King James vs His Airness

(ed. Note As we embark on this new journey the four writers of this blog have decided that when a topic comes along that is as big as my belly we will all address it with our own unique viewpoints, maybe we will call it a foursome or something, but that will be determined later)


FINALLY THE FAT MAN HAS COME BACK………….TO CYBERSPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have now had some time to digest what clearly has to be one of the all time great performances in sports history. Whether or not LeBron James goes on to win zero, 6, or 10 NBA Titles, what he did in the past two weeks was remarkable. By now we all know the numbers, especially from that game 5 performance where he was playing on a different level than everyone else on the court, or planet for that matter. After witnessing this virtuoso performance the comparisons to the leagues greatest players were bound to arise.

Obviously LeBron’s full body of work is still another 15 years in the making, but what he has done in four short years is worth discussing. Rather than trying to compare LeBron to Jordan in overall careers I want to compare their respective career developments through four seasons. Also, I want to try and see who has elevated the play of his teammates more by comparing the 1990-91 Chicago Bulls to LeBron’s current squad.

The growth and development of LeBron and Jordan is staggeringly similar when you begin to really break it down. Yes Jordan’s point totals far outreach those of LeBron’s but it truly was a different game 20 years ago, where the lowest scoring team in the league averaged 98 ppg and this season where less than half the teams scored over 98 ppg. The best way to look at it is how these two have helped there teams significantly increase win totals. Not including Jordan’s injury plagued second season, his first 4 full years the Bulls win totals went 38, 40, 50, to 47 and in LeBron’s he went 35, 42, 50, and 50. In their third seasons they both notched their first playoff series victory. They were consistent All-Stars and widely regarded as the best young talent in the league. But here in year 4 LeBron is beginning to elevate his team to a championship level which still took Jordan several more seasons.

One could argue that the league is decidedly weaker at this point, but I would rather compare the teams Jordan and LeBron first lead to the finals. We have a tendency maybe to overrate some of the Bulls players, guys like John Paxson and Bj Armstrong because we remember them watching Jordan parade around with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Luckily we do not overrate any of LeBron’s superstar teammates like Larry “Turnover” Hughes and Sasha “3 Charges per game” Pavlovic.

The first startling revelation is that the Cav’s are actually a more veteran group, when you realize that Donyell Marshall and Eric Snow have played a combined 25 years in the league. However, when you look closer at the starting lineups you see that they are more comparable, the Bulls starters had 25 total years and the Cavs have a total of 27 seasons. So they both basically have taken a solid mix of younger starters like Horace Grant & Scottie Pippen and Drew Gooden & Sasha Pavlovic and veteran PG/C John Paxson & Bill Cartwright and Larry Hughes & Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

I would take Pippen over Pavlovic in a heartbeat obviously, Hughes over Paxson, but the big man match-ups are more intriguing. Offensively Ilgauskas has a slight advantage in points and rebounds but not significant, but Cartwright was a solid defensive presence whereas Ilgauskas’s lack of mobility limits him especially on help defense. And as for Horace Grant v. Drew Gooden you would think Grant obviously, but as the sunshine scooter would say “Not so fast my friend.” Gooden and Grants numbers are very similar (12 ppg. & 8 rpg.) and both were relied upon in the same way by their teams; hit open 15-18 foot jumpers, help control the defensive glass, and use their athleticism to put pressure on the offensive boards.

The last part of the evolution is the ability to take over games and will your team to victory. For both men this genesis again happened at similar times in their careers. Jordan had his coming out party in his third season when he scored 63 against the Celtics, much like LeBron’s playoff performance in his third season last year against the Wizards, where he notched a triple double in his first playoff game and hit a game winner in a critical game 3. But their live forever moment for both seems like it came in season 4. Jordan’s came against the Cavaliers when he hit that pull up jumper on Craig Ehlo and LeBron’s was a driving up and under lay-up on the entire Piston’s team which couldn’t stop him from getting to the basket. Again the similarities are staggering, in the Game 5 versus the Cav’s Jordan had 44 pts. 9 reb. & 6 ast. And LeBron against the Piston’s had 48 pts. 9 reb. & 7 ast.

Now all LeBron has to do is start collecting championship trophies like Jordan. I for one think that may begin to happen sooner rather than later.