31 Aug 07
1 edit
being english, i'd like to have an american view on this...
i got into a debate about the greatest player with a guy from work; i said it was jordan, and he said magic and bird were both better than jordan and the only reason jordan did so well is because at the time there just weren't that many great players...
is he right..?
thanks
31 Aug 07
Originally posted by eatmybishopJordan was not only a stellar scorer, he was also the best defender at his position. He was relentless at both ends of the floor. There were plenty of great players on the same stage as Jordan as the Chicago Bulls engineered their run of championships... Isaiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, even Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman on his own team. So I don't think it is a good argument against Jordan that there weren't any good players in the NBA; it was just that Jordan was SO good that the others didn't seem to match his level.
being english, i'd like to have an american view on this...
i got into a debate about the greatest player with a guy from work; i said it was jordan, and he said magic and bird were both better than jordan and the only reason jordan did so well is because at the time there just weren't that many great players...
is he right..?
thanks
I'm a big Larry Bird fan (during those magical 84-88 years, the guy was in the top ten in Assists, Rebounding, Points, FG% and FT% for goodness sake!) but I can't deny the solid arguments for Jordan as #1 as well.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by Doctor Ratthanks; so if it came down to it, who would you say was the greatest ever?
Jordan was not only a stellar scorer, he was also the best defender at his position. He was relentless at both ends of the floor. There were plenty of great players on the same stage as Jordan as the Chicago Bulls engineered their run of championships... Isaiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, even Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman o ...[text shortened]... and FT% for goodness sake!) but I can't deny the solid arguments for Jordan as #1 as well.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by eatmybishopnot sure ABOUT that...there may be indoor and outdoor courts, just as there were in the 70s when i was growing up... but how many people use them?
it's getting to be big; indoor and outdoor basketball courts are now just about everywhere, it cant step outside the soccer shadow though
Football (or soccor as the USA calls it!) is still the no.1 sport here. More people play it here then any other sport.. more people watch it both live by going to the grounds and on tv then anyother sport.
FOOTBALL RULES!
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by MoneyManMikeYep. The careers of Bird, Johnson and Jordan overlap. After the 87-88 season when Bird had his back injury, he was never the same player again, and both he and Magic Johnson were retired after 1992. Jordan finally came into his own with his first championship in 1990-91. So as the old guard faded, the new guard took its place, but they all played against each other in the mid-1980's until 1992.
also, didn't Jordan, Bird, and Magic play ball around the same time, so if Jordan played against bad players, then so did Bird and Magic.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by eatmybishopI would still say Larry Bird was the greatest player ever, because he could give you scoring (inside, outside, right or left handed) AND rebounds AND assists AND he had that great performance-in-the-clutch ability. After Larry's back injury following the 1987-88 season, he wasn't the same player anymore, so for people who only started seeing him after that, they have no idea how good he really was.
thanks; so if it came down to it, who would you say was the greatest ever?
Larry was able to carry the entire 1981 Celtics to the NBA championships with a roster that was .. well, besides Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale who only played 20 minutes per game coming off the bench, how many other players stand out as NBA stars that one remembers? (Cedric Maxwell, Tiny Archibald, Rick Robey, Chris Ford, Gerald Henderson, ML Carr, Eric Fernsten, Terry Duerod, Wayne Kreklow were the other players on the roster) If I could choose any player in NBA history with which to build a team, the first player I would pick would be Larry Bird. I think Larry Bird was the greatest player ever.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by BLReidThe "michael jordan is god" quote was Larry Bird commenting on the 63 points that Jordan scored against the Celtics in Game 2 of the 1986 first round playoffs. But Larry Bird and the Celtics won that game, 135-131 in double overtime 🙂
"This is Michael's world, we're all just playing in it" ~ Charles Barkley
"Michael Jordan is God in Basketball shoes" ~ Larry Bird
I think these two may be considered qualified opinions.
Yes, Jordan was the greatest ever, and that doesn't take anything away from other greats.
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by Doctor RatScottie Pippen has got to be the most overrated player ever. He only seemed ok because he enjoyed the extra attention jordan had. The Bulls had incredibly crap teams, but they had the mighty Jordan.
Jordan was not only a stellar scorer, he was also the best defender at his position. He was relentless at both ends of the floor. There were plenty of great players on the same stage as Jordan as the Chicago Bulls engineered their run of championships... Isaiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, even Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman o ...[text shortened]... and FT% for goodness sake!) but I can't deny the solid arguments for Jordan as #1 as well.
I always had a dislike for Jordan's Bulls, but he was simply the best I've seen by far, followed closely by Bird. He's more complete than Bird, there's no question about it.
01 Sep 07
2 edits
Anytime you get into the "best ever" discussion there will always be a debate as for sure you will get into comparing players that never played much against each other. Comparing players from different era's will ALWAYS be subjective....
Jordon is my vote for the best ever in "modern basketball". Better than Bird.
But Jordon the "best ever"?
Surprised to not see the following names yet mentioned in this thread:
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Magic Johnson
Julies Erving
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Add Jordon amoungst those and its almost impossible to pick a "best ever"....
01 Sep 07
Originally posted by S h a n eAlthough I tend to agree, I think that such a reasoning kills any interesting discussion.
Anytime you get into the "best ever" discussion there will always be a debate as for sure you will get into comparing players that never played much against each other. Comparing players from different era's will ALWAYS be subjective....
Jordon is my vote for the best ever in "modern basketball". Better than Bird.
But Jordon the "best ever"?
Su ...[text shortened]... Jabbar
Add Jordon amoungst those and its almost impossible to pick a "best ever"....
Why not speculate and choose one? Of course, we'll never know for sure which one was better, but it still makes for some interesting conversation.