re: Scottie Pippen says LeBron, statistically speaking, is 'probably ahead of Jordan'

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You can't just ignore it like it didn't happen though. Lebron played like arse against an inferior team full of dinosaurs and spare parts.

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I'm not ignoring it. I'm saying him coming up roses against some ridiculously good squads like the '14 Spurs and the last two iterations of the Warriors are far more relevant.

No way Jordan would be as loved had he played during this social media age.

Yeah, but has Lebron James saved the Looney Toons from an evil alien race?

MJ has more rings, but Lebron is a better overall around player. MJ was just a scorer, although a great one at that.

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MJ was just a scorer

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This is not accurate.

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MJ was just a scorer

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Jordan also has the benefit of being "first mover." From a perception standpoint, he'll always be the standard, even though he wouldn't be transcendent in the modern era.

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that + the media collectively protecting him (not as much an insidious plot as much as the media landscape of the time) will always make this a difficult discussion. if MJ was around in this era, he'd be much more of a villain than the superhero the media created

note: my statement above isn't picking one over the other, just describing how it's going to be difficult to judge legacies

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You said it earlier, but peak LeBron is unrivaled. He's had some mentally weak isolated moments, and he gets a ton of flak for off the court stuff, but his basketball abilities are unmatched.

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what's crazy is that Lebron's peak was that 2nd to last season in Miami (which was just in-fricking-sane) but his likely most historical moments/legend came after that in Cleveland (which ironically kind of mirrors MJ in the 2nd run which was after his peak)

peak Lebron was silly. remember when D Rose stole his MVP and was supposed to be the next big thing and in the playoffs Lebron shut him down in the most critical moments of the series?

LINK

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James put the then-reigning MVP in a torture chamber, destroying Chicago’s late-game offense in the process.

“The MVP has a lot of energy,” James said during the series. The Chicago Tribune called this a sarcastic comment, citing ‘Bron’s ‘refusal’ to say the Chicago superstar’s name.

Rose shot 6.3 percent with James guarding him, including going 1-15 in Games 4 and 5.

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that was Jordan-esque shite and he's the only guy who can come close to rivaling what MJ did in those sorts of moments

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“The numbers don’t lie,” said Pippen. “He’s right there. He probably will never catch him in terms of MVP, but in terms of statistics, LeBron is right there. And when you look across the board, not just scoring — check his assists, check his rebounds — he’s probably ahead of Jordan.”

Smith reacts with his usual bluster, and Kellerman wants his pound of flesh, too. This is, after all, Jordan’s partner in crime en route to the 6-0 Finals record that we all hold over LeBron’s head every time this debate arises. Oh, and it arises — maybe not always this early in the NBA season, but often, perhaps never more so than when James eclipsed Jordan’s all-time playoff scoring record last season and entered the 2017 Finals with a chance to slay the Golden State Warriors dragon a second time.

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I just love how all these old guys approach the precipice of unequivocally declaring LeGOAT's greater than MJ but they always mitigate their answers so they don't offend the MJ contingent or MJ himself, I mean Scottie was MJ's greatest teammate and that duo's probably the greatest of all-time so I'll give him a pass for that statement but if a guy's better just say it don't be timid. To me, we're in the post-PC world but man that MJ army is fierce lol.

Pippen is the one guy MJ likely won't really go after b/c of their whole (literal) dick measuring contests back in the day

Pippen can end any MJ bullshite by just tweeting a pic of Madonna and winning the internet for the month