Why the Michael Jordan vs Lebron James Debate is over

Pippen takes it to Jordan Michael challenges and hits and he wasn't there Michael in a bar with Los Angeles Hey guys, this is Dominique Wilkins, this is sh, this is Gary PT, this is Basol fans, what's up with this See Carter? Hello what's going on? I'm Matt Bars. If you're an old school NBA fan like me, be sure to check out the Basketball Time Machine with my friend Sea Davis. Hello, good morning everyone, how is he doing? My name is Shawn David and I. welcome back to the basketball time machine your weekly notes of old school NBA basketball in today's episode I want to give you my personal opinion on why the

debate

between Michael Jordan and LeBron James over who is the goat has no no point in my opinion but before we start with that let me ask you a small favor, please subscribe to the channel and like the video if you enjoy the content, okay guys let's go for it.

LeBron James is on the Mount Rushmore of basketball, one of the greatest. Players who have ever played this sport have undoubtedly exceeded expectations and I have nothing but respect, professor, respect for the greatness of LeBron James. I have told you before that he never was, he never has been nor will he ever be bigger than Michael Jordan. it's not going to happen um it's not even a

debate

for me I just think you know we played in different eras he's an amazing player he's one of the best players in the world uh if not the best player in the world uh it HE.

It is a natural tendency to compare eras with eras and this will continue to happen. I'm a fan of yours. I love watching it and playing, but you know, as you can see, our league is starting to expand with very talented players and you. I know, I think it has made its mark and will continue to do so for a period of time, but when the comparisons start I think it is what it is, so I'm pretty sure most of you are waiting for the video where I say. something like hey, you can't compare mistakes, that's why you can't say who is better Jordan or LeBron James and this is where I respectfully have to say the following, first of all, I think you can compare Eros and I know this is probably a very opinion exclusive and I'm pretty sure not everyone will agree, but again, this is my personal opinion and please hear me out now.

I think when you watch NBA basketball for 30 years, 40 years or even 25 years or something like that, you basically gain a lot of knowledge and if you really study the game you can see that certain things develop certain habits and don't tell me for example that you don't agree. Agree on the following: Would you agree that today's NBA players shoot basketball better? In my opinion, it's a clear yes. I think the overall basketball player in today's game is a better shooter. Well, the emphasis in training and in games with shooting is much greater if you watch videos of NBA practices and stuff or listen to interviews.

Players today don't practice the same way they used to in the '80s and '90s, they shoot more and work on their form and stuff, so it's natural that certain things once you practice them more than in the past. They become better than in the past, so for today's players, a better shooter is a better defender in today's game. I would say no and I can explain even to you new school NBA fans. I can explain why defense now has a lot to do with mental attitude and just your Generally speaking, how you approach the game in those days, especially in the 80s and 90s, the game was much more defensive minded, which It means that the players were saying and this is no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, to attack the players today, but the players were a little more proud of their defense, which means no one wanted to be embarrassed, the players had more of this mentality like Hand and Hand, man on man, um, I don't want this guy to score a goal, they would take it personally if someone dunked on them or shot a basket at them. and even those, oh good example, like store lockers in the past, there were guys who disputed dunks much more frequently than today, not because the players were not afraid of appearing on a poster, of course, the players were not they liked it. be on a poster in the past, but it was more about pride and mentality and today the game is much more offensive-minded, which means that players prefer to score than defend and, for me, it is a clear case that defense It is much weaker today, so I think it is easy, it is not easy, but it is not that difficult to compare eras.

I can see things that are better today and things that were much better in those days, when we talk about Michael Jordan and LeBron James and compare certain things now. The only thing when it comes to who is the best offensive player to me, it's not even a question for those of you, for the younger ones who haven't watched NBA basketball in the past or who have never played basketball, um, yeah . In today's game, ball handling is much better and players can handle the rock much crazier than in the past, but I'll tell you what would happen if these players today had the hand movement and the same defense as the boys of yesteryear had.

They wouldn't be doing all those crazy moves today either. Everybody who played basketball in that era knows that when you get hit on the hand and you really have someone penetrating you defensively and really harassing you, it's hard to make certain moves and Michael Jordan. In those days, manual control was very difficult to score. Every team had at least one or two blockers, so we're talking about huge behemoths whose main job was to be the anchor on defense to kill everyone who did. It was penetrating the paint and I have a very interesting fact for you.

If you go to Basketball Reference.com and check how many blocks per game the average NBA player had in the '80s and '90s and compare it to today's NBA, I can tell you the difference is that big. Back then you had guys who blocked. um, I had five blocks a game, five blocks a game, five blocks, four blocks a game and now you, the best shot blocker, are averaging like 2.5 blocks, why? they're not true rim protectors and Jordan used to score with those rim protectors all the time on Alonzo Morning Patrick euwing David Robinson Shaquille O'Neal um Patrick Ying Robert Paris all those guys so something else offensively um we don't have to talk about the fact that LeBron James' body is like the NBA's best friend of all time, without a doubt, and I know that sometimes I seem like I don't like LeBron James.

I don't dislike the guy. I think he's a phenomenal player, but for me. It always bothers me if people say he's better than Michael Jordan because that to me always indicates that you haven't really seen Jordan play, you haven't studied the game carefully, so another little thing, this is for you hardcore fans who really study. game, in those days you also had the No Easy Basket rule, which means that even when a player goes to the basket and you already know that he will shoot the ball and score, you would still foul him. contest the shot, commit a foul, try to block it, you make life difficult at least two or three times a game nowadays, you see that players don't do that anymore if someone passes you and they are about to score a layup. or make a basket, you just leave them, you just leave them, you don't even contest them, so you allow players to have another two, four, six points that you didn't have back then, in general, offensively, if you have a player like Michael Jordan , who averages between 30 and 37 points per game in an era when there were many more obstacles on defense in a defensive-minded game, we don't have to talk about LeBron James in today's game he still averages 25 points per game, it is a big defensive difference now before we get there.

As for the defensive part, another thing that's always interesting to me and something that a lot of people overlook is that a lot of people say yeah, LeBron James is the leading scorer of all time and all that stuff, which a lot of people forget and I don't. I don't understand why they have to remember that Michael Jordan didn't just retire in his prime to sit out a year and a half to play another half year where he averaged like 26 points where he just wasn't in basketball. in shape, but you also have to remember that when he retired for the second time he had a three-year break, he came back and still averaged more than 20 points now, of course, LeBron James is sensational because he still averages more than 20 points at almost the age 40 years old, but Just imagine what Jordan would have been like if he had retired, if you have a three-year break from a sport and come back, there is no way, especially when you are that age. that you can recover uh or uh uh recover to the same level is impossible the fact that Jordan was still able to average over 20 points after a three-year layoff when he was in his mid-30s is incredible and there's not even a question if Jordan would be the leading scorer of all time if he hadn't retired, so just from a logical standpoint, Jordan retired missed three and four and a half seasons.

LeBron James entered the NBA earlier and is playing in a defensively weaker era, of course he holds the scoring record. about Michael Jordan anyway defensively pretty easy pretty short how many Defensive Player of the Year awards did LeBron James win yes none Jordan one great one was that it was something typical for the shooting guard in the past no in the past the guards didn't do it or the guards in They generally didn't win the award, that's often almost never, so, uh, LeBron James, in his 30s, defensively challenged the best player on the opposing team, no, barely and yes, it also has something to do with the coach. the coach's strategy is that Jordan really wanted to have the best player even though he had Scotty Pippen on his team, yes, and yet they were fighting over who could defend the opposing team's best player, yes, Jordan was a very defender better and if you're looking at the complete basketball package of Michael Jordan and LeBron James Michael Jordan, especially since the defense is the most complete player now receiving praise.

Yes, LeBron James made the finals that many times and yes, LeBron James won a couple of championships, but LeBron James made the finals that many times because he was playing in the weakest era of the Eastern Conference, the Eastern Conference teams were terrible in their period and it's not LeBron James' fault, but it's just the fact that the teams were terrible. It wasn't that hard to get to the finals, you had like two, three teams that you had to get out of the way and in the Jordan era, I'm sorry, but you had at least five or six teams that you really had to beat, yeah , and then those years where LeBron James won the championship, please just look at how many allars he had on his team.

Yes, LeBron James is the greatest recruiter of all time, but if he builds up his team like that, I'm sorry, his championship doesn't have the same value. If you only have one other Allstar on your team, that's why, for example, I also love Dirk Nitzki for his 2011 championship, that championship to me really counts double, because because Jerk was the only Allstar on the team, that's how an NBA championship is won. you're either the main character or you have a sidekick but that's it and LeBron didn't do that so to sum up as a basketball fan and someone who really tries to be OB, I've done it even though I'm a Jordan fan yeah , of course. but believe me, if there was someone who was clearly better than Jordan, I would say it, yeah, I mean, there's no reason to lie, but to even think that LeBron is on the same level for me, I'm sorry, you didn't see Jordan just like that.