Better “GOAT” Poll: Michael Jordan or Lebron James?

GOAT: Michael Jordan or Lebron James?

  • Michael Jordan

    Votes: 12 57.1%

  • Lebron James

    Votes: 1 4.8%

  • Unsure/Undecided/Neutral

    Votes: 1 4.8%

  • Someone Else: Neither Jordan nor Lebron

    Votes: 7 33.3%
  • Total voters
    21
ColoradoTeamsOverOhio3249

ColoradoTeamsOverOhio3249

Active member
In your opinion, based on the NBA Stats/Record Book: Who would you consider in your opinion to be “NBAs GOAT”? Michael Jordan or Lebron James? I mean, I think MJ was Incredible, but I think he was good for his era, but now in 2023, I’d have to maybe say Lebron James would be the GOAT? What’s your vote? Lebron or Jordan? Or if you think it’s somebody else, please specify who you believe would be better than these two athletes?
 
 
cjb5656 said:
Magic Johnson
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Wait for it…

I agree!

Most people who are old enough think it’s Jordan…no contest. I often say Magic #1 and Jordan 1A…partly because it irritates some people, but he was a transitional point guard. There is no one close to him in the “made his teammates better” eval. His offense got better every year in the NBA. He won a title playing center as a rookie. He had enormous competition.

My views on Lebron mean my opinion doesn't count for much. I’d put him in the top 5…but I don’t think a person who watched the NBA from Russell forward could seriously see Lebron as #1.

Bird…I’m a huge fan...took me some time to concede that Magic was better than Bird…but he was…I think…Bird thought so too.
 
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Robertson…not a winner…great scorer…difficult teammate.

Kareem…I can respect a view that he’s #1…he had an offensive skill (skyhook) that no one else had (before or since) and it couldn’t be stopped if he got the ball where he wanted it. Ultimately, I disagree, though. He was moody, not a great teammate (Magic fixed him to a degree), and, other than the skyhook, his game was not exceptional.
 
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CatAlum said:
Wait for it…

I agree!

Most people who are old enough think it’s Jordan…no contest. I often say Magic #1 and Jordan 1A…partly because it irritates some people, but he was a transitional point guard. There is no one close to him in the “made his teammates better” eval. His offense got better every year in the NBA. He won a title playing center as a rookie. He had enormous competition.

My views on Lebron mean my opinion doesn't count for much. I’d put him in the top 5…but I don’t think a person who watched the NBA from Russell forward could seriously see Lebron as #1.

Bird…I’m a huge fan...took me some time to concede that Magic was better than Bird…but he was…I think…Bird thought so too.
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"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I'd choose Michael Jordan; If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life... I'd take Larry Bird." - Pat Riley.
 
clarkgriswold said:
Wilt Chamberlain.
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What does Michael Jordan think of Wilt Chamberlain?


Yes, I wanna (We all should) be like him, the man who claimed to bedded 20.000 womens, the man who holds multiple unbreakable NBA record, the man who was nice, if not the nicest player of all time in the history of NBA.
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Meadowlark Lemon. 'Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen,' Chamberlain said.
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the greatest basketball player ever
I think we're getting closer to the answer.
 
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I had business dealings with Magic back in the early '90s and a couple things stood out to me. One was the guy always had a smile on his face and made everybody feel like he was their best friend, great for team leadership which a couple of the above names are sorely lacking. But most importantly everything about him was big for being basically a PG. Not only was he tall and athletically built but his hands were huge, the basketball was like a softball in his hands and I immediately could tell why passing was so easy for him. Not saying he was best ever, I am in the MJ camp due to he ability to make clutch shot after clutch shot, but Magic was truly a unicorn.
 
I get that he played in a different era, but here's Chamberlain's resume
* Only player to score 100 in a game;
* Only player to have 55 rebounds in a game;
* Only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, which he did seven times;
* Seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability/minutes played, and nine field goal percentage titles;
* Once led the league in assists!;
* His dominance resulted in many rule changes, including: widening of the lane, creating offensive goaltending, rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws;
* Never fouled out of a game in 14 years;
* 20,000 floozies.

He could not, however, make hook shots from the press box like Meadowlark.
 
clarkgriswold said:
I get that he played in a different era, but here's Chamberlain's resume


He could not, however, make hook shots from the press box like Meadowlark.
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That we know of. Credit to Meadowlark Lemon for being able to make them before the age of digital editing.
 
Lew Alcindor,in grade school,high school,college,NBA,they had to change rules because of his domination…BAM!
 
clarkgriswold said:
I get that he played in a different era, but here's Chamberlain's resume
* Only player to score 100 in a game;
* Only player to have 55 rebounds in a game;
* Only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, which he did seven times;
* Seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability/minutes played, and nine field goal percentage titles;
* Once led the league in assists!;
* His dominance resulted in many rule changes, including: widening of the lane, creating offensive goaltending, rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws;
* Never fouled out of a game in 14 years;
* 20,000 floozies.

He could not, however, make hook shots from the press box like Meadowlark.
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I’m entirely too young to have ever seen Wilt play but during high school/college I was a huge NBA nerd and read about the pre90s NBA alot. This is actually a knock on Wilt for a lot of people as he would essentially check out on defense, and somewhat on offense, for large stretches of time to end a game.

But yes, Wilt doesn’t get enough talk as the NBA goat OR the greatest athlete of all time. The man was a track and field stud at Kansas and was a good professional volleyball player after retiring from the NBA. All while being a giant at 7’1”.
 
Many times in these comparisons, if you didn't see the player, it's hard to make them the best. Babe Ruth is arguably the best baseball player ever, and he pitched, hit, won games, did about everything, but we didn't SEE him.
Chamberlain is becoming that for many basketball fans. I saw Wilt, but it was in the 70's with Lakers and his career was nearly over. We overlook alot of REALLY good players in the 80's and 90's for today's stars of Kyrie Irving, Luka, Ja Morant, etc. There were alot of comparable players to these 20-30 years ago but we forget those guys quickly.
 
clarkgriswold said:
I get that he played in a different era, but here's Chamberlain's resume
* Only player to score 100 in a game;
* Only player to have 55 rebounds in a game;
* Only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, which he did seven times;
* Seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability/minutes played, and nine field goal percentage titles;
* Once led the league in assists!;
* His dominance resulted in many rule changes, including: widening of the lane, creating offensive goaltending, rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws;
* Never fouled out of a game in 14 years;
* 20,000 floozies.

He could not, however, make hook shots from the press box like Meadowlark.
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Wilt…

Might be the greatest athlete of all time…or the greatest big athlete of all time…though he was transcendent and played a lot of his career against defenders who were 4-5 inches shorter. Russell was 6’9” and thin…and hung on by his fingernails guarding Wilt.

But the argument against him…he was not a good teammate, not a leader; moved from team to team for those reasons. His supporters claim he was surrounded by lesser players…some truth…but, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich…all played with Wilt. Wilt should have won more.

I think Wilt’s career and Lebron’s have similarities…both are underachievers imo (in terms of winning titles)…and both of their supporters push the “lousy teammates” narrative.

Greatest athlete? Maybe. Greatest basketball player? Nah…
 
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clarkgriswold said:
I also never saw Wilt throw a bucket of water on someone only to have it be confetti!
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I assume you are aware that Wilt DID briefly play for the Globetrotters…so he may very well have thrown a bucket of confetti.

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Jordan, not close imo. LeBron wants to be friends with the other elite players. Jordan saw them as competition, not friends. Jordan might be a bit psychotic, but he was the ultimate competitor. The only player that’s come close to that level of intensity was Kobe.
 
Omar said:
Jordan, not close imo. LeBron wants to be friends with the other elite players. Jordan saw them as competition, not friends. Jordan might be a bit psychotic, but he was the ultimate competitor. The only player that’s come close to that level of intensity was Kobe.
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I thought Russell was a guy who was intensely competitive but that was on the court. Surprisingly (at least to me), he and Wilt were pretty friendly.
 
Lebron James at the age of 38.

Scoring 29.1
Assists 6.7........He led the league a couple years ago.
Rebounds 8.2....3rd sf in the league.

Without Anthony Davis have won 5 games in a row.

Not bad for a 38 year old man.
 
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CantonKid said:
Lebron James at the age of 38.

Scoring 29.1
Assists 6.7........He led the league a couple years ago.
Rebounds 8.2....3rd sf in the league.

Without Anthony Davis have won 5 games in a row.

Not bad for a 38 year old man.
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I've always thought Lebron's greatest "achievement" has been the maintenance of his body. I assume that's part gift and part effort.
 
I don't know why we need to have a GOAT. Both were the greatest of their era, that is for sure. As a fan, I'm lucky to be the right age to have seen them both for their entire career. Kind of a pointless argument IMO.

Certainly if you had an all-time NBA starting 5, they both are on it, MJ at (2) and LBJ at (3). Personally, I would add Bird (4), Russell (5) and probably Stockton as my point guard. Can't imagine any way that team ever loses.
 
wolves82 said:
I don't know why we need to have a GOAT. Both were the greatest of their era, that is for sure. As a fan, I'm lucky to be the right age to have seen them both for their entire career. Kind of a pointless argument IMO.

Certainly if you had an all-time NBA starting 5, they both are on it, MJ at (2) and LBJ at (3). Personally, I would add Bird (4), Russell (5) and probably Stockton as my point guard. Can't imagine any way that team ever loses.
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Pointless for you to argue or pointless for us to argue?
 
wolves82 said:
I'd say do what you want. There isn't a right or wrong answer.
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Whew, I thought you were trying to tell the Yappi crowd it was pointless to argue. You'd have unleashed an awful lot of trouble onto the streets, who'd be looking for something to do. We'd have to go back to the water-fountains and barbershops. Not good. Barbers got guns now.
 
LJ had to go to Miami than LA to win titles - be around other great players - Jordan won all his titles with the same team not even close who the better player is(was). LJ never wanted to take the last shot, MJ relished in that role, MJ was the man LJ not so much.
 
eastisbest said:
"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game I'd choose Michael Jordan; If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life... I'd take Larry Bird." - Pat Riley.
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This both Jordan and Bird wanted the basketball when the game was on the line - those are your great players. The term great gets tossed around too loosely in today's world.
 
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