We've heard Kobe Bryant compared to Jordan, but this is the first time I can recall someone comparing Lebron to Jordan. I suppose it had to happen sometime, but coming from Pippen, wow, that's quite the entrance into the "he's as good as MJ" debate.
I had two initial reactions when I heard Pippen's comments: Kobe is getting older, so someone new had to be compared to Jordan, and I like the way Lebron didn't entirely dismiss the notion, the way Kobe has done. I actually had three reactions, if you count me questioning whether or not Pippen was sober when he made the comments.
Since the height of MJ's dominance in the early 90s, young players have been compared to Jordan. It's what we do as sports fans; we debate who's the best at everything. Whether we're fishing, camping, road tripping, at work, a dinner table, laying on the couch or chatting on Facebook, debating which player is better than another, is one of the greatest things to love about sports.
For years, when asked about Jordan, Kobe has completely changed the subject and simply asked not to be compared to the greatest of all time. Lebron, however, simply said it would take years for the comparisons to be warranted, but he is admitting it's possible. I like it.
I like it because Lebron is normally the guy who says what he thinks he should say and what he thinks people want to hear. This however, is the polar opposite of what most people say when compared to Jordan. Comparisons to Jordan only end up bad for the player. It's no win situation for just about everyone.
However, for Lebron, the league's best player, the comparison isn't a total death sentence if handled properly; and Lebron handled it perfectly. He distanced himself from saying he is at that level right now, but left room to grow into the comparison by winning five or six titles.
Comparisons to Jordan will always begin with championships. MJ won six and would have won more had he not retired twice. For Lebron to enter the discussion he needs to win at least five. He doesn't need six, he just needs to get close. Lebron's skill set will allow him to close any gap left by winning one or two less titles. MJ scored in bunches, was a solid rebounder and passer, and played great defense. Lebron is a notch below Jordan on the scoring end, but gains ground on the glass and in the passing game, where he's a modern day version of Oscar Robertson; a threat to average a triple-double one of these years. Defensively, Lebron has increased his game the past few years, an area Jordan always took extreme pride in.
Jordan is the best and probably always will be. Lebron needs at least a handful of rings, literally, to be considered in the discussion. Still, with Lebron, the comparisons are different. As with Kobe, the talent gap between Lebron and Jordan is small enough to make a semi-reasonable argument, which is why I like how he didn't dismiss the notion entirely.
For now, Lebron should keep distancing himself from comparisons to Jordan, while closing the gap with his play on the court.
The NBA finals start this weekend. This would be a good place to begin winning the first of his, not five, not six, not seven, titles.
Do so, and Scottie Pippen's comments won't be the last comparing LJ to MJ.
No comments:
Post a Comment