Which player would you rather build a franchise around in today's NBA-Tim Duncan or Michael Jordan?
Both are easily the best players of their generation, but which would you want? Tim's power game that grinds his opponents down in the paint? Or MJ's jumper and mind boggling dunks? And would MJ (in his prime) be able to match up against the likes of Bowen and a non-ins utionalized Ron Artest?
I would go with a homer TD. I'm sure homer Bulls fans would say MJ. TD still has a lot left to do still. I like the defense in the form of blocks and rebounds over MJ shooting and penetration. Plus, bigs are harder to come by than the positions. Shoot me now.
MJ...sorry guys...
I guess he meant if they were both rookies.
Jordan is the best ever, but I reserve the right to change my mind when TD brings home a couple more. Anyone have Spurs vs. Bulls game tapes/dvd's with Jordan and TD? I remember a classic one that our Spurs fell just short in, in 98 i think in chicago.
I really like TD and never was a Jordan or Bulls fan, but I would certainly take Jordan. You're talking about a player widely regarded as the best ever to play the game. You're talking about perhaps the most clutch superstar in NBA history.
Sorry, it isn't really a contest. You would have to take Jordan in his prime.
jordan
I have to go with Duncan. MJ might be a better player, but Duncan has the skills to make the other guys are the floor better.
And Jordan didn't? C'mon, take the blinders off. Jordan was a superior passer and created opportunities for his teammates just like Duncan does today.
Only Spurs fans would actually pick Duncan. That should tell you something.
Jordan made stars of scrubs like Paxon, Hodges, Grant, and countless others....I would acutally choose Magic Johnson to anchor my team.
Jordan, no disrespect to TD, but Jordan had it all.
I would go with MJ but I would have Pop coach him this time and watch MJ's FT% plummet.
Me too.
The answer to that question can be answered by this question:
Game 7 of the NBA finals... tie score... 3 seconds left... last shot...
Who do you want to take it - Duncan or Jordan?
Answer: Jordan
MJ. As much I love Duncan, no way can he compare to MJ in his prime. He was virtually unstoppable and so much fun to watch
As a young player, Jordan was JUST as selfish as Kobe. Only when he started noticing his teammates Pippin and Grant in his 6th or 7th season did he have success on a team level. It took Chicago a lot longer to win with MJ than it took SA to win with Tim. I'm going to go with Tim on this one, and hope that time proves me right. It's a lot harder to come by a premier post player than it is a shooting guard. I've been following the NBA for about 25 years, and can remember the mid to late 80s when he was Michael Jordan, showboat, selfish player, and choker, before he became MJ. I think it's quite possible that Tim may equal or eclipse the 6 rings that MJ won. After six seasons, MJ had zero rings and Tim already had two. Couple that with the fact that big men can play much longer than high flying guards, and it could very well happen.
Make that elbow straighter Mike.
You gotta be crazy if you don't pick Jordan.
Do we need an old-fashioned greatest player of all-time thread? If so, may someone more energetic than me can start it.
Magic Johnson is hands-down the greatest player I ever watched.
I have faint memories of Wilt, but nothing worth erecting an opinion upon. I never watched Bill Russell play.
Magic was never half the defender Jordan was.
MJ in a landslide.
To quote Ghost Writer this thread is ri ulous. I love TD but come on.
Guys,
I'm a big TD fan as well, but come on ...
No way has TD done anything remotely close to what MJ accomplished ... and this is the whole point ... people usually talk about the # of rings that MJ won in his first 6 years (totalling a big 0) compared to Duncan's 2 or Kobe's 3 ... but that isn't the point...
Jordan's legacy persists solely due to the 6 rings that he won in the 90s ... because he is regarded as the prime mover of one the great dynasties of all time ... when comparing to TD/Kobe/Magic, if all we want to bring up are Jordan's first 6 years when he used to rack up the numbers but fall in the playoffs time and again, then why only TD and Kobe ... I could name a dozen players whose first 6 years in the league were more meaningful than Jordan's in terms of winning ... and this is despite MJ putting up numbers that nobody else has ever come close to:
PPG RPG APG StlPG
1986-87 37.1 5.2 4.6 4.6
1987-88 35 5.5 5.9 2.9
1988-89 32.5 8 8 3.2
1989-90 33.6 6.9 6.3 2.8
So please don't bring up the argument that TD and Magic figured out how to win way before Jordan did .... Jordan may have taken his time to figure it out, but when he finally did he went on to do things which have established him as arguably one of the greatest sporting icons of all times, and easily the greatest basketball player ever.
Your logic is that if TD>MJ (at least as far as making teammates better, winning championships etc) if their first 5-6 years are compared, then there's a good chance that TD>MJ when it's all said and done ... and that's the whole friggin' problem ... that kind of extrapolation doesn't hold any water ... what Jordan did in the latter part of his Bulls career is not something that you can argue that TD will be able to do simply by this kind of extrapolation.
Jordan's impact on the game goes way beyond the measurable output ... the #1 career PPG, #1 playoff PPG, the six les, the numerous MVPs, Finals MVPs, scoring les, DPOY, the countless clutch shots, the highest salary in all of pro sports ...
the fact that the NBA caught up with the other pro sports in audience ratings in the 90s, that the NBA has a global footprint, that the position of the shooting guard became what it is today, that kids want to play basketball and be "like Mike", that the marketing appeal of basketball players is increasingly being showcased ...
All those things are a part of Michael Jeffrey Jordan's legacy. So when comparing him to other individuals, be they basketball players or players of any other sport, remember to include the whole package, and not a subset of it that conveniently showcases the faults that he had at one point but which he eventually overcame.
Thanks.
(PS : That was my first post on this board)
Welcome to the forum.
And I agree -- MJ all the way.
Mj gets my vote for sure. The Best ever.
Michael Jackson never even played in the NBA, how the can you vote for him?!!!
I will put a name not discussed much up for serious arguement even though I would take Jordan also slightly over any of four (Duncan, Chamberlain over Russell with the right coach and surrounding casts, or Bird and Johnson). However, there is one quiet giant besides Russell always left out who also won throughout his career!
Kareem Abdul Jabbar - anchored by far the best college team ever and won 6 MVPs, championships in mutiple cities, drew double and triple deams ala Duncan all the time inside, all time scoring champion still and arguebly the hardest single shot to stop of all time. Not a great personality, but he was very dominant (ala Duncan).
I would still go with Jordan but KAJ should not be forgotten as one of top 5 ever and another to build around. He did as much for the Lakers as Johnson. Put KAJ and Jordan together that team would never have lost.
MadDoc
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