It’s because we want to compare the current great player, against the consensus greatest. When Kobe was playing, we compared him to Jordan. Lebron is the current best overall career, so we’ve been comparing him to Jordan. In ten years they’ll compare Luka or Wemby to Jordan. Anyone old enough to have seen both MJ and Lebron, knows MJ was a clear step above, and we always want to compare the current great to the true GOAT.

Because they’re better than everybody else.

They’ve both defined eras in basketball

The league is obviously getting better so it makes sense the 2 most recent outliers were the best players we’ve seen.

It’s not a fair comparison because the old players played in undeveloped leagues that didn’t have international influence or money influence.

Best to note the best of their eras and leave it at that. Looking at stats from 20 years ago we know is stupid because of the three point line and the way the refs call games now.

Imagine 60 years ago…

What should I do?

Russell was always considered the greatest…he completely dominated at everything he did athletically well before Jordan or LeBron came along. The man won Eleven Titles…in thirteen seasons…and yeah…he played against Wilt and some of the toughest players ever. Larry Bird was and is considered the Greatest team player ever. I watched Michael Dominate…he did it differently than LeBron. Even Kobe did it differently than LeBron.

MJ is the most dominant. Bird was the best team player. Russell would be most likely to win the series.

LeBron has great numbers…but he’s never…ever…won without at least two All Stars to him…and never will.

LeBron was a high school phenom who actually paid off on his promise. It’s crazy that 25 years ago people said he was the best prospect they’ve ever seen, and he had the discipline (and fortune) to deliver that with so many records and so much consistency.

MJ basically won 6 straight titles in a very competitive era and was an incredibly dominant scorer in both the regular and post season. I think I saw something yesterday where he was the scoring leader in both for all six of the Bulls Championships. He was a great defender, too.

Shit, I’ma be honest. The real reason why you hear about JORDAN and LEBRON specifically is because of Nike. It’s all about profit. They are 2 of the best for sure, but think deep.

Think about it ? Why don’t we mention Wilt or Kareem or Bill Russell? They don’t have signature shoes. Follow the money. Jordan Brand and LeBron with Nike is what we will hear about for the rest of our lives.

Something that doesn’t get talked about much is the importance of basketball skills. It’s one of the reasons people look down on Gobert … his dribbling and jump shooting are worse than a bunch of players at the local pickup … the fact that his game knowledge and defensive presence are one of the most valueable assets for winning games is hard to accept if you only casually watch the players on the court.

Shaq and most bigs suffer from the same thing. In addition to winning and intangibles and resumes and longevity and all that, shooting and dribbling and maybe movement and maybe on the ball defense just matter to the idea of the best basketball player, shaped from all those common experiences of learning on playground and recognizing the best players there. People don’t enjoy the idea that the best player can’t hit his free throws or dribble the ball up the court or lock someone down on D.

Metric Stats say they are, can’t argue with stats

It’s the shoes.