Jordan speaks on LeBron going to Miami.

[Chelm]

Let me ask people this.  How many titles would have Jordan won if you replace Pippen with say Mo Williams or better yet with the Cavs supporting cast over the years verses the Jordan's Bulls.  Jordan failed to mention that along with Pippen, he had Grant a very very solid player early in his career and a rebounding machine in Rodman later on and some other good players such as Kukoc.  

I think Jordan would have won a title with last year's Cavs.  Shaq, Jamison, and Williams is a legitimate surrounding cast.  Did Jordan ever lose a playoff series when his team was favored / had more wins than their opponent?  I don't think so; when Jordan had the pieces, his teams always won, which is one of the things that separates him from Jordan.

You just named 3 guys Shaq, Jamison, and Williams that hardly play any D nowadays.   Pippen is one of the greatest wing defenders of all time in his prime and the Bulls D was suffocating.   Plus Jordan had a coach that actually knew how to run an offense not like Mike Brown.   I don't think it's a slam dunk Jordan would have won last year and I know how great Jordan was.   Let's make this clear I'm not saying Lebron is on the same level of Jordan but who is but even Jordan himself I think would struggle a little bit carrying that cast of characters.    They are going to be a pretty awful team this year.  

I'll make 1 more point.   When Jordan took that hiatus during the middle of his career the Bulls if I remember correctly were still at least a .500 team.   Take Lebron away from last year's Cavs and I really think they would be lucky to win 30 games.  

They were not just a .500 team.  They were really, really good.  They were a .670 team the first Jordanless year & almost went to the NBA Finals (a couple points in a game 7 ECF).

In the year without Jordan, the Bulls lost in the second round, not the ECF.

You're right.  My glasses are apparently rose-colored.

[Moranis]

I like how Barkley says that when youre a 2 time defending MVP, the players should come to you, you shouldn't be going to any other team.  He is probably right with that as well.

No, he's absolutely wrong. How exactly were Bosh/Wade supposed to come to Cleveland with no cap space? Were they supposed to take the vet minimum? Even if Bosh agreed to a sign-and-trade, how would they have signed Wade?

I agree with the origional comment.  Who wins an mvp and then takes off to play with a better player?  Nobody but Lebron, right?

Moses Malone won the MVP and then went to Dr. J's team and they won the title that first season.  And Wade is not better then Lebron, it may be Wade's team, but Lebron will be the best player.  Just like it was Dr. J's team and Moses immediately became the best player as evident by him winning another MVP and Philly winning the title.

Moses was traded for Caldwell Jones and a first round draft pick.  But yeah, he was looking for bigger money.

Malone was a restricted free agent.  He signed an offer sheet with Philadelphia on September 2.  Houston then matched the offer before agreeing to trade him to Philadelphia on September 15 for Caldwell Jones and a 1983 first round pick.

[Moranis]

Let me ask people this.  How many titles would have Jordan won if you replace Pippen with say Mo Williams or better yet with the Cavs supporting cast over the years verses the Jordan's Bulls.  Jordan failed to mention that along with Pippen, he had Grant a very very solid player early in his career and a rebounding machine in Rodman later on and some other good players such as Kukoc.  

I think Jordan would have won a title with last year's Cavs.  Shaq, Jamison, and Williams is a legitimate surrounding cast.  Did Jordan ever lose a playoff series when his team was favored / had more wins than their opponent?  I don't think so; when Jordan had the pieces, his teams always won, which is one of the things that separates him from Jordan.

You just named 3 guys Shaq, Jamison, and Williams that hardly play any D nowadays.   Pippen is one of the greatest wing defenders of all time in his prime and the Bulls D was suffocating.   Plus Jordan had a coach that actually knew how to run an offense not like Mike Brown.   I don't think it's a slam dunk Jordan would have won last year and I know how great Jordan was.   Let's make this clear I'm not saying Lebron is on the same level of Jordan but who is but even Jordan himself I think would struggle a little bit carrying that cast of characters.    They are going to be a pretty awful team this year.  

I'll make 1 more point.   When Jordan took that hiatus during the middle of his career the Bulls if I remember correctly were still at least a .500 team.   Take Lebron away from last year's Cavs and I really think they would be lucky to win 30 games.  

They were not just a .500 team.  They were really, really good.  They were a .670 team the first Jordanless year & almost went to the NBA Finals (a couple points in a game 7 ECF).

In the year without Jordan, the Bulls lost in the second round, not the ECF.

You're right.  My glasses are apparently rose-colored.

yep lost in game 7 to the Knicks (in NY) in the famous Scottie Pippen sit out game.

[Chelm]

yep lost in game 7 to the Knicks (in NY) in the famous Scottie Pippen sit out game.

Didn't they win that game?  Couldn't have been game 7.

[CelticsWhat35]

yep lost in game 7 to the Knicks (in NY) in the famous Scottie Pippen sit out game.

Didn't they win that game?  Couldn't have been game 7.

It was game 3 when that happened.  The Bulls were down 2-0 at the time and eventually lost in 7 games.

[BballTim]

I like how Barkley says that when youre a 2 time defending MVP, the players should come to you, you shouldn't be going to any other team.  He is probably right with that as well.

No, he's absolutely wrong. How exactly were Bosh/Wade supposed to come to Cleveland with no cap space? Were they supposed to take the vet minimum? Even if Bosh agreed to a sign-and-trade, how would they have signed Wade?

I agree with the origional comment.  Who wins an mvp and then takes off to play with a better player?  Nobody but Lebron, right?

Moses Malone won the MVP and then went to Dr. J's team and they won the title that first season.  And Wade is not better then Lebron, it may be Wade's team, but Lebron will be the best player.  Just like it was Dr. J's team and Moses immediately became the best player as evident by him winning another MVP and Philly winning the title.

  Malone's probably the closest thing out there to LeBron James. It's also worth noting that Malone led a team to a title, won 3 MVP awards, was 1st or 2nd team all-nba on numerous occasions, yet never seriously makes the conversation for best ever, either overall or at his position.

[Moranis]

I like how Barkley says that when youre a 2 time defending MVP, the players should come to you, you shouldn't be going to any other team.  He is probably right with that as well.

No, he's absolutely wrong. How exactly were Bosh/Wade supposed to come to Cleveland with no cap space? Were they supposed to take the vet minimum? Even if Bosh agreed to a sign-and-trade, how would they have signed Wade?

I agree with the origional comment.  Who wins an mvp and then takes off to play with a better player?  Nobody but Lebron, right?

Moses Malone won the MVP and then went to Dr. J's team and they won the title that first season.  And Wade is not better then Lebron, it may be Wade's team, but Lebron will be the best player.  Just like it was Dr. J's team and Moses immediately became the best player as evident by him winning another MVP and Philly winning the title.

  Malone's probably the closest thing out there to LeBron James. It's also worth noting that Malone led a team to a title, won 3 MVP awards, was 1st or 2nd team all-nba on numerous occasions, yet never seriously makes the conversation for best ever, either overall or at his position.

kind of tough to do that when you are the same position as Russell, Chamberlain, Jabbar, O'Neal, and Olajuwan.  Who have more accolades pretty much across the board.

[BballTim]

I like how Barkley says that when youre a 2 time defending MVP, the players should come to you, you shouldn't be going to any other team.  He is probably right with that as well.

No, he's absolutely wrong. How exactly were Bosh/Wade supposed to come to Cleveland with no cap space? Were they supposed to take the vet minimum? Even if Bosh agreed to a sign-and-trade, how would they have signed Wade?

I agree with the origional comment.  Who wins an mvp and then takes off to play with a better player?  Nobody but Lebron, right?

Moses Malone won the MVP and then went to Dr. J's team and they won the title that first season.  And Wade is not better then Lebron, it may be Wade's team, but Lebron will be the best player.  Just like it was Dr. J's team and Moses immediately became the best player as evident by him winning another MVP and Philly winning the title.

  Malone's probably the closest thing out there to LeBron James. It's also worth noting that Malone led a team to a title, won 3 MVP awards, was 1st or 2nd team all-nba on numerous occasions, yet never seriously makes the conversation for best ever, either overall or at his position.

kind of tough to do that when you are the same position as Russell, Chamberlain, Jabbar, O'Neal, and Olajuwan.  Who have more accolades pretty much across the board.

  One could argue that, while he didn't make as many all-nba teams as Shaq or Hakeem, he put up similar stats to either of them and won 3 MVPs to their one each. Yet, as you noted, he's not seen as being in ( or really near) their class.