re: Just imagine MJ's numbers if they didn't play defense and

I love how people just post shite around here without any evidence to back it up.

Johnson led the league in steals twice and Bird was All D second team three times... But hey, they didn't play any defense

I wouldn't go that far but it was kind of top heavy much like the west this season. Most of Jordan's eastern conference runs weren't much different from LeBron's as far as strength of opposition until he got to the ecf where a legit championship contender was waiting most years. There hasn't been a team to fulfill that role in the east since Rose's knee gave out on him.

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I don't know what answer you're looking for. I watched every Bulls game from 1989-1998. I watch a lot of basketball today. In my opinion, the defense was tougher and the fouls were harder back in the 90's. I don't have any spreadsheet or anything to show it to you

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Right. Facts go out of the window. All we have to rely on is your memory after you've proven to be extremely stupid. How convenient.

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People who think a 6'8 250 pound freight train would struggle in that era are retarded

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I don't think Lebron would struggle at all. It might take him a little while to adjust to the way the game was played back then, but he would eventually be just as great as he is now. Same thing with Jordan. He'd become a pretty good 3-point shooter in a short amount of time and be great in this era.

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You don't think Jordan's game would've evolved? Pretty sure he'd work more on his three point shot if he played in today's game. Wasn't doubled off the ball?? Did you ever watch his games?

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Just b/c he would have worked on it doesn't mean he'd ever get all that much better. Do you think Wade and Kobe never worked on their 3 point shooting? They surely did but both were still mediocre at it.

Also, it's not like saying MJ might look like Wade is some huge insult. He'd still be a kick arse player. He just wouldn't be able to fly around the court in the same way.

Imagine if James came up with Phil Jackson as his coach instead of who he's had... Just the other day I was reading a thread where Lue was getting killed as a horrible coach

People think there are so many blowouts in today's game, and they're right. But at least one team in a blowout is playing d versus all the games in the 80s where both teams were scoring 120-140

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In my opinion, the defense was tougher and the fouls were harder back in the 90's

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. In my opinion, the defense was tougher and the fouls were harder back in the 90's

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the defense was more physical, but it was much more limited and simplistic

if there is one guy in today's NBA that would have thrived in that 90s-iso ball, it's lebron. he was the size of karl malone and is an all-time great driver. does anyone really think that anthony mason getting in a few hand checks or cheap shots would slow down LBJ?

guys who would likely have been affected playing in the old NBA are guys like Durant and Curry. guys with slight frames who could be physically worn down over a season and who rely on an offensive game that wasn't popular then

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How about today where you can shade a guy under and help off of poor shooters?

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This cannot be overstated. It's why Jordan got to the foul line so many times, you couldn't play help defense, so he was always one on one drawing contact.

Not to say Jordan wasn't a great scorer, he did what he had to do with the rules at the time.

Nostalgia makes people dumb though. Jordan wouldn't have averaged any more points now than he did back then. In fact, he likely wouldn't have gotten to the free throw line as often and could have potentially scored less.