Tuesday, April 21, 2009

If Only Fletch Were Real....I'd Take Him

Here's the deal. You have a gun held to your head b a mob boss. He says you must create a NBA franchise that will win it all. All players are in their prime and we play in today's era of play. Who do you take with your first pick? The argument could come down to Shaq, Kareem, Johnson and others but for arguments sake I think it comes down to Lebron vs Jordan. Here's my take...

Lebron is a good guy, a great teammate, and a phenom of a player. He gets to the hole and is starting to play ferocious D. He can post up big man and guard ball handlers, he really is what a video game drew up. One could argue that he hasn't peaked and will only improve his jump shot and his D. And if he did that, the holes in his game would be forced to say the least.




However, with that said I would still take Jordan. And it doesn't even come down to any physical or basketball stats pulled. It's simply, if I was a GM and had to build a winning franchise around a player that would win the title that year - it would be Jordan. Nevermind that Jordan averaged 35pts a game one year, nevermind that he never lost a play-off series in his prime, nevermind that Jordan was named Defensive player of the year 10 times. Jordan simply had that killer instinct that drove fear into the other players. He talked trash, he played in your face D, and demanded the ball at crunch time. Lebron can take a game over but easily passes it off. He doesn't posses that instinctive desire to win! Jordan would cheat in poker against your grandma.He wouldn't have gotten swept by the Spurs a few years ago that's for sure. I think the final point that needs to be made is that Jordan took down Dumars, Bird, Johnson, Wilk, Barkley, Hakeem, Stockton v Malone, Kemp v Payton, Clyde Drexler, Starks v Ewing on in their primes and made them look weak. He didn't lose a SINGLE play-off series in his prime with a surprisingly crappy team. That's my choice, what's yours?



2 comments:

Darren said...

If we are looking at people in their prime, I think we need to wait and see what LeBron's prime is like. I think he still has a year or two before he enters it.

Alex B said...

I fully agree Darren but as of right now, who do you take? There's a gun to your head..... and no one gets credit for something they haven't done so you can't judge about Lebron when he isn't fully there. Let's say he is in his prime (he's in his 6th year for heaven sake, he didn't start in the NBA yesterday) Jordan won an MVP in his 5th year. Oh and can we talk about how Jordan played baseball in his prime.... just saying. Make your pick.