I have seen both Michael and LeBron play live and countless times on TV. Yes I was even the moron who watched LeBron play in a televised ESPN2 high school game at famed Pauley Pavilion. In that game LeBron should have received at least three offensive fouls, but he scored 21 points on 8-24 shooting while leading St Vincents to a victory over the then #4 in the country Mater Dei. I said then to a couple of hoopaholics that this phenom out of HS would never be a true force in the NBA. This was the final year HS players could come out and apply for the NBA draft. LeBron went #1 overall to the Cavs which I found hard to believe because Carmelo just won a National Title at Syracuse and went #3 and going #4 and #5 were Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
Well fast forward a few years and LeBron just held the MVP of the NBA to 6% shooting when he guarded him in the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. 6’8″ LeBron can play all five positions if need be. Could MJ do that? LeBron is a monster at his size and I have to believe MJ would have major issues checking him if they went head-to-head.
I know MJ has six rings, but they were in a completely different era. LeBron is the most dominating player I have ever seen and I saw Wilt, Kareem, Jerry West, Magic and Larry in person too.
People like you never cease to amaze me. If Michael Jordan was bigger and stronger than Kobe Bryant (which he was) and Kobe does just fine warding off and defending LeBron in the post, what makes you think the so-called “King” would dominate M.J. who was also a superior defender? I think that’s a ridiculous statement to make considering that LeBron is known for not having a good post up game and Michael Jordan is widely considered as one of the best post players EVER! M.J. was much quicker off the dribble as well as his inside moves, he was a lot more creative with a ridiculous shot selection, his fade away was indefensible and he could easily jump with LeBron with a 48″ verticle leap vs LeBron’s 44″ which everyone marvels over! This is not to mention that guys like 6 ft. 9 and 6 ft. 10 (Magic Johnson and Robert Horry) were impressed by M.J’s strength and said that he was strong like a “big man”. LeBron might have a slight strength advantage but not by much and certainly not enough to dominate Mike in the post and overcome everything else that M.J. had over him. Go back to the 1991 finals where Jordan was guarding a 7 ft. center in Vlade Divac. One would think that a shooting guard would get killed by a relatively skilled center but it didn’t happen that way. In short, there would be no competition between those two what so ever in the post. You must have forgotten the greatness of Michael Jordan. Also, LeBron James is not the most dominating player there ever was. People are still saying that Kobe is better and there are some that say James isn’t even the best player on his team over Dwayne Wade. When Wilt was playing, there were many that said Russell was better and then later on in his career, Kareem was in the argument. When M.J. was playing, there were absolutely no questions about who the best player in the world was! I would call that completely dominating. There is no match between these two players. LeBron needs to pull a killer instinct out of his hat, he has to become a better free throw shooter so he can be a threat at the foul line at the end of games, he needs to be able to close out 4th quarters and become a lot more clutch and he needs to learn how to “channel” his skills and know when to shine during games and when to step back for the benefit of his team so they can contribute as well and win championships. If he can manage to do all of that, he could be in the discussion but even then, he’ll probably fall short. Some of these intangibles such as basketball I.Q., a competitive drive and the ability to perfect your game just can’t be taught! Just enjoy LeBron James for who he is and let M.J. retire in peace.