Did the Last Dance end the Debate of MJ vs Lebron?
I know I know it's going to debate for a long time between those two. Plus you can make the case of greatest NBA players for Bill Russell (he does have 11 rings out of the 13 seasons he played), Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabber, Wilt Chamberlain (no one else has averaged 50 a game for a season), Doctor J (Julius Erving), Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kobe Bryant. I'll throw in Kobe because why not and Jordan consider him his little brother. There are debates for who the greatest is every sport expect maybe Baseball (Babe Ruth, that's my story I'm sticking to it). Maybe Boxing as well with Muhammad Ali. Both of them came from the NBA drafts considered the best of all-time. Michael from the 1984 Draft and Lebron from the 2003 NBA. Also, Kobe Bryant with the 1996 NBA Draft you wanted to add him to the mix. I was born in 1984 (along with Lebron) and graduated High School in 2003 (again along with Lebron). Let's just said if me and Lebron went to the same high school together, we would have graduated in the same High school class (Class of 2003 represent again). I admit it's hard for me. Jordan started playing for the Bulls when I was about to about a month or so old (and Lebron wasn't born until December that year). It's hard for me to say really. Lebron didn't have to go against the Bad Boy Piston teams and honestly, he would have probably been a scarier matchup for them because Lebron is 6' 9" 250 pounds and you compare to Bill Laimbeer (6'11" 244) and Rick Mahorn (6'10" 240) and just for the heck of it Dennis Rodman (6'7" 228). That's are scarier matchup than Jordan was (6'6" 216) especially a former football player. Lebron was a football player in high school for his sophomore and junior years and was being looked at Ohio State and Notre Dame. He didn't play in his senior year however I wonder what would have happened if Lebron had to pick a college if the one and done year that been around. I'm thinking he would have been a Buckeye since Ohio kid. Plus he is a Buckeyes fan (dislike) and Nike sold Lebron James Ohio State Jersey because why not make more money. Now would he play both basketball and football for them? It is possible especially with Donovan McNabb and Julius Peppers did it for their schools. Probably for only one year but I'm sure Jim Fassell (then OSU football coach) would have given Lebron a shot. Lebron could have been a Tight End like Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates, and Travis Kelce if he decided on Football. Actually, it could have happened. During the 2011 NBA lockout, Jerry Jones actually offered Lebron a contract to play for the Dallas Cowboys according to his business partner Maverick Carter. Scary part is Lebron could have accepted the offer, played the season with the Cowboys, and then play in the NBA (unless the Heat had a clause barring him from doing so). Man, think of the alternative universal with Jordan as an MLB player and Lebron an NFL player. Also, I wonder if Michael Jordan could have came out early into the NBA because they didn't have a year and done rule. I'm thinking he could have came out as early as his sophomore season though unsure if he would have been the top prospect as he was in 1983. Maybe he would have been third again to the Houston Rockets (they had the third overall in that year's draft along with the first pick who ended up being Ralph Sampson) and again the top two teams drafted a center. Surprised, no one talked about if there was a possibility of Jordan leaving North Carolina early. It's hard to gauge who is better. Michael Jordan would have been the career points leader if he didn't have his first two retirements easy. It helped Lebron and Kobe that they didn't have to play in college for at least one year with the points. Kobe Bryant would have been behind MJ in points if Kobe had to play at least one year in college. If you're wondering Duke would have been his choice. The greatest checkmark on whose the Greatest NBA Player is Championship Rings. Jordan so far leads with six, Kobe has five, and Lebron has four (so far). Will Lebron catch and/or pass Jordan before he retires? Who knows. Lebron plans to play as long as he can. He's hoping to play with his son (who's a sophomore in high school). So about five more years and if you're wondering Vince Carter (another guy one time compared to Jordan) played 22 seasons in the NBA. Also, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki played 21 seasons as it is possible for James to play that long he's played 17 seasons so far. Will he? Depends if he can avoid major injuries. Legacy is a big edge Jordan because the NBA wasn't in a good place before Magic/Bird/Jordan got there. Thanks to them, the NBA has got international for better or for worse especially with the Hong Kong/China conflict where the NBA is banned in China after Daryl Morey's tweet in support of Hong Kong/China and no one had Morey's back. Lebron said Morey "didn't know he was talking about". I'll admit not a good look for the NBA and Lebron but how many US companies do business with China? Maybe Senators Josh Hawley and Rick Scott should tell EVERY US Companies stop doing business with China. Heck, tell them not to take money from corporations/individuals doing business with China. I'll wait. I could go on and on about NBA and China just like I can the arguments about who's the greatest basketball player of all-time. People will argue about this until the end of time. This isn't baseball with Babe Ruth or hockey with Gretzky. In a long story short, it didn't. Lebron can have is own 10 part documentary series one of these days. I hear Kobe could have his own shortly. Heck, there's someone playing in high school, middle school, grade school, or even somebody who isn't born yet that could enter the argument on whose the best basketball player argument in the future (scary to think about but true).
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