People finally waking up to 80's MJ being the goat athlete & GOAT

[sdot_thadon]

Elgin Baylor was doing that 30 year prior, while tweaking mid-motion.

Without carrying the ball they say....

[FKAri]

This bum got worked by Kenny Rogers and a Wallstreet banker. No wonder his bumass went back to selling shoes.

[Baller234]

Most people cling to the early 90's portion of MJ's career in terms of his prime, that period where he still had most of this athleticism but also had a much improved all around game.

But to this day whenever I watch MJ highlights, I am equally impressed by his 96-98 years. He didn't have that crazy hang time anymore but those years show his peak mastery of the chess game. He dominates his opponent purely on his wits and skill.

[sdot_thadon]

Most people cling to the early 90's portion of MJ's career in terms of his prime, that period where he still had most of this athleticism but also had a much improved all around game.

But to this day whenever I watch MJ highlights, I am equally impressed by his 96-98 years. He didn't have that crazy hang time anymore but those years show his peak mastery of the chess game. He dominates his opponent purely on his wits and skill.

2nd 3peat was always my favorite part of his career.

[jayfan]

People have been actually saying this for decades. Consequently, I don't know what you mean with "waking up".

Nah. As time has gone on, early-Mike has fallen further into the background while 6-for-6 Mike stays in the forefront.

Youngsters have no idea what kind of stuff mid-80's Mike was doing on the court.

[Manny98]

Can somebody remind me what his playoff record was in the 80s

Was pretty decent right?

[Overdrive]

Yeah 80s Mj was like an alien to the league. Theres only been a few that have visual broken the optics of the league. And he came in at a time where there hadn't been a player with that type of flair in a long time. When the NBA got Dr.J he wasn't at that mythical level he was in the ABA. So Mj was the anomaly of his time. I actually got something else intriguing out of this clip, not what you intended for sure.



Wasn't Starks supposed to be one of Mjs toughest rivals? And his defense was all wrong for Mj on a fundamental level. Wow. And that's not to say him being in a proper stance woulda done much better because he wasn't on Mjs level anyway.

I know what Gilbert meant, but you think being flat footed is the proper stance? Of course you have to be on your toes. The problem was that Starks tried to play defense similar to Payton in '96. Get into the hips and deny Jordan of driving where he wants to. For Payton it worked out well the games Karl put him on MJ and Stark also had fames where he held Jordan to subaverage numbers, but more often than not Jordan's combination of quickness and strength would offset anything Starks tried.

[Phoenix]

I know what Gilbert meant, but you think being flat footed is the proper stance? Of course you have to be on your toes. The problem was that Starks tried to play defense similar to Payton in '96. Get into the hips and deny Jordan of driving where he wants to. For Payton it worked out well the games Karl put him on MJ and Stark also had fames where he held Jordan to subaverage numbers, but more often than not Jordan's combination of quickness and strength would offset anything Starks tried.

Guys who were like 6'3-6'4 pretty much had to play 'in your shorts' type defense against MJ, not just Starks and Payton but also someone like Joe Dumars. Basically be close enough to make it uncomfortable like you're describing, because those guys physically/athletically couldn't match him. MJ presented the challenge of needing to either be defended by smaller, quicker footed defenders who don't have the verticality to contest his shot, or put taller defenders who typically were slower and thus MJ could blow past them. It wasn't until guys like Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill showed up in the mid 90s where you really had the taller, athletic wing defenders you could put on MJ, and by then he was at the end of his athletic prime and had mastered scoring more through craft and experience.

[1987_Lakers]

I know what Gilbert meant, but you think being flat footed is the proper stance? Of course you have to be on your toes. The problem was that Starks tried to play defense similar to Payton in '96. Get into the hips and deny Jordan of driving where he wants to. For Payton it worked out well the games Karl put him on MJ and Stark also had fames where he held Jordan to subaverage numbers, but more often than not Jordan's combination of quickness and strength would offset anything Starks tried.

I watched some of the '93 series and thought Starks did a great job on MJ. Jordan by that point was losing some of his athleticism.

[Phoenix]

I watched some of the '93 series and thought Starks did a great job on MJ. Jordan by that point was losing some of his athleticism.

Yeah, he could also afford to overplay him because of the wall of defense behind him. That 93 Knicks team was hell defensively.

[sdot_thadon]

I know what Gilbert meant, but you think being flat footed is the proper stance? Of course you have to be on your toes. The problem was that Starks tried to play defense similar to Payton in '96. Get into the hips and deny Jordan of driving where he wants to. For Payton it worked out well the games Karl put him on MJ and Stark also had fames where he held Jordan to subaverage numbers, but more often than not Jordan's combination of quickness and strength would offset anything Starks tried.

See i actually interpreted it as him criticizing his balance in his stance. And Starks did have a bit of success here and there but im gonna say it was mostly due to the help support around him and being able to send him to Ewing and co.

[gengiskhan]

80s Jordan:

GOATest athlete to ever lace up any sport, anywhere, anytime, any era, any planet, any galaxy, any milky way!

[Full Court]

80s Jordan:

GOATest athlete to ever lace up any sport, anywhere, anytime, any era, any planet, any galaxy, any milky way!

Lebron's stiff-arming and clunky traveling are several skill levels below Jordan. If they had played in the same era, Lebron wouldn't even be allowed to wash Jordan's jock strap.

[Walk on Water]

2nd 3peat was always my favorite part of his career.

And Lebron knows nothing about that.