Official "Will LeBron James be better than Michael Jordan" Thread (and Wilt...)

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by Hyperion

Changing the rules kinda helps too. Lebron is a top 10 all time talent, but he's no Jordan. Have you seen Jordan play in the early 90s? There was a collective hush when he would catch the ball. There was no "when will he put it all together and reach his potential" crap. It was Jordan and then everyone else. At no time in the history of the league has it been dominated by one man so thoroughly.

You're right, he's no Jordan. He's Lebron. And he dominates the game in his own way. No ever dominated basketball like Jordan did, but here's the thing, Lebron's career isn't over yet. It has a long way to go. He's just about to enter his prime and he's dominating basketball in a way that we've never seen anyone dominate it before (although his performance in the all star game might end up killing that entire statement).

And where's all this "when will he put it all together and reach his potential" nonsense coming from? Lebron wasn't doing anything wrong really, when he was in Cleveland he had no back up to make up for his bad games, in Dallas, he ran into a well constructed team defensively and his lack of a consistent jumper cost him and Miami the series. Other than that, Lebron has been dominating basketball for quite a while now, and I'd say it all started in his third year in the league when he was 20 years old and was averaging 30 points per game.

And for the next six or so years, he will continue to dominate the sport.

[Sir Patchwork]

I never understood why LeBron had to win at least 7 titles. Bill Russell was voted the greatest player of all-time at the 35th anniversary in 1980. He has 11 titles.

Did Jordan have to win 12 to eclipse him? No. Arguments can be made for and against Jordan over Russell.

It is completely arbitrary to say a player has to match another great players accomplishments to surpass him. It can be done with any great. Jordan has score 38k points to surpass Kareem as the greatest. Or 6 MVP's. Or average the numbers that Wilt did. This is a fruitless way to compare players.

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by Sir Patchwork

I never understood why LeBron had to win at least 7 titles. Bill Russell was voted the greatest player of all-time at the 35th anniversary in 1980. He has 11 titles.

Did Jordan have to win 12 to eclipse him? No. Arguments can be made for and against Jordan over Russell.

It is completely arbitrary to say a player has to match another great players accomplishments to surpass him. It can be done with any great. Jordan has score 38k points to surpass Kareem as the greatest. Or 6 MVP's. Or average the numbers that Wilt did. This is a fruitless way to compare players.

I....O_O...I actually completely agree with this statement. In fact it's pretty much the best possible argument I've heard so far.

[Diable]

Originally Posted by Sir Patchwork

I never understood why LeBron had to win at least 7 titles. Bill Russell was voted the greatest player of all-time at the 35th anniversary in 1980. He has 11 titles.

Did Jordan have to win 12 to eclipse him? No. Arguments can be made for and against Jordan over Russell.

It is completely arbitrary to say a player has to match another great players accomplishments to surpass him. It can be done with any great. Jordan has score 38k points to surpass Kareem as the greatest. Or 6 MVP's. Or average the numbers that Wilt did. This is a fruitless way to compare players.

I don't want to assign motives to other people, but it certainly appears that these criteria are being made mandatory so that it does not become necessary to acknowledge the possibility that Lebron can pass Jordan. It just seems that some people are determined to dodge the question of who is a better player by resorting to comparing team accomplishments as though it were the exact same thing.

[Jamel Irief]

Originally Posted by Sir Patchwork

I never understood why LeBron had to win at least 7 titles. Bill Russell was voted the greatest player of all-time at the 35th anniversary in 1980. He has 11 titles.

Did Jordan have to win 12 to eclipse him? No. Arguments can be made for and against Jordan over Russell.

It is completely arbitrary to say a player has to match another great players accomplishments to surpass him. It can be done with any great. Jordan has score 38k points to surpass Kareem as the greatest. Or 6 MVP's. Or average the numbers that Wilt did. This is a fruitless way to compare players.

I certainly don't think Lebron has to win 7, but I would say he has to win at least 3 to be considered the greatest ever.

I think pretty much anyone can agree that just one won't cut it.

[Luke]

I agree with that. It's not really a number counting game but he's the best player in the world and has the personnel available, he needs to bring home multiple championships.


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[PauloCatarino]

Originally Posted by Jamel Irief

I certainly don't think Lebron has to win 7, but I would say he has to win at least 3 to be considered the greatest ever.

I think pretty much anyone can agree that just one won't cut it.

thing.

Championships won is one thing.
But what does Lebron James has to do get recognition as Wilt's pair or superior?

[Luke]

Well if you want to play the numbers game like I usually try not to, he's already better if we're speaking about advanced stats and metrics.


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[The Big Dipper]

Originally Posted by PauloCatarino

thing.

Championships won is one thing.
But what does Lebron James has to do get recognition as Wilt's pair or superior?

Average 48.5 minutes a season, 50 points a season, lead the league in assists for a season, have rules changed to stop his domination, break or set 60 records, never foul out of a game, I could go on. Lebron will never touch Wilt no NBA player has come close.

[Diable]

He only needs one more ring to catch Wilt. Aren't you paying attention? Anyone who talks about Wilt's raw numbers and relates them directly to the modern NBA game is begging to get hammered on. No one here is dumb enough to not understand the difference between the numbers put up in that era and the ones which are possible in today's game.

How many points would Lebron average if he took as many field goal attempts and free throws as Wilt did?

[XxIrvingxX]

Originally Posted by The Big Dipper

Average 48.5 minutes a season, 50 points a season, lead the league in assists for a season, have rules changed to stop his domination, break or set 60 records, never foul out of a game, I could go on. Lebron will never touch Wilt no NBA player has come close.

Of course no one is going to ever touch what Wilt has done, he played in a different time period than everyone else. If Wilt played in today's game he would still be great, but his stats would be nothing like the stats he put up when he actually played.

[The Big Dipper]

Originally Posted by Diable

He only needs one more ring to catch Wilt. Aren't you paying attention? Anyone who talks about Wilt's raw numbers and relates them directly to the modern NBA game is begging to get hammered on. No one here is dumb enough to not understand the difference between the numbers put up in that era and the ones which are possible in today's game.

How many points would Lebron average if he took as many field goal attempts and free throws as Wilt did?

RINGS ARE A TEAM ACHIEVEMENT, how do people still not understand this? Wilt is a far superior scorer, defender, rebounder, etc. HOW IN THE FUK IS LEBRON BETTER AT ANY OF THESE?

Anyone who discredits Wilt's numbers and acts like they know about that era are begging to be educated.

With a slower paced game maybe he wouldn't get as many shots but with slacker defenses he could probably get more.

I think he could get close, of course this era will never run and gun like they did in the 60's, not Wilt's fault, but at 7'2" 300 pounds a 6'6" high jump and a 10.9 100 yard dash, along with a 400+ bench. He would ****ing destroy today, so era or not Wilt would own.

I guess you would also discredit, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jim Brown, etc. And Wilt did this with none of the pampering of today's athletes.

So please enlighten me on the era's, or I will help you save face so you don't look dumb. Just call me an idiot, you can escape talking about a point you know nothing about and it won't look like you buckled.

[Diable]

Did you know that Lebron has a higher career average per 36 minute than Wilt does, without going into the issue of the pace of the game being 20% higher during his career.

[The Big Dipper]

Originally Posted by Diable

Did you know that Lebron has a higher career average per 36 minute than Wilt does, without going into the issue of the pace of the game being 20% higher during his career.

Big whoop, Lebron is still playing let's see where it is when his career is over. Wilt stopped being a scorer and began being a defensive anchor in 67 and he still averages more in a career.

I am sure if you took Wilt's first 9 seasons his per 36 would crush Lebrons, even with pace adjusted. Care to go into rebounding or defense or how Wilt led the league in assists?

Of course Lebron is good but unless he stays at this level for the next 5 years with 0 drop off will he even come close to Wilt.

Wilt would regularly destroy the best defensive player ever - Bill Russell. I can go on and on and on.

And I love how you claim that I can't compare Wilt's numbers to today's then you go and try to do it.

Last chance just bow out gracefully man, this could get ugly.

[Norberto]