LBJ vs JORDAN ESPN INSIDER article.. someone please post! no need to comment on who is better

At first I thought it was a photograph but I realized it was a painting after close inspection. Cool nonetheless
 
Monday, May 18, 2009
Insider Intel: LeBron over MJ

By Luke Cyphers
ESPN The Magazine


After a pair of Game 7 blowouts, it's pretty clear we all need something to talk about beyond "Wow, the Lakers were taller" and "TheCeltics sure looked tired." We're here to help. On this rare NBA off day, we bring you a little conversation starter:
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[/td] [/tr][tr][td][font=verdana, arial, geneva]After six seasons, no one wants to get in LeBron's way.[/font][/td] [/tr][/table]
Who is/was better at this stage of his career, LeBron James or Michael Jordan?

We realize we tread on sacred ground here. Nobody has matched Jordan for an entire career, by almost any measure. But it's important to note that thelegend of MJ owes as much to his six NBA titles as to his highlight reels, and that he didn't earn one until his seventh season in the league.

So we start at the beginning, with the most-self-serving-yet-most-repeated-on-talk-radio statistical analysis in the history of sports, the Terry Bradshaw RingTest. By that measure, which states that a superstar's worth is solely defined by how many pro championships he's won, neither LBJ nor MJ was verygood through the sixth season of their respective careers. Certainly they're not KobeBryant (three titles) or Tim Duncan (two). Hell, they're not even Beno Udrih (two).

After that, things grow murkier, with arguments either way. Check out this comparison of their first six seasons, courtesy of basketball-reference.com:

Jordan comes out as a better scorer and defender (at least by the measure of steals), and James a better rebounder, passer and, surprisingly, outsideshooter (at least from outside the 3-point line). Going deeper into Basketball Reference's numbers using Dean Oliver's win-shares metric, the argumentgrows still more complex:

Overall, Jordan has accumulated more win shares, thanks largely to his edge in point production. But it turns out that, despite an early reputation as anaïf learning to play D, James has been a better defensive "winner." A curiosity in all this is one stat sometimes overlooked in Jordan careerretrospectives: durability. Through six seasons, MJ played 50 fewer games than LBJ. Almost all of that owed to a foot injury in Jordan's second year, butLBJ's minutes per game are higher for most of his early years:

A look back at Sam Smith's "The Jordan Rules" shows that MJ believed he wore down late in seasons and wanted to add strength to his post-upgame. So he began seriously lifting weights, for the first time, in his seventh year, 1990-91, coinciding with his first title. Even though James was two yearsyounger than MJ was when each entered the league, he grew up in a more fitness-crazed era, in a football-crazed state, where serious weight workouts were partof a high school athlete's routine. James has accelerated his training as a pro, adding more mass and explosiveness to his already unfair physique.
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[/td] [/tr][tr][td][font=verdana, arial, geneva]The Pistons physically punished Jordan early in his career.[/font][/td] [/tr][/table]
And therein may be the final argument for LBJ, at least so far. Michael struck fear into opponents -- a fear of embarrassment. His incredible quickness andagility could land you on the wrong end of a poster, sure. But tougher to take was his ruthless competitiveness, which he used to humiliate opponents (and ifthe Rodney McCray stories are true, eventeammates).

James inspires a different fear, the kind in which a player is scared for his own physical well-being. His combination of speed, bulk and explosivenesshasn't been seen since, well, ever. The Pistons beat up the young Michael Jordan in the playoffs. If you were quick enough to get in front of him, youdidn't fear taking a charge. But who, seriously, would stand in the way of James at full tilt on a breakaway dunk?

Six seasons into his career, James inspires a kind of awe that not even early MJ possessed -- that of a man playing a different sport than everybody else,something akin to Lawrence Taylor or Jim Brown on a football field.

Of course, beginning with his seventh season, Jordan built his own aura with his six titles. And that aura is unlikely to be surpassed as a complete body ofwork. Unless, of course, LeBron wins a ring this year and hauls in five more.

Maybe there is something to that Bradshaw stat.

Luke Cyphers is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.

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@ no one posting the article.

I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's because the arguments for Mike, are arguments for Kobe.
 
Jordan had backround players to give him points game after game.

And look at lebron. No role/consistant players to do that.


Plus lebron is still in his prime. you can compare him to Jordan just yet. Maybe in a few more years. but right now. nope...
 
James a better rebounder, surprisingly, outside shooter (at least from outside the 3-point line)
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But it turns out that, despite an early reputation as a naïf learning to play D, James has been a better defensive "winner."
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Six seasons into his career, James inspires a kind of awe that not even early MJ possessed -- that of a man playing a different sport than everybody else, something akin to Lawrence Taylor or Jim Brown on a football field.
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that article is a bunch of crap... at this point in their careers... Lebron is a better passer, and might be a better rebounder... that's it
 
It's really not that preposterous. Jordan was a human being - he wasn't a God.

If LBJ can consistently be as good as he is now for his entire career, win 5 or 6 titles and hit a good number of game winners it's not out of thequestion.

But this discussion is pointless until James has retired. Similarly Kobe, it's wrong to compare him to Jordan until he's retired and his whole careercan be compared to MJ's.
 
Originally Posted by ericberry14

James a better rebounder, surprisingly, outside shooter (at least from outside the 3-point line)
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But it turns out that, despite an early reputation as a naïf learning to play D, James has been a better defensive "winner."
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Six seasons into his career, James inspires a kind of awe that not even early MJ possessed -- that of a man playing a different sport than everybody else, something akin to Lawrence Taylor or Jim Brown on a football field.
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that article is a bunch of crap... at this point in their careers... Lebron is a better passer, and might be a better rebounder... that's it




word...i stopped caring after he said already a better shooter than jordan
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Jordan had backround players to give him points game after game.

And look at lebron. No role/consistant players to do that.


Plus lebron is still in his prime. you can compare him to Jordan just yet. Maybe in a few more years. but right now. nope...
outside of pippen...mike only had role players who knew their roles...those bulls team werent necessarily deep and jordan scored like more thanhalf of his teams points...dont you guys remember those pie charts of the bulls scoring that nbc would do?...background players?...who luc longley?
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big z was a legit all-star with Lebron...so hes consistant and look big benwas a defensive player of the year no hes no slacker...other than pip who was the other all-star with mike?
 
We'll have to wait & see for LBJ to prove himself worthy of standing next to the GOAT.... Too early to tell yet.
 
If he gets in this dunk contest, wins it, gets about 6 Bill Russel awards, DPOY,and leads the NBA multiple, double figure times and averages about 30PPG. inhis career
but, he already failed to do something MJ did; go 6/6 in the Finals
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those bulls team werent necessarily deep and jordan scored like more than half of his teams points.


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Yea you're right, the Bulls had a bunch of nobodies and MJ scored MORE THAN HALF OF HIS TEAM'S POINTS.
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If you wanna talk about MJ and Pip combined being half the team's points, then yea.
 
It's absurd to say Bron is a better shooter from distance AT THIS POINT?

considering...

17%
16%
18%
13%
27%
37%
31%
27%

those numbers were MJ's for his first 8 years from behind the arc.

Ya, laughable.

..
LeBron is no MJ, and may never be....but just posting
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's....without knowing is
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