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

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What does the MSB think?

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f they didn't play defense

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@ you.

Probably 40-10-10 if i had to guess

yeah. despite all the advancements in training and sports science the NBA players today are sooo much worse than they were 25 years ago... players have literally got better, faster, and stronger at every sport except basketball

/sarcasm

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His scoring, assist, rebounds

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So like, MAYBE as high as Lebron's when he's finished?

Pace is substantially higher than it was in the mid to late 90s. The late 80s/early 90s were a bit faster paced than the current NBA though.

The lack of illegal defense in the current era kinda evens that out though. Theoretically it was meant to make team scoring more important to move away from the slow crawl of iso ball that the NBA had moved to. And for a while it worked, peaking probably around '10 to '14 with relatively few 20+ ppg scorers and only a couple of 30+. Some may argue that it was an indictment of the league's talent but I think it was more to do with Thibodeau's defensive principles becoming commonplace.

In the last couple of years things have swung back the offense's way with more and more teams moving to 4-out types of offenses but most of LeBron's career numbers have been accumulated during one of the toughest defensive eras especially for a player with his skillset. On top of that the east has featured some great defensive teams:

Magic #1 in '09
Celtics #5 in '10
Celtics #1, Bulls #2 in '11
Celtics #1, Knicks #5 in '12
Pacers #1 in '13
Pacers #1, Bobcats #5 in '14

The offensive weakness of some of these teams may've afforded him more opportunities to advance and play more games but there's no denying what he's done against top level opposition.

Obviously he would average 50/15/10

Lots more elite athletes in today's NBA. MJ would still be a stud if he would be playing in today's time obviously, but he'd have to have 2 more studs on his team to win anything, just like the rest of them.

Jordan was a sociopathic arsehole that was obsessed with winning ON HIS TERMS. His assists don't compare to LeBron's because he always elected to take a shot, no matter how cold he was, rather than make the smart basketball play. LeBron has been focused on helping his teammates and team succeed since day 1, even if it results in a skewed perception of his abilities. Which it has, because people refuse to accept that anyone but Jordan can be the GOAT at playing and understanding the game of basketball.