Remember when Worthy was #1 option on back-to-back champs vs goat comp?

[3ball]

Why wouldn’t it be? You think a comparison between like 2 and a half games losing a series vs an entire season is something that merits discussion?

Thats just a weirdo line of thinking to begin with.

My point was that Worthy going off on Rodman and the Pistons isn't evidence that he can't hack it as the top guy.. his production shows can handle the production required, and simply had no help like many other guys that got swept or blown away in the Finals (like lebron in 07', 11', 14', 17', 18')

And of course, he was the top guy from 87-91' - see the OP - he averaged 24-25 on 55% and led the Lakers every year

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Every star is different. Magic needs scorers on his team because he can't score. Jordan needs Pippen on his team because he doesn't know how to be a floor general and defensive anchor.

[Kblaze8855]

Magic didn’t need anything in particular. He didn’t score much more than 20 because he handed off 4-5 layups a game for the greater good of keeping his teammates engaged in the game and running.

[RRR3]

Tou probably shouldn’t be listened to at all in a discussion of at least 6 of those players. Leading a series in scoring with about 21-22 ppg isn’t the same as being the best player on the floor. Especially when the leaders of both teams are playmaking point guards.

James was nice but a finals mvp doesn’t make him the best player any more than Tony Parker, Cedric Maxwell, Chauncey Billips, Iggy, or Jojo White.

The best I ever saw Worthy play was losing to the Pistons when Magic was hurt and he had to do it all.

Tpols pretending he knows what he’s talking about is always cute.

[SouBeachTalents]

Tpols pretending he knows what he’s talking about is always cute.

You missed his best take yet

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...1#post14248572

[AussieSteve]

Having the greatest PG ever as a teammate would elevate anyone's scoring.

Having the highest usage player ever as a teammate would reduce anyone's scoring.

[Xiao Yao You]

Every star is different. Magic needs scorers on his team because he can't score. Jordan needs Pippen on his team because he doesn't know how to be a floor general and defensive anchor.

Magic had no problem scoring if he needed to. MJ put up triple doubles nightly as the pg. Great players are capable of many things

[light]

PLAYOFFS

* 87' Worthy...... 24 on 59%
* 88' Worthy...... 21 on 53% (FMVP)
* 89' Worthy...... 25 on 57%
* 90' Worthy...... 24 on 53%
* 91' Worthy...... 20 on 49%

* Lakers' scoring leader


TLDR: Worthy was better than Pippen because Pippen wasn't capable of being a 25 ppg first option....

The challenge that you continue to have is that you overvalue scoring and cannot conceive of any other way for a basketball player to dominate a game.

You’re atrophying your basketball IQ for the sake of argument.

The original Dream Team had a chance to take James Worthy over Scottie Pippen but Worthy was considered a long-shot (along with guys like Kevin McHale and Dominique Wilkins) while Chuck Daly and the selection committee gushed over the selection of Scottie Pippen.



Pippen was considered an absolute must-have along with MJ and Magic while other greats like Clyde Drexler were still on the bubble and lesser greats like James Worthy weren't seriously considered at all.



TL;DR: You're still dead wrong.

[3ball]

The challenge that you continue to have is that you overvalue scoring and cannot conceive of any other way for a basketball player to dominate a game.

You’re atrophying your basketball IQ for the sake of argument.

The original Dream Team had a chance to take James Worthy over Scottie Pippen but Worthy was considered a long-shot (along with guys like Kevin McHale and Dominique Wilkins) while Chuck Daly and the selection committee gushed over the selection of Scottie Pippen.



Pippen was considered an absolute must-have along with MJ and Magic while other greats like Clyde Drexler were still on the bubble and lesser greats like James Worthy weren't seriously considered at all.



TL;DR: You're still dead wrong.

Worthy was past his prime by 1992

His prime was 85-90', shown in the OP, where he played better than pippen ever did

[3ball]

Every star is different. Magic needs scorers on his team because he can't score. Jordan needs Pippen on his team because he doesn't know how to be a floor general and defensive anchor.

Except Jordan averaged more assists and assist percentage than Pippen, while getting more DPOY votes every year and taking the toughest assignments (Magic, Drexler, Payton, Miller, Isiah, Dumars)

Ultimately, Jordan was top 5 DPOY and scoring champ from 88-98', while averaging more assists and assist percentage than Pippen

[csh19792001]

Both were overrated. Pippen certainly the better player

Pippen buries Worthy in the regular season in:
WS
WS/48
PER
OWS
DWS (twice as valuable as Worthy)
BPM
VORP (twice as valuable as Worthy)

In the playoffs they're actually fairly close vis-a-vis advanced metrics.

[3ball]

Worthy was a phenomenal player and ridiculously underrated

I guess that's what happens to guys that shared shine on super-teams with other stars...otoh, pippen benefitted from being on the only 2-star dynasty, so he gets more credit for winning those rings than Worthy's shared shine, despite playing far worse than Worthy (see thread title).. Pippen was just the lucky, low-producing bum that won the "3-peat with MJ" lottery

^^^ Thread Cliffs

[Hey Yo]

Worthy was past his prime by 1992

His prime was 85-90', shown in the OP, where he played better than pippen ever did

Worthy was named All-NBA twice in his career..... 90 and 91.

Pippen was named All-NBA on both sides of the ball for nearly a decade

[3ball]

Worthy was named All-NBA twice in his career..... 90 and 91.

Pippen was named All-NBA on both sides of the ball for nearly a decade

Right, because Pippen was on the only 2-star dynasty

So he got dynasty accolades despite playing much worse than Worthy, who didn't get the accolades because he shared shine with 3rd and 4th stars

Does that make sense? Worthy played better than pippen ever did (1st option on a dynasty), but didn't get credit because he shared shine with 3rd and 4th stars...

Whereas Pippen was on the only 2-star dynasty, so he got full credit despite never playing on Worthy's level

[ShawkFactory]

So now we’re trying to prove that MJ was better than Magic?