBA Finals. 6 time Finals MVP. NEVER ALLOWED a game 7. Don't worry. Your place as the greatest of all time is still very safe.

 

A bunch of noobs I work with think Lebron AND Kobe are both better than MJ. It's really sad.

 

I know man. I love Tim Duncan. The NBA has been a joke since Jordan left pretty much. I'm glad I got to grow up in an era where they actually played the game like it should be. They played team ball. They played defense. They didn't just launch 3s and try to out dunk eachother. MJ even said once that he feels like a whole generation of kids missed the point with him. He said that all they wanted to do was learn to dunk and never learn the fundamentals of the game. MJ was awesome on d. He could shoot free throws. He could get his team involved. He could never be stopped when it mattered. He played in an era where the league was MUCH more competitive and he played against some of the all time greats. Remember when they did the 50 greatest players? A lot of them were ones that he competed against and owned over and over. Tim Duncan is one of the VERY few guys that I think could have played in any era and thrived. All these guys putting up crazy stats in the NBA are simply the products of the fact that you can't play defense anymore. Duncan is such a fundamentally sound player.

 

So good to see the TRUE greatest getting some love!

 

Man you homer! LOL. I always hated the Knicks because I loved the Bulls AND the Pacers. I probably despised John Starks the most. Also I thought Oakley was a punk and was always jealous of Jordan in Chicago. My favorite team ultimately is the Rockets because I loved the Hakeem, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Vernon Maxwell, Otis Thorpe, and Rudy T teams. I think it was because when Jordan wen temporarily insane and played baseball the Knicks thought "FINALLY! WE CAN WIN NOW!" but then the Rockets stepped up and beat them. One of my all time favorite rivalries is Reggie Miller vs Spike Lee and the whole CITY of NY. When Reggie hit all those threes and put the dagger in is just one of the most clutch moments in all of sports history. I bet you can't stand Reggie and probably hate me now too. LOL.

 

Those are players I remember well. I use to be a HUGE basketball fan (and not an MJ fan either, sorry BFT) but around the time MJ retired I too basically lost interest in the game. Not because of MJ's departure, but because a lot of those great players back then were all moving along. Allen, Garnet, and Duncan were basically around back then and i'm still surprised to see them playing.

I was always a Dominique Wilkins fan myself. I also liked Alonzo Mourning a lot too.

 

It's like he's flying

 

Its a generational thing, Jordan is who I grew up with. People older than me say Oscar Robertson is the best ever. These kids never saw Jordan play.

Having seen both Lebron and Jordan play, I think Jordan is better, just because he is the better leader and he always knew what to do on the court when it was on the line.

I really can't get behind Lebron though. Like Charles Barkley said, if you are THE GREATEST you don't leave to join up with someone else, they come to you. There are now talks of more NBA stars jumping ship and joining the Heat next year. I think it is bad for the competitive balance of the league.

They will just run rough-shot over a watered down league.

 

Yeah my all time favorite player is Pete Maravich really and I modeled my play after him a lot because I watched that movie "The Pistol" over and over and over. When I was a kid the NBA was so big that I honestly liked basketball better than football in the 90s. The Jordan era really shot basketball through the roof. I had a sweet pair of Jordan's , then the Shaq 1s and 2s, then the Penny Hardaway 1s. Those things were AWESOME! My buddy wanted them so bad but his mom got him the Jason Kidd's (which were also cool) and he was so jealous because I was the only kid in school that had them. Ahhh childhood....

 

I really loved Spudd and Muggsy a lot because I'm so short and I used to honestly think that I was good enough to be in the NBA when I was like 13 and people would say "but you're too short" and I would say " well Spud and Muggsy made it!!" That's pretty good logic for a kid. LOL.

 

Sorry, BFT, I don`t know much about basketball...
Never been a sport I followed much.
I agree LeBron, is not better than Jordan, but he has never said he is...
He just ASPIRES to be ONE of the best to ever play the game.
Then, why, you may ask, do I rush to his defense, in a thread about a sport I really couldn`t care less about???
Because he is a hometown boy, for me, and I got his back!
There are PLENTY of haters, here, too, after he left Cleve for Miami!
He is public enemy number 1, in a LOT of the local fans` eyes...
Ya wanna hate on him, along with everyone else? Be my guest....
But know this...
I pre-judged him, comin outta St. Vincent St. Marys(local high school), as "The Chosen One".
I was complaining about him signing million dollar endorsement deals with Nike, before he even stepped foot in the NBA...
Actually hoping he would get a dose of "humble pie", when he started playing with the big boys, and not just dominating kids that were just over half his size, when he was in high school.
You wanna know what changed my mind about him?
When he has CONSISTENTLEY given back to the community he grew up in.
Not, just little token gestures, but has sponsored a yearly bike ride for kids in that neighborhood, about 30 a year, who all get new bikes, after they ride them in the event...(That he personally participates in, and invites fellow NBA players to be there with him)...
Giving almost a million dollars to his old high school, to renovate the gym he played in, that was sadly out of date...
Giving hundreds of thousands of dollars, to renovate, or build new, outdoor basketball courts/parks, in the inner city area he was raised in... etc,etc,etc...
In short... He PROVED ME WRONG... I thought he was just gonna be another spoiled, egotistic, superstar, like so many in the NBA(or any other sport), are...
But his actions have shown otherwise. So, I will come on here, and defend him against all the hate.
He does many other things for kids around here, in the name of his foundation, that I don`t even know all the details of...
So, if you wanna just continue to hate on him, based on your perception from the national media coverage of him,
By all means, feel free to do so...(And join MOST of his hometown)...
I just thought I would point out some of the things you may not realize.
And even tho I`m not much of a basketball fan... I will point out, that I think you are mistaken about his game being based on self glory, and dunking.
A HUGE part of his game has always been his skill at reading a defense, and passing to an open teammate.
Even when some analysts are saying he should shoulder more of the load, himself.
I won`t say he is as good as MJ, and neither will he... But he is certainly not, "overrated", or "overhyped".
He is truly 1 of the best 3 players in the game, right now, and probably one of the best ever!
And he definitely knows what`s important, and how to conduct himself off the court, which is more surprising to me, given where he comes from, and how a lot of players with less skill, live their lives, and let their ego`s get out of control.
As far as I`m concerned... "Long Live King James"!!!!*(And remember, I was his harshest critic, coming out of High School).

 

Ya know I really thought about asking you about him since I knew you were from the same town as him. My criticism of him is totally based on the game itself. Also I found him to be totally self aggrandizing for that whole espn thing where he made his "announcement". I'm not saying that he's not a good player. I'm just saying that he's no Mike and that he plays in an era of NBA basketball where defense is even more worthless than it has became in the NFL. If Jordan had played under Lebron and Kobe rules there's no telling how many more points he would have. That's all I'm saying. But I don't blame you for defending your hometown guy either.

 

Yeah, that whole "The decision" thing was a huge mistake, and he later admitted as much.
Live and learn...

 

The thing about Jordan is he was never as much of a ball hog as Kobe in his later years. He often was willing to pass, and he often toyed with teams until the 4th quarter where he then decided to go for the kill. If Jordan wanted to he could have put up 60-80 point games on a more consistent basis just like Kobe, but he never felt the need to.

 

I've thought about this before. If you look at Kobe's attempts vs Jordan's I bet Kobe's are astronomically higher.

 

I love LJ because of the way he crapped on the whole city of cleveland and then went on to get some rings while cleveland still has no major sports championships. If Cleveland would ever win a major championship the world will be worse off.