Bo knows and the Greatest of All Time

When did James ever average 3.2 per game in a season? Or 2.9?

You can have James. Give me Jordan.

 

You realize that, of all the stats in basketball, "steals" is among the emptiest, or at very least, much less of a gauge on actual performance than just about anything else?

Also, let's add that while Jordan averaged more points per game, both he and James are about equal as shooters, with James being slightly better from beyond the arc. James is also the better rebounder and "floor general," and is by far the less selfish player of the two.

James has the choke jobs in the playoffs, there's no doubt about that. But, he physically can do anything Jordan did, and is two inches taller and 50 pounds heavier.

James can play all five positions. Jordan couldn't.

 

Steals. That's what you're going on. Steals.

 

Well, championships are not allowed, I guess.

 

Agree totally. But many (not yourself) throw about the "Bo was a great baseball player" line with impunity, when in reality he was average, trending toward above-average, when he got hurt, and was below average as a fielder (.962 career FA for a CORNER OUTFIELDER? That's criminal).

Now, coming back and playing with an artificial hip, that was incredible. I certainly will give him that.

 

You're going to have to do better than "Because championships and steals" to convince me.

For the record, here's the Cavs team LeBron carried to the Finals in 2007. I have a hard time believing Jordan could've done the same AT 22 YEARS OLD:

Shannon Brown
Daniel Gibson
Drew Gooden
Larry Hughes
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Damon Jones
Dwayne Jones
Donyell Marshall
Ira Newble
Sasha Pavlovic
Scot Pollard
Eric Snow
Anderson Varejao
David Wesley

 

Never forget, Devil had James traded a month into his Heat days.

 

Bo was never a consistent baseball player, but he did things that I'd never seen before or since. Plays where his freak athleticism took over. You could see that the tools were there. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been a very good-great baseball player had he focused on that sport like Brian Jordan.

 

At four years into his pro career. By Jordan's fourth year, he had won an NCAA championship and an Olympic Gold Medal, where he lead the team in scoring, and in his fourth NBA season, he was the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.

There's no question Jordan was the dominant player of his generation and had a lifetime defining Nike ad campaign.

Lebron is the next generation and still has another decade of games in him. I'd like to see what he does with them before knocking Jordan out of the GOAT.

 

Jay, point taken about the college and international careers.

I'm just flabbergasted at the blinders some people have on, as if Jordan is the ideal that is absolutely unattainable for anyone else. He was the greatest of all time.

But Kobe was a top-5 all time talent too, and LeBron has already surpassed Jordan as a player, just not in accolades yet. But some people refuse to see it.

As a comparison, here's the team Jordan had in his fourth year in the NBA, in which the Bulls won 50 games and one playoff series:

Mike Brown
Dave Corzine
Artis Gilmore
Horace Grant
Charles Oakley
John Paxson
Scottie Pippen
Brad Sellers
Rory Sparrow
Sedale Threatt
Elston Turner
Sam Vincent
Granville Waiters
Tony White

 

Granville Waiters. Never forget Granville Waiters.

 

The competition in the East was a hell of a lot better for those Bulls teams. The east was god awful for those Cavs teams.