Tau837
Footballguy
1. The bolded is irrelevant. What matters is what happened, not what might have happened in alternative time travel scenarios.
2a. Even if Lebron has been the best player in the Finals as many times as Jordan, he wasn't recognized as such. The award matters.
2b. Yes, Jordan was definitely deserving of more MVP awards, most notably in 1988-89 (Magic) and 1996-97 (Malone).
2c. There is no question that Lebron's combination of skill and size is something Jordan couldn't match. IMO it is one of the more interesting things about Jordan that he is generally regarded as the GOAT and achieved that from the SG position at 6'6". Look at the rest of the players most would consider in the top 10. Most are big men (Kareem, Wilt, Russell, Shaq, Duncan, Bird) and/or physical freaks (Lebron, Shaq, Magic). The only other 'smaller' player in typical consideration for the top 10 is Oscar, and his resume pales in comparison to Jordan's and most of the others.
3a. Yes, expansion occurred during Jordan's career, and there is much more international talent in the league today. But when Jordan started there were only 23 NBA teams, meaning the mostly American talent was more condensed. As expansion happened, the expansion teams started out as lousy teams, meaning the conferences/divisions were more top heavy until talent balanced out over time. That would arguably make it harder to make it to the Finals.
3b. Yes, there is a deeper international talent pool in Lebron's era. But that cuts both ways. A deeper talent pool means the competition is better but also means Lebron's teammates are better than they would be if there was less talent.
3c. Bottom line, the aggregate winning percentage of the EC teams Jordan's Bulls defeated in their 6 championship title seasons was better than that of the EC teams Lebron's teams have defeated in his current run of 6 straight Finals trips. Though not by much, so probably not as important a factor as I thought before researching it. I suppose it felt tougher for these reasons:
- Because the brand of basketball played in the East back then was much more physical in comparison to the West, so it felt like a greater accomplishment to get through it.
- It has been very clear during Lebron's run the past 6 seasons that the WC was the better conference. That was not consistently the case in Jordan's career.
- Jordan's Bulls went on to defeat its WC opponent in the Finals all 6 times, including the #1 seed from the West in 5 of 6 of their championship seasons, whereas Lebron's teams are just 2-3 against their WC opponents, including 0-2 so far against the #1 seed from the West.
4. Fair point. It is straightforward to me, since it was my eye test and obviously that post was my opinion.
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