MJ: I could beat LeBron 1-on-1 in my prime

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unconventional
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Michael Jordan thinks he could have beaten LeBron James in his prime - ESPN

Jordan said there's a long list of players he would've liked to have played one-on-one -- Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Julius Erving, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Bryant and James.

"I don't think I would lose," Jordan says in the video, before smiling and adding, "other than to Kobe Bryant, because he steals all of my moves."
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And now Heat fans are trashing Michael Jordan to no end. :birgits_giggle:
 
#2
#2
attention_whore3.jpg
 
#5
#5
BigZiti09 said:
Because he always backed it up. He could beat LBJ in his prime. That's what he was best at.... winning.
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It certainly helped that he happened to play at a time when he had effectively zero contemporary rivals.

Jordan was the best basketball player I've ever seen. But man, the mythology about him now is silly.
 
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Vercingetorix said:
It certainly helped that he happened to play at a time when he had effectively zero contemporary rivals.

Jordan was the best basketball player I've ever seen. But man, the mythology about him now is silly.
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Uh, what is silly about it? He's the best basketball player I've ever seen. He had the rare combination of having elite talent/athleticism while also being an overachiever who played his best when it mattered most.
 
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BigZiti09 said:
Uh, what is silly about it? He's the best basketball player I've ever seen. He had the rare combination of having elite talent/athleticism while also being an overachiever who played his best when it mattered most . . . . once the Celtics got old, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson showed up, and the Detroit Pistons ran their course.
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Fyp. :p

I think he's the greatest of all time, but early on especially, he did have his struggles in the playoffs, just like Lebron.
 
#10
#10
BigZiti09 said:
Uh, what is silly about it? He's the best basketball player I've ever seen. He had the rare combination of having elite talent/athleticism while also being an overachiever who played his best when it mattered most.
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At some point the consensus stopped being merely "This is probably best basketball player any of us have ever seen" and veered off into mythology: he always won; he always took the last shot; his teams always won mostly to his sheer iron will. I mean, America even had a semi-serious debate last year (started by Jordan himself, of course) about whether Jordan now, at 50, could go up against LeBron James. It's become silly.

It's too bad Jordan never had a worthy rival. Imagine an 80s NBA in which either Bird or Magic hadn't existed; the other one probably wins five straight titles and becomes the consensus greatest ever. That was the NBA during Jordan's time.
 
#11
#11
I think it's too hard to pick a greatest of all time. Based on the criteria that MJ is judged for, I actually think Magic might win the debate.

Who cares if Jordan can win 1-on-1 games against anybody? That's a completely different game.
 
#12
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Vercingetorix said:
At some point the consensus stopped being merely "This is probably best basketball player any of us have ever seen" and veered off into mythology: he always won; he always took the last shot; his teams always won mostly to his sheer iron will. I mean, America even had a semi-serious debate last year (started by Jordan himself, of course) about whether Jordan now, at 50, could go up against LeBron James. It's become silly.

It's too bad Jordan never had a worthy rival. Imagine an 80s NBA in which either Bird or Magic hadn't existed; the other one probably wins five straight titles and becomes the consensus greatest ever. That was the NBA during Jordan's time.
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I agree with everything in your first paragraph, but it doesn't matter to me that he didn't have a rival. The league was deep when the Bulls were winning. Definitely the deepest it's ever been as far as bigs go.
 
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#13
Pretty sure I could have taken him when I was in my prime, too. Of course, when I was in my prime, Lebron was about 5 years old.
 
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#14
#14
n_huffhines said:
I agree with everything in your first paragraph, but it doesn't matter to me that he didn't have a rival. The league was deep when the Bulls were winning. Definitely the deepest it's ever been as far as bigs go.
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Who was Jordan's closest peer during that run? Fat Charles Barkley? Karl Malone? Basketball would have been a lot more interesting during that run if there'd been another transcendent player in the league at the time. Hakeem was probably the closest, but he mostly played on otherwise mediocre teams. There weren't any other great teams for the Bulls to go up against during that whole run.
 
#15
#15
Vercingetorix said:
Who was Jordan's closest peer during that run? Fat Charles Barkley? Karl Malone? Basketball would have been a lot more interesting during that run if there'd been another transcendent player in the league at the time. Hakeem was probably the closest, but he mostly played on otherwise mediocre teams. There weren't any other great teams for the Bulls to go up against during that whole run.
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Perimeter Players (Jordan Era)
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
James Worthy
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Dominique Wilkins
Michael Cooper
John Stockton

Perimeter Players (Modern Era):
Kobe Bryant
Dwyane Wade
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
LeBron James
Danny Granger
James Harden
Derrick Rose
Russell Westbrook


Big Men (Jordan Era):
Shaquille O'Neal
Hakeem Olajuwon
David Robinson
Patrick Ewing
Karl Malone
Alonzo Mourning


Big Men (Modern Era):
Tyson Chandler
Roy Hibbert
Dwight Howard
Andrew Bynum
Marc Gasol
Pau Gasol



Some others Jordan played against.
Julius Erving
Scottie Pippen
James Worthy
Penny Hardaway
Glen Rice
Mitch Richmond
Shawn Kemp
Larry Johnson
Larry Nance
 
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#16
#16
Vercingetorix said:
Who was Jordan's closest peer during that run? Fat Charles Barkley? Karl Malone? Basketball would have been a lot more interesting during that run if there'd been another transcendent player in the league at the time. Hakeem was probably the closest, but he mostly played on otherwise mediocre teams. There weren't any other great teams for the Bulls to go up against during that whole run.
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Jordan's Bulls won all the championships. If Barkley, Malone, Ewing, etc. had won multiple titles then you would consider them transcendent. They didn't win 'cause Jordan beat them. If Jordan had stayed and they won 8 straight, you probably wouldn't be mentioning Hakeem either.

I think the 1993 Suns and the 1996 Sonics are two of the greatest teams of all time. They just ran into a better team.
 
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#17
#17
Trying not to be a homer (and failing) I think drexler was probably the best Jordan went up against in his career as far as guys he'd go up against directly.
 
#18
#18
Just to add to the discussion.

Rare Michael Jordan interview from 2000 (toughest player to guard, best defender)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Quote:

Q: "Who would be on your all-time greatest team of NBA players?"

A: "Other than myself (he smiled), I would take Magic Johnson at point guard and Jerry West at the two (guard). Then I'd have Larry Bird and Kevin McHale (at forwards) and Hakeem Olajuwon (at center)."

Q: "What's your favorite color?"

A: "Blue (North Carolina, no doubt)."

Q: "Who's the best defensive player you ever played against?"

A: "Joe Dumars — he was the toughest guy for me to drive by"

Q: "Who was the hardest guy for you to guard?"

A: "Probably (Damon) Stoudamire"

Q: "Why did you retire?"

A: "There were no other challenges"

Q: "Will you ever play in the NBA again?"

A: "No"

Q: "Have you ever played (Vince) Carter 1-on-1 and can you beat him?"

A: "Do you think he can (beat him 1-on-1)?"

Someone had the audacity to shout "Yes!"

Kids say the darndest things, don't they?

"Well," Jordan said, a sly smile growing slowly wider, "I guess we'll never know, will we?"
 
#19
#19
knucklehead_vol said:
Perimeter Players (Jordan Era)
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
James Worthy
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Dominique Wilkins
Michael Cooper
John Stockton

Perimeter Players (Modern Era):!
Kobe Bryant
Dwyane Wade
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
LeBron James
Danny Granger
James Harden
Derrick Rose
Russell Westbrook


Big Men (Jordan Era):
Shaquille O'Neal
Hakeem Olajuwon
David Robinson
Patrick Ewing
Karl Malone
Alonzo Mourning


Big Men (Modern Era):
Tyson Chandler
Roy Hibbert
Dwight Howard
Andrew Bynum
Marc Gasol
Pau Gasol



Some others Jordan played against.
Julius Erving
Scottie Pippen
James Worthy
Penny Hardaway
Glen Rice
Mitch Richmond
Shawn Kemp
Larry Johnson
Larry Nance
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting this... jordan went up against some of the all time greats.. hall of famers.. the league wes deep, and jordan crushed them all.. now I like lebron, but the league is so watered down, who does he really have to go up against? An aging Bryant?? Dont forget, jordan went against him to..I think jordan in his prime would school lebron, and it wouldn't even be close.. lebron doesn't have that, step on your throat and keep it there till you almost pass out attitude, jordan did...
 
#21
#21
Funny that MJ mentions Dumars in that interview. I remember him saying Jeff Malone was the guy he hated to face more than anybody.
 
#24
#24
LeBron would destroy him. He's got three inches, faster, more athletic, and more importantly 40-50 lbs
 
#25
#25
Let's see what this list of "Jordan Era perimeter players" looks like without all the guys who were washed up by the time Jordan's string of championships got rolling:

knucklehead_vol said:
Perimeter Players (Jordan Era)
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
James Worthy
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Dominique Wilkins
Michael Cooper
John Stockton
Click to expand...

Obviously there were some great big men during that era, but all of them needed to be paired with a great scorer, and they rarely were.
 
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