Tony Reali Responded To My Tweet!

[*jason*]

(06-13-2017, 10:19 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: He didn't play a game 7 in the finals.

There were only 8 to 14 teams when Russel played, and not to mention that basketball wasn't as widespread or anywhere near as evolved as it was when Jordan played.

If you are specifically talking about the finals, then you're 100% right.

I'm a huge basketball fan Brad. I like it more than football as a sport. I don't like the NBA as much as I once did... For various reasons. I'm also really not arguing that LeBron is greater than Jordan. He is, however much more physically gifted, and more versatile. LeBron's style of play is actually much closer to Scottie Pippen's.

Jordan played in a much more physical era than LeBron does. You could push, grab, and foul hard without getting ejected then. In one sense that makes Jordan's offensive prowess that much more spectacular. In another, it lessens his defensive achievements. LeBron has shut down great offensive players without laying a finger on them. Jordan didn't have to. I think the league was deeper when Jordan played. The game is officiated differently now. Isaiah Thomas averaged 28 points per game this past year. That's what Jordan was getting in the late 90s.... Jordan would average 40 in today's NBA.

The bottom line is we can't just write off every great player after 1998. That's like saying no boxer was ever as great as Jack Dempsey. You said it yourself; different time, different era.

One last nugget for you... LeBron took a team of castoffs to the finals in 2007. Yeah... They got swept by the Spurs. Jordan couldn't get teams with Rip Hamilton, Christian Laettner, Stackhouse, and his hand picked number 1 draft pick to the playoffs in the east when he was in Washington.