I don't know who is the greatest (I do know MJ was the most transcending) but I do know that LeBron (Please god stop spelling it LaBron) is one of the greatest already.

Lebron is just in his prime now so it's very difficult to accurately place him. He has shown that HE can be the man and bring a team to the championship (did it by himself in Cleveland). He has shown with enough talent he can lead a team to win it all (Miami). He CAN take over a game (you're just bullshitting yourself if you don't agree).

His body, speed and size could be dominant in ANY era. Would have loved to have seen him in the late 80's/early 90s. Then again, I want to see him get multiple rings.

I agree that right now he's not the greatest, yet. Oscar, Wilt, MJ and Kareem all have a say in that. But if he finishes his career the way it has started then I easily think his name will be in the discussion if not in the lead.

Screw that...The Microwave hands down better than the entitled self-crowned King...

SonicHawk wrote:I don't know who is the greatest (I do know MJ was the most transcending) but I do know that LeBron (Please god stop spelling it LaBron) is one of the greatest already.

Lebron is just in his prime now so it's very difficult to accurately place him. He has shown that HE can be the man and bring a team to the championship (did it by himself in Cleveland). He has shown with enough talent he can lead a team to win it all (Miami). He CAN take over a game (you're just bullshitting yourself if you don't agree).

His body, speed and size could be dominant in ANY era. Would have loved to have seen him in the late 80's/early 90s. Then again, I want to see him get multiple rings.

I agree that right now he's not the greatest, yet. Oscar, Wilt, MJ and Kareem all have a say in that. But if he finishes his career the way it has started then I easily think his name will be in the discussion if not in the lead.

You must mean like Grant WistRom and Shawn Alexander.

Bill Russell won even won a ring for one of his big toes, and did it while taking smoke breaks during games.

seahawks875 wrote:
You're saying Lebron can't take a game over, did you see him score 40 against Boston to force game 7 last year, or when he scored 25 straight against Detroit. LeBron can play defense, shoot the 3, play in the post, and is unstoppable when he is driving to the hoop. People that say Lebron isn't the greatest of all time are crazy, and when people said he went to Miami cause he couldn't win a title on his own, no one won a title on thier own. MJ had Pippen, Rodman and Kerr, and one o the greatest coaches ever. Basketball is much better now because everyone is better athletes, Lebron is by FAR the best player ever. I don't think it's even remotely close between MJ and Lebron. MJ would not be as good in today's NBA

Jordan averaged 20 pts. a game as a 40 year old the same year Lebron did as a teenager. Lebron has to keep up his pace for another decade to even be in the conversation. Jordan also three-peated..twice. You talk about James' 40 in game seven? Well, Jordan did that 4 times in A ROW in the finals against the Suns. The Bulls only lost 3 games in the entire playoffs in the 96 season, two of them to the Sonics in the finals where the best player on the floor was....Shawn Kemp.

How about Jordan taking a year and a half off, coming back mid season, then hanging a double nickel on the Nicks in the Garden on his 4th or 5th game back?

Larry, Magic, Ewing, Robinson, Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Payton, Drexler, Miller, Thomas.. How many Hall of Fame players is that? How many of them even got a sniff of a championship when Jordan was playing. Not many and those that did, did so when MJ was trying to play baseball.

James is a great player, but to say he is even close to the GOAT at this point, spits in the face of history.

Maybe one day.

I have always thought comparing different times players is really impossible.

Some want to use stats, others wins/losses, others use other things.

A good example is Gayle Sayers. His stats aren't over the top but when you saw him play it was like day and night with the other players. Many of you have heard me say how fast he was. If he got around the corner and got his shouldere squared up to the sideline it was rare as hell for anyone to catch him even when they had an angle on him. He just seemed to have a couple of more gears than other backs.

At this point in my life comparing all the backs I've seen and that's from Paul Hornung in the 60s to today I'd take Jim Brown of course, Gayle Sayers, O.J.,you know that guy from Detroit, and Adrian Peterson, cause he's the best right now as far as I'm concerned.

So comparing different round ball players is the same deal. I've seen Russell and all the others mentioned here and still think in the 4th quarter give me Jordan everytime.

But basketball has changed so much, in the early years it was the big men that ruled, clear up through Mr. Skyhook himself. But Michael ruled the floor during our time. And remember basketball used to be a team game. Now its alley oops, stuffs, 3 pointers. None of the teams can play the pass the ball 4 times Bob Knight taught. Everyone is trying so hard to be a big man its not fun to watch.

I have coffee a couple of times a week in a large sports bar here and its boring even watching the recap of the nights before bball games. Like I said, no team play at all except alley oops. Everything else is "watch me schred the defense and score all by myself. Watch me dunk, watch me shoot 3 pointers cause I can't run the floor."

Sorry kids, that's where it is.

Remember there was lots of defense played in Jordans day and lots of it him. There is no defense now, its just see me run.

Bird shot the ball from behind the darn backboard! Nothing but net!

The Radish wrote:you know that guy from Detroit,

Jerome Bettis? thats TREASON !!!!

Mike is still the best, no question about it.

m0ng0 wrote:

The Radish wrote:you know that guy from Detroit,

Jerome Bettis? thats TREASON !!!!

Mike is still the best, no question about it.

Not sure but I think I meant Barry Sanders