MJ's Finals opponents had the best winning percentage of any top 10 player

[PickernRoller]

[3ball]

Shaq/Dirk/KG/Amare rank lower all-time than Shaq/Hakeem/Barkley/Malone

especially considering the latter all fielded Finals teams in the 90's, while amare/kg didn't

The 90's was the golden age of bigs, which means Duncan wouldn't have fared as well in that era

Bringing this back around to Lebron - Lebron faced Duncan, which is equivalent to MJ facing Shaq in the 90's

except shaq couldn't make the Finals much in the 90's due to parity and better comp, whereas Duncan feasted on comp that ranked lower all-time and fielded weaker teams

[3ball]

Lebron fans claim the Spurs were better... Based on what? Duncan and Shaq only won after the 90's stars got old (Hakeem, Malone, MJ)..

otherwise, hakeem kicked shaq's ass.. Malone kicked Duncan's ass.. and MJ kicked everyone's ass.. the Spurs would do worse against MJ/Hakeem/shaq then they did versus amare/dirk/shaq

Of course lebron also had 2 extra HOF's compared to MJ, so this greater help offsets any superior comp argument - lebron had a super-team to face the Spurs in 13', and was appropriately favored

[Shaquille O'Neal]

How many 70 win teams did he beat? Why is Jordan's best opponent in the finals worse than LeBron's worst opponent?

Jordan was the "one who knocks". He was the 70+ win team.


Only NBA team in history to win 70+ and the chip, and Mike was league MVP and Finals MVP that year, along with the scoring champ.


At at 33. Nothing anyone else has done can top that team/personal achievement.

[Rico2016]

Jordan was the "one who knocks". He was the 70+ win team.


Only team to win the chip with a 70+ win team or more, and Mike was league MVP and Finals MVP that year, along with the scoring champ.


At at 33. Nothing anyone else has done can top that team/personal achievement.

So he was always on the stacked team. He was the Warriors.

Cool. Got it...Like we thought.

[Shaquille O'Neal]

So he was always on the stacked team. He was the Warriors.

Cool. Got it...Like we thought.

Sure, you could say Curry + Thompson + Green + KD = 1 MJ.


Any team MJ was on from 1991-1998 was stacked because MJ was on it. Pull up a chair young man I don't think you're getting it.

[egokiller]

If one is too young to have seen an era, the best way to know the strength of the team is to see what was being said about those team at the time they were playing. And nobody was saying that the teams Jordan played were weak, or not good. They were saying the opposite. But then you have insecure, teenage fanboys who are emotionally hurt wanting to change the narrative.

Why wouldn't they be emotionally hurt? Their only option was witnessing mediocrity in the form of Lebron while their elders witnessed pure GOAT level basketball in the form of MJ. It's like comparing a diamond to a piece of coal. One man shined and did what was needed when he got to the finals never losing, while the other failed 6 out of 9 tries. Lebron has like 6 players to go through before he can even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ.

[Shaquille O'Neal]

Why wouldn't they be emotionally hurt? Their only option was witnessing mediocrity in the form of Lebron while their elders witnessed pure GOAT level basketball in the form of MJ. It's like comparing a diamond to a piece of coal. One man shined and did what was needed when he got to the finals never losing, while the other failed 6 out of 9 tries. Lebron has like 6 players to go through before he can even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ.

I feel bad for these kids really. They translate games in HD = better than 80's/90's ball due to lower quality resolution.
This era from about 2005 - 2020 or so will be known as the dark days of the NBA. Superteams, no defense, collusion, faux goats, etc.

The league really needs to clean this crap up.

[ImKobe]

So he was always on the stacked team. He was the Warriors.

Cool. Got it...Like we thought.

"stacked team" He didn't have a 2nd star scoring 20+ ppg every season. Heck, Pippen couldn't average more than 22 ppg without him. He won 72 games with only two guys on his team putting up more than 10+ ppg.

Do you not understand how crazy that is? Oh and he led a team to 62 wins with Pippen missing half the season, he was 35. His teams won more games from 96-98 than 16-18 Warriors and went 3 - 0 in the Finals. He didn't have an MVP-caliber teammate on his roster either.

[egokiller]

I feel bad for these kids really. They translate games in HD = better than 80's/90's ball due to lower quality resolution.
This era from about 2005 - 2020 or so will be known as the dark days of the NBA. Superteams, no defense, collusion, faux goats, etc.

The league really needs to clean this crap up.

Yep and once it is cleaned up no one will give a shit about who did what during those years. It won't be weighted as heavily as the eras that were clean.

[sportjames23]

egokiller, Shaq and ImKobe slayin' these young bucks left and right.

[bullettooth]

Jordan was the "one who knocks". He was the 70+ win team.


Only NBA team in history to win 70+ and the chip, and Mike was league MVP and Finals MVP that year, along with the scoring champ.


At at 33. Nothing anyone else has done can top that team/personal achievement.

I approve of the Heisenberg reference.

[BigShotBob]

I hated Jordan but and I hated all of his opponents for losing to him but that doesn't mean they weren't all-time great teams.

Jordan was the difference. He was the beginning and the end.

At least my Pistons spanked him so I take pride in those memories.

[Shaquille O'Neal]

I hated Jordan but and I hated all of his opponents for losing to him but that doesn't mean they weren't all-time great teams.

Jordan was the difference. He was the beginning and the end.

At least my Pistons spanked him so I take pride in those memories.

I always rooted for whatever team he was playing against. Phoenix in 93 and the two Jazz years especially. He was just too damn good - got tired of watching him win all the time. Hell how many league MVPs did he not win due to the same reason?

When I watch these old games from the 80's and 90's I feel like "men played" back then - hard fouls, handchecking, tight defense, big men, guarding the paint, interior passing. That was basketball. Not a no defense 3 pt. clunkfest.