I was once on the LeBron hype train even after his 2011 collapse which in the eyes of many immediately disqualified him from ever reaching Jordan level. Whether we want to
give LeBron a pass for not having a deeper team than the Mavericks or just not having enough firepower to combat the Durant-Curry lead Warriors, a loss is a loss.
Me personally I would only give him a legitimate excuse for 2007, LeBron was still a rising superstar but did not have a cast capable of competing with the legendary trio of Duncan,Parker, and Ginobili who were at the peaks of their respective careers. 2018? Sure Kyrie asked out but blame LeBron for not choosing to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers going into the 2016-2017 season. Anyways enough about LeBron’s past Finals, as a basketball player fundamentally LeBron pails in comparison to Jordan.
Watching Jordan on the court was so magnetic, his footwork and the way he positioned and moved in the post in my opinion can only be rivaled by Hakeem and maybe Kobe and McGrady himself. Jordan combined speed,an explosive first step which left opposing defenders on their knees. Watching LeBron over his career, mentally he checks out when he sees there is no hope. Jordan embraced failure and LeBron runs from it that’s the difference, Jordan would miss 4-5 shots in a row and keep shooting until he caught a rhythm.
LeBron once worked out with Hakeem and he looked nowhere near as fluid as Hakeem when he backed Hakeem down and went the opposite direction. His upper and lower body looked stiff compared to Kareem, fundamentally Hakeem said it himself LeBron is not in Jordan’s league when it comes to fundamentals,mechanics, and footwork.
If LeBron had a more refined post game he would have been able to attack Golden State’s defense at will and not turn the ball over, Jordan and Irving defeat the Warriors 2017 because Jordan did not allow his teammates to slack off on defense and no way Jordan lets Durant dribble up the floor for 2 consecutive seasons for 30 foot 3’s to wrap up a championship.
Durant is a great scorer but he’s not Jordan physically and does not have Jordan’s mentality. Durant’s move to Golden State was weak in my opinion but he took care of business on the Warriors and was the best player on the court for those 2 Finals victories so it’s all good with me. I’d put Durant over LeBron at the moment until LeBron shows me he can beat Durant in the Finals. I am not bashing LeBron by any means but his motor defensively is not what it used to be, if he is the GOAT there is no excuse for him to not reach 6 rings playing with Anthony Davis.
So let’s expand on that, could you imagine if Jordan was able to play with a scorer like Kyrie Irving floor spacer like Kevin Love? Or Dwyane Wade who is a top 5 shooting guard all-time and the closest we’ve seen to a prime Michael Jordan? Kyrie,Wade, and Davis are elite superstars and so was Pippen but LeBron has had the luxury to choose what superstar he wants to play with.
To conclude, I comprehend it’s a different era with different rules and there is much more player movement now but LeBron should not be 3-6 in the Finals. You give Jordan all the cast LeBron has had, he’d be 8-1.
D-NBA 