Who was more athletic in their primes/peak: Lebron James vs. Michael Jordan

[QUOTE=rodman91]MJ. He had one of the quickest feet.He was more agile.Much better hangtime..Better leaper.He was strong as hell for his size.

Lebron is probably only stronger.What makes Lebron's unique is he has almost Jordan like athleticism with almost body of Malone.

[b]Jordan in prime was one of the quickest players ever.[/b]And let's not even talk about his hang time.He was almost walking in the air.[/QUOTE]

Yes, Jordan possessed the quickness of a small, explosive point guard in the body of a big guard.

I really don't understand what's so difficult to understand. If 84-90 MJ was given the same skill-set as 04-08 LeBron, would he be putting up 30/7/7? The answer is NO. As much of a freak MJ was, his game was a lot more reliant on skill than LeBron's ever was. At 6'6, 190 pounds, he would never be able to barrel into defenders possession-after-possession and maintain the kind of production LeBron did. He wasn't THAT gifted.

[QUOTE=Indian guy]I really don't understand what's so difficult to understand. If 84-90 MJ was given the same skill-set as 04-08 LeBron, would he be putting up 30/7/7? The answer is NO. As much of a freak MJ was, his game was a lot more reliant on skill than LeBron's ever was. At 6'6, 190 pounds, he would never be able to barrel into defenders possession-after-possession and maintain the kind of production LeBron did. He wasn't THAT gifted.[/QUOTE]

Does LeBron even barrel into defenders possession-after-possession?

Seems to me at least 50% of the time, he plays on the perimeter and settles for step back jumpers.

He uses his 6'9 frame mostly to look over the defence for passing.

A younger Jordan goes to the hole more than LeBron does, that was basically the bulk of Jordan's game as a youngster actually.

You don't have to "run over" someone when you can simply blow past them and then jump over the help defence.

Id go with jordan. He was the total package. He was cat quick, lightning fast and had huge hands. And his strength was deceptive. Anybody got that vid of jordan shattering the glass on a dunk? Or that video where he catches a basketball with the palm of his hand as if it were a tennis ball?

[QUOTE=Indian guy]I really don't understand what's so difficult to understand. If 84-90 MJ was given the same skill-set as 04-08 LeBron, would he be putting up 30/7/7? The answer is NO. As much of a freak MJ was, his game was a lot more reliant on skill than LeBron's ever was. At 6'6, 190 pounds, he would never be able to barrel into defenders possession-after-possession and maintain the kind of production LeBron did. He wasn't THAT gifted.[/QUOTE]
I don't remember jordan being that skilled in the begining of his career. I mean, he had skill, but he really relied on his athleticism in his early years

I can say with fair certainty a 26-year-old Jordan would've been a much harder cover for 33-year-old Shawn Marion in a series.

Especially if he had Wade and Bosh on the floor with him (cannot play Jordan rules defence).

Marion probably would've gotten dunked on a few times. Ditto for that Mavs rookie big man who was getting a lot of minutes. Jordan would've posterized him for sure :oldlol:

LeBron is simply not fast enough to get past a defence like that at will, most 6'9 guys aren't.

[QUOTE=Soundwave]Does LeBron even barrel into defenders possession-after-possession?[/quote]

04-09 LeBron absolutely did. Obviously, he's a different player today, but the OP asked for athletic PEAK. 04-08 LeBron took jumpers as a LAST resort.

[quote]A younger Jordan goes to the hole more than LeBron does, that was basically the bulk of Jordan's game as a youngster actually.[/quote]

Look up MJ and LeBron's FTA per shot. LeBron's way ahead.

Robert Horry on Jordan's strength.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09sCTRPLiBM[/url]

[QUOTE=Indian guy]04-09 LeBron absolutely did. Obviously, he's a different player today, but the OP asked for athletic PEAK. 04-08 LeBron took jumpers as a LAST resort.



Look up MJ and LeBron's FTA per shot. LeBron's way ahead.[/QUOTE]

With today's p*ssy rules, sure.

A younger Jordan would be shooting boat loads of free throws today if defenders weren't able to hang all over him (ie: Bad Boy Pistons).

Not a chance in hell LeBron goes to the hole more than a younger Jordan used to. LeBron settles for jumpers far more often than a young Jordan, even the Cleveland version.

That's not a knock on LeBron, it's probably just reality -- at 6'9 you simply cannot be *that* fast. It's just impossible to have the first step Jordan had at that height. It would be like asking Shaq to have the first step that LeBron does, it's impossible to keep going up 3 inches and maintaining that level of speed.

A young Jordan would've shredded a 33/34 year old Marion apart.

[QUOTE=Soundwave]With today's p*ssy rules, sure.[/quote]

MJ's best years in terms of FTA came in the 80's, where defense was ABSOLUTELY NOT better than what it is today.

[quote]A younger Jordan would be shooting boat loads of free throws today[/quote]

A younger MJ WAS shooting boat-load of free throws in his rim-attacking days of 84-89. He averaged 9.6 FTA per game during that 5 year span. His game changed from 89-90 onwards in order to fit in Phil Jackson's equal-opportunity offense. Not to mention his ever-improving jumper and further maturation of his game forced him to change too. He didn't really need to attack the basket as much as before. And compared to 04-08 LeBron, he NEVER needed to attack the basket as much as him. There's a reason why LeBron's FTA/shot is so much higher than MJ's.

[QUOTE=Soundwave]I can say with fair certainty a 26-year-old Jordan would've been a much harder cover for 33-year-old Shawn Marion in a series.
[/QUOTE]
That probably has more to do with mental than physical.

[QUOTE=Da Heroic One]That probably has more to do with mental than physical.[/QUOTE]

Even physically, there's no way Marion would be able to stay in front of Jordan.

First step is just too quick.

LeBron's first step is considerably slower. There were times in this series where he was having problems even getting around Brian Cardinal.

You can only get so much speed out of a 6'9 frame.

LeBron is a Hummer, Jordan is a Ferrari.

LeBron is bigger, stronger.
More athletic? Jordan.
Not to mention at age 26, LeBron is already regressing slightly in his athletic abilities.

[QUOTE=Indian guy]I really don't understand what's so difficult to understand. If 84-90 MJ was given the same skill-set as 04-08 LeBron, would he be putting up 30/7/7? The answer is NO. As much of a freak MJ was, his game was a lot more reliant on skill than LeBron's ever was. At 6'6, 190 pounds, he would never be able to barrel into defenders possession-after-possession and maintain the kind of production LeBron did. He wasn't THAT gifted.[/QUOTE]

I think that he could. MJ put up better statlines than 30/7/7 between 84-90, so 30/7/7 would be downgrading. So with a worse skillset, he would still be able to put up something like that.

A better argument for your argument would be if you switched it around: If 04-08 LeBron had 84-90 MJ's skillset, he could put up crazyyyyyyy numbers.

[QUOTE=Soundwave]Even physically, there's no way Marion would be able to stay in front of Jordan.

First step is just too quick.

LeBron's first step is considerably slower. There were times in this series where he was having problems even getting around Brian Cardinal.

You can only get so much speed out of a 6'9 frame.

LeBron is a Hummer, Jordan is a Ferrari.[/QUOTE]

It would be a f*cking disaster. It would be like Marion trying to guard a stronger, slimmer, more athletic, taller, faster version of Wade that kept playing when off the ball, that would make Marion stay MORE honest because of a better jumper, and that was a goddamn energizer bunny. To be honest, MJ travelled hardcore on his first step though. :D