Who is the GOAT

[Deleted User 310]

[TDub]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/291 ... -perfectly

". But when the Los Angeles Lakers star fantasizes about playing with Jordan, it's as his teammate, not his adversary'

Of course he does.

[Deleted User 289]

Dead serious question. If LeBron's career mirrored Pippen's career in terms of when he came in to the league and playing on the same exact team/s as Pippen, would LeBron have been a better player than Pippen? Obviously it's a question you can only answer with an opinion.
My opinion is - I don't know and I'm not going to pretend I could even give a well thought out guess.

[pdub]

Yes.

[pdub]

Dead serious question. If Jordans career mirrored Oscar Robinson’s career in terms of when he came in to the league and playing on the same exact team/s as Robinson, would Jordan have been a better player than Robinson? Obviously it's a question you can only answer with an opinion.
My opinion is - yes. Dumb question.

[Deleted User 289]

Without giving reasons, I could respond yes or no to my question and your question too.
That's pretty simple to do. Giving reasons why makes it a lot more complicated.

Right or wrong, I believe LeBron would have always been MJ's sidekick. Now when MJ took off time, LeBron very well may have been a better NBA player than Pippen was but we will never know.
What we do know is that Pippen was one of the best defenders in the league. It's very possible LeBron would have been one of the best defenders too - but again, we will never know.
If I had to guess, I would guess LeBron would probably have been a better player than Pippen - but not by as big of a margin as I feel other people would think he would be.

As far as comparing Jordan and Robertson, why would that be a "dumb question"? Different eras of Basketball. Assume, opine, do as you please, but I feel there is no way to definitively argue to the point where you can convince me 100% that Jordan would have been a better player than Robertson.

[pdub]

LeBron would have been drafted either no.1 or no.2 to the Spurs or Phoenix depending on if the Spurs wanted more of a sure thing in David Robinson.

If Charles Barkley could average 28 and 12 in Philly in 87, Bron could average 33, 11 and 10 in Phoenix.

[Deleted User 310]

I think the best way to evaluate how lebron would have looked next to MJ would be to examine how Magic looked next to MJ on the dream team.

Lebron is a unique player. He won't thrive off the ball because he's a facilitator and a scorer....and MJ was a ball dominant player who didn't often look to be a facilitator, or need to be, because he was such an elite scorer.

They'd be an awkward fit together.

[Deleted User 289]

pdub - I assume you are correct. It was a crazy hypothetical(?) question that I asked - without giving it much thought.

[pdub]

If your hypothetical meant that LeBron was born in 1970 and didn't have Jordan video and Kobe to look up to, then i'd say there'd be a chance he was worse than Pippen.

If your hypothetical meant 2003 LeBron was magically teleported to the 1987 draft, hell yes he would be better than Pippen. He'd take the league by storm like MJ did. The rivalry would be intense.

[TDub]

If your hypothetical meant that LeBron was born in 1970 and didn't have Jordan video and Kobe to look up to, then i'd say there'd be a chance he was worse than Pippen.

If your hypothetical meant 2003 LeBron was magically teleported to the 1987 draft, hell yes he would be better than Pippen. He'd take the league by storm like MJ did. The rivalry would be intense.

What rivarly? Bronny would have tries with all his might to play together as he does.

[ousdahl]

Ugh.

That’s as big an argument as any against Lebron.

Is there any other goat candidate with that vision for the league, and for his career - instead of proving his goat by besting his rivals, he’d rather team up to play buddy ball with them?

Participation trophies all around!

[pdub]

"...instead of proving his goat by besting his rivals, he’d rather team up to play buddy ball with them?"

Hi, my name is Dennis Rodman.

[ousdahl]

Dennis Rodman wasn’t exactly a goat candidate, and Lebron doesn’t exactly have that sweet head of hair. Or any head of hair.

But hey, maybe Lebron can team up with him, and get his mom to take them all to Chuck E. Cheese after the game.

[ousdahl]

There was a fun narrative in the league from somewhere like 2003-2010ish, about what a great rivalry was shaping up between Lebron and DWade.

So much for that.

[Deleted User 289]

"...instead of proving his goat by besting his rivals, he’d rather team up to play buddy ball with them?"

Hi, my name is Dennis Rodman.

Come on pdub! You're going to use Rodman as an example of that? Surely you can come up with better examples. I say that because I assume you realize Rodman was TRADED from the Pistons to the Spurs. Then TRADED from the Spurs to the Bulls. Right?

[ousdahl]

What if after the eastern conference finals, MJ said, imma take my talents to Detroit?

[pdub]

What if MJ had to play with Drew Gooden and Mo Williams as his best players for the first 7 years of his career?

[NDballer13]

Ugh.

That’s as big an argument as any against Lebron.

Is there any other goat candidate with that vision for the league, and for his career - instead of proving his goat by besting his rivals, he’d rather team up to play buddy ball with them?

Participation trophies all around!

Kevin Durant. Kobe was ready to leave LA if they didn't get Pau.

Rings can't be a factor in a goat debate if you're going to fault a guy for wanting better teammates.

[pdub]

Cavs management blew it for the beginning of LeBron's career...but LeBron was good enough to keep the Cavs out of the lotto ( by his 2nd year - they almost had Andre Iguodala which would have changed things )...so they never had a chance for a guy like Pippen.