Before there was Lebron, did you know there was Michael Jordan 🏀 Who has more of an impact to you?

[SabinaV]

[abc3643]

Jordan of course. There's really no comparison.
Jordan is the greatest competitor of all time.

Jordan had food poisoning and still played in the NBA finals.
LeBron took himself out of an NBA finals game in San Antonio because it was too hot for him.

LeBron had "The Decision"... completely classless. Jordan would never have done anything like that.

=============
However, this question avoids the REAL most important guy...
THE DOCTOR.
Julius Winfield Erving III aka "Dr. J."

Without Jordan, there is no LeBron.
But without The Doctor, there is no Jordan.

Without The Doctor, the ABA-NBA merger does not happen.
Without The Doctor, there's no 3-point shot.
I could go on and on...
Simply, without The Doctor, there is no modern NBA or big shoe deals or TV deals or WNBA or anything else.

Trust him... He's a doctor...

https://www.youtube.com/embed/BBnXrRfOEyM

[abc3643]

I saw The Doctor when he was with the New York Nets in the old ABA.
He was my hero and his existence went a long way toward helping white kids like me who grew up in all-white (and silently racist) communities to not become racists.

[abc3643]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwXf0EQLhU

[abc3643]

From the First Slam-Dunk Contest, 1976... at the 1976 ABA All-Star Game.
(Notice: A B A... not N B A...)
Watch The Doctor dunk from the foul line...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRw-mN-fiAk

[abc3643]

This should be a poster in every church of basketball on Earth:

[abc3643]

MICHAEL JORDAN ON THE DOCTOR:
thesportsrush.com/.../

“The first person I saw was Julius Erving in the NBA. He brought so much creativity to the game. Under the hand against the Lakers, behind the basket, we all tried to do it once he did it. I guess I would have never had those visions if I hadn’t seen Dr. J in his time.”

“He played above the rim, around the rim, and underneath. You know, he did a lot of different things and you have to give credit to the doctor.”

[ZackBan]

You can split the demographic into 2 groups on this one.
Anyone who was old enough to watch MJ in the 90's will never accept that lebron is the GOAT. And anyone who followed lebron's career growing up will never pick MJ.
The thing is both were way ahead of their times, played at an unmatched level.

As much as people like to make comparisons , pippin, barkley, even magic didn't hold a candle to mike and KD, Harden, Curry, Paul George, Kawhi... don't hold a candle to Lebron.

As for the GOAT in my opinion it's a progressive thing and each was the goat in his time but since lebron took MJ's game and improved it he stands today as the greatest basketball player of all time. And him admitting that doesn't make it any less true.

One day, after lebron has moved on from the game, a kid will come up and take basketball to the next level and that kid will be the GOAT as once again evolution goes forward not backwards.

But today it's Lebron James

[abc3643]

LeBron is not the GOAT and that should be intuitively obvious. You are not aware enough of history, that's all.

2014 NBA Finals
Miami Heat loses the series to San Antonio Spurs
Game 1 in San Antonio - Miami loses to San Antonio. LeBron takes himself out of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoKJg1Uq2ps

1998 Finals
Utah Jazz loses the series to the Chicago Bulls for the 2nd year in a row
Game 5 in Utah - The Flu Game (really, the deliberate food poisoning game...)
Despite puking his brains out and having a fever, Jordan played, 38 points, in this pivotal game leading the Bulls to victory.
"Michael Jordan playing on heart and spirit" - Bill Walton
"A courageous, classic performance by Michael Jordan." - Marv Albert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQRTInWWMf8

Bulls would have won 8 championships in a row had Jordan not retired but played full seasons those two seasons away. This is why he comes back with a vengeance in 1995-1996 and the Bulls broke the regular season record for wins in a season.

James may have great numbers, but he's no Jordan. ESPN won't have a 10-part series about James' life like they did about Jordan and the Bulls in "The Last Dance".
(more)

[abc3643]

=========
THE NEW YORK TIMES
CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK

TITLE: In ‘The Last Dance,’ Michael Jordan and the Bulls Still Dominate
SUBTITLE: ESPN’s new 10-part documentary doesn’t ask Big Questions. But it does go big on a team whose personalities and feats warrant just this sort of excess.

By Wesley Morris
May 10, 2020


Caption: Michael Jordan’s brilliance on the court rendered him impervious to overstatement. The new 10-part ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” reminds viewers why.

...
It’s a team that inspired its own commandments: Thou shall not doubt. Jordan’s 15 seasons of brilliance, cunning, ruthlessness, volition, perfectionism and artistry render him impervious to overstatement. He essentialized the sneaker as casual wear and luxury item. He made cause-free celebrity — cause-free black celebrity, no less — seem viable, preferable to having to mean all things to all people. One size had to fit all. Few team players had ever became as rock-star, movie-star famous and with nary a scandal the way Jordan had — almost exclusively through athletic supremacy. There was basketball Jordan and Air Jordan. No athlete anywhere will ever have a mid-motion logo as triumphantly hieroglyphic as his, the silhouette as sentence.
...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIA4cdWHj10

I leave you with "A Spectacular Move" which I saw on TV in 1991 and was blown away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1yNyRwd7w

LeBron's "Spectacular Move" was "The Decision" revealing his move from Cleveland to Miami.
Totally classless. At least he's matured from that, went back to Cleveland, and won a championship for them...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4

[ZackBan]

Don't take this the wrong way but this is exactly the 2 demographic groups I'm talking about.

There's nothing I can say to convince you that lebron is the goat and nothing you can say to convince me otherwise we can only agree to disagree.

[abc3643]

Well, the other demographic is wrong.
Take it from this one who has been a basketball fan for 50 years.

[ZackBan]

I haven't yet lived for 50 years, but with the power of the internet I managed to go over 50 years of basketball.
Sure it's not the same as living it but do not take me for a casual fan, basketball has been my life since puberty.

The thing is in our memories old things always sound better, but if you really put the emotions asside and break down the game you'll realize that modern hoopers are far more advanced than the old ones, perhaps that makes them softer, but they are effective in their own way.

But that's the just the way things work, new generations get inspired from the old, take what was already there and improve on it doesn't sound like a bad thing to me.

[claryy]

I know who they are but they didn't have an impact on me, just because here basketball is not as famous as football (soccer).

[Miristheiss]

I'm a huge MJ fan... if I could be like Mike.
He is my favorite all time player and the best ever, in my opinion.
Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, Bill Russell... those are some from other eras that may be contenders when it comes to the greatest of all time. Lebron is one of the greatest but he is below Jordan to me.

Physically, what he can do with his body he is up there on a level playing field with Jordan... but that next world will to win, making the clutch shot, the clutch steal, get MJ the ball and get out of the way. Just when you know he's going to take the winning shot (and usually hit it) and you've seen it 100 times and you are like "here we go again" he suddenly hits John Paxson or Steve Kerr for the winning shot.

Yes. I know Michael Jordan.

[Miristheiss]

Here is a good snippet of some of MJ at his prime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUo8skGvl-Q

[888theGreat]

Dr J was the best ever , only the kids of today never got to see him play. MTV crowd only know Jordan from all the hype. Again Jordan ranks 147th is shooting , no one ranked 147th in anything should be considered the best.
Lebron shoot much better than Jordan did. He is better setting his teammates up. Jordan only won championships because he had Pippen playing with him. Without Pippen, Jordan wins 0 championships. And Jordan didn't win the most championships either. The most over rated player in NBA history. Media loved him because he was black. Referees gave him calls under pressure by the league. If Jordan missed , he had to be fouled. If he fouled someone , it was a no call. Just the facts people. He only won one championship at UNC with a NBA type roster.
In short study NBA history and you will see many better players that won more championships and shot the ball better than he did.

[NathanDavis]

to put it to rest quick and simple...

Lebron had to call himself "the GOAT" on international paid TV and the internet...

the only reason to try to enforce your own place in history is because... you never really were that... so you just have to market and sell yourself as the idea of that

[FriendlyDrugDealer]

MJ had more of an impact on my childhood because he was inspiring because of his mind was his most dangerous weapon. Not to take credit from lebron, he deserves the respect he has and that’s that.

[Tunasub]

Preach!

[Avicenna]

I was just telling two of the athletes I coach the other day that LeBron couldn’t hold Jordan’s jockstrap, especially on defense.

[ohshee]

For me it's Michael Jordan all the way I still think he's way better than LeBron

[stevie123]

Lebron.
He is a racist that supports criminals more than their victims

[Iron_Man]

Jordans better but before those two
their was Dr. J Julius Erving Played for the Philadelphia 76ers

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Never saw Michael Jordan play in his prime. Only saw a bit of him as a kid. Nevertheless, LeBron James is a better basketball player than Jordan.

[dolemite89]

michael jordan waa the man when i was a kid but even before him there was dr. j tho who was just incredible

[Nephilim000]

Totally knew. I'm ancient

[NYCQuestions1976]

Michael Jordan still has more championships.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

Did Mr. Jordan fake injuries?

[princeofromance]

Jordan by far over James

[Wise4myage]

Jordan.

[Fuentes]

Micheal Jordan lol

[anylolone]

Jordan.

[EaterPeter]

MJ all the way.