Scottie Pippen said Jordan can score 100 points in a game in today's NBA

You're really arguing that Malone wasn't Utah's best player?

 

Malone might be better than Stockton, but it is not by much.

Remind me who Jordan stole the ball from before he pushed off for the game-winner in Utah?

I have always felt Malone was less than great in the big games.

 

Chill out, tiger, there's too much hypersensitive defensiveness on this thread. Instead of re-reading, I'll simply re-post. What you actually wrote was this:

Although those words did not state that Barkely was the "only one" athletic enough to cover Jordan, they certainly do convey the impression that you believed him in a mighty small and rare class. The above quoted post merely contested that by pointing out that there were actually "plenty" with athletic ability comparable to Barkley's. Contrary to what you now claim, it did not make the "only" claim.

A list of the defenders who were most adept at covering Jordan would not include Barkley anywhere near it, in no small part because Barkley spent most of his career at the power forward spot, rarely ever guarding the wing, and almost never guarded Jordan during his NBA career. So I'm not entirely sure why his name has been drawn into a discussion of this issue.

 

I think I'd take Stckton over Malone.

 

Paul Pressey! That's another name I should've included in that list of Jordan-era athletic wing defenders. Forgot about him. And, come to think of it, Michael Cooper is yet another outstanding wing defender that probably should've been included. There were a lot of em.

 

Stockton and Malone are 1A and 1B. It's hard to call the all-time assists leader the No. 2 guy and it's hard to call the NBA's second all-time leading scorer the No. 2 guy.

That's not exactly the case with Jordan and Pippen.

 

I find it impossible to determine what either Stockton or Malone would have been without each other. Stockton wouldn't have been as good without a 6-foot-9 power forward who could take it to the hoop and also step out for a 17-foot jump shot, thereby causing a double panic on every pick-and-roll, and Malone wouldn't have been as good without a point guard who could put the ball on his shooting hand every time.

 

Ha. This probably isn't a perfect analogy but Pressey is to Pippen what Connie Hawkins is to Dr. J. Connie was skying with the best of them before Dr. J was ever around, but Dr. J brought it to public consciousness (with the help of ABA showmanship) so he generally gets the credit for revolutionizing the dunk as an art form.

 

Wait you think my conveying that the people who were capable of guarding Jordan was a "small and rare class" is wrong? I don't think I've ever heard the argument that there were a lot of people who could guard Jordan.

And yes I realize Barkley isn't the best example. Never said he was. I just simply said he was an example.

 

Yeah, you were. I didn't want to call you out, but I assumed you were right. I certainly didn't think someone (else, not you) would be so offended by that conclusion. But I guess I thought the Jordan admirers were not as rabid as they were back in the day.

 

Not even in the top 10 of second bananas...

Young Magic (to Kareem)
McHale (to Bird)
Clyde (to Earl)
Earl (to Clyde)
Kobe (to Shaq)
Stockton (to Malone)
Unseld (to Hayes)
Dumars (to Thomas)
Young Kareem (to Oscar)
West to Wilt (just take your pick)
Russell (to Cousy)
Havlicek (to Russell)