Pippen says Lebron better all around player than MJ

[Saltheart]

Scottie Pippen: LeBron ‘may be the greatest player to ever play’ - Ball Don't Lie - NBABlog - Yahoo! Sports

Surprised to hear this from a guy who although admittedly a first class player , owes his true success to Jordon. Without Jordon , the Bulls win zero championships during Pippens career.

Anyway , the way I see it , there are two distinct kinds of great players. Guys like James and Bryant and Jordon who as individuals had super skills and took matters into their own hands to win games. The other class is guys like Magic and Larry who although totally capable of stealing the spotlights for their individual skills , stressed teamwork as the ultimate achievement in BBall. Everyone around Larry and Magic looked twice as good just because these two guys knew how to use them as part of their teams to get the job done. And yes , with 10 seconds left in a tie game , they both were as or more dangerous to score a winning basket than James or Jordon or Bryant.

Another thing to point out is how strong the league was in the early and mid 80's when Bird and Johnson made their mark. Does anybody who knows BBall think that any team in the last 10 years could have survived a 7 game series against the 83 to 85 Celtics or Lakers? Not even a contest in todays watered down league and talent pool.

Anyway , I always remember the Pan Am games just before the first "Dream Team" Olympics. That was the only time Larry and Magic ever got to play significant minutes together on the same team. It was the most incredible BBall you will ever see. Bird and Magic passed the ball to eachother so well that even great players like Jordon and Barkley could not even follow the ball. I remember a stretch of lightning fast passes between Larry and Magic and then to Jordon where the ball hit Jordon in the face. He could not keep up with where the ball was going between Larry and Magics passes. Had some twist of fate put those two guys on the same NBA team in the 80's , they would have won all the championships in a row like Russels teams did in the late 50's and all through the 60's.

So anyway , people always think the highest scorers are the "Best Ever". In fact the best ever guys are the ones who made everyone on their team better in the effort to win the championship year after year after year. You give me Larry, Magic, Walton, Russel and Havlicek and you can have MJ, Lebron, Kobe and any other two guys you want and I'd bet my house on the team player's team , not the individual all stars.

[BigFish]

Lebron is half the player Jordan was at best! Kobe' is a better player than Lebron for cryin' out loud??? Pippens cheese must be slipping off his cracker???

[spence]

Jordan made the entire team wear suits and act like professionals. Lebron had an ego jerk fest just to announce where he was going to play.

Case closed.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Duke41]

pippen..go back to jv.

[EarnedStripes44]

C'mon guys, Lebron is pretty good. There is no doubt about it. With that said, I am rooting for Dallas.

[Saltheart]

LeBron is good no doubt. I don't think anybody but the Celtics had a chance against this Miami team and we couldn't get it done so I think Its Miami's year with Dallas winning maybe 1 game.

[Karl F]

saltheart...I am rereading "America's Dream Team" by Chuck Daly, great trip down memory lane, and interesting perspective... the Bird Magic rivalry, and how similar their styles, and how they meshed on that team.. the best basketball, according to Daly, that he saw was the pickup games before/after practise, he related how Jordan , even tho he was playing on the Bird/Magic team, could not keep up with the interplay between those two, even when it included him, the passing skills of those two, and ability to find the open man, and willingness to share, was something Jordan was just no ready for.. many times the ball would just bounce of of his chest when the needle was threaded and the pass, he was not ready for, just bounced out.. Lebron would be in the same boat... yes, he is an athlete, yes he has skill, he might be the best(??) out there today..(but certainly not best of all time... Russell, Jerry West, I mean to name a few, there was some real talent, long gone, but not forgot, that would teach Lebron a lot, if the time clock allowed it)...could he play at 80's level....???.. hell there were some guys on that 92 dream team, that just enjoyed the show..if you have not read this book...by all means hit the library and read it.. a fan like yourself, would surely enjoy the read (as well as any long time b-ball fan)... some great photos, and comments from the guys on that 92 team as well... and remember Bird was in agony, and really pushed himself..just to be there...he did not play too much either, but was extremely effective when he did.

[Saltheart]

I'll have to get that one to read! The celtics- lakers mid 80's was the hay day of B Ball. We'll never see teams that good again because of the dilution do to so many teams now. You account of what Daly said about the Bird/Johnson razzle dazzle and the unable to keep up Jordan is exactly how I remember it. yes , bird was in pain and his carreer was essentially over at that time and yet he and Johnson were still easy to see as the best of the best on that Dream Team.

The first Dream Team...Daly never even called a time out during the entire Olympics. Never had to!

Thanks for the heads up on the book Karl. Just the type of thing I like to read.

[Karl F]

"When the Game was Ours"..Jackie MacMullan with Bird and Magic...
I have been lent that one as well, and also just finished "Bird Watching" by Jackie MacMullen...all great stuff.

[Ed B]

The way the game is called nowadays with the bastardization of traveling, carrying the ball, and body contact, it is very difficult to compare players from different eras in what it takes to be successful.

If I were coaching today, I would hang a prime rib at the rim, give the ball to a 280 lber and tell him to go get it, no holds barred. Hence you get guys who can be succesful even without any shooting skills. Dwight Howard comes to mind! .... and they call him "Superman" of all things. 25 years ago with the way the game was called, on a team with Bird or Magic he would have been a rebounding and defensive specialist.

Back to Pippen's comment, perhaps there is a little resentment on his part as Jordan overshadowed everyone else on a very good team. We don't know. But with 20 seconds left in a NBA playoff game? Hard for me to believe Pippen would want to see the ball with Lebron before MJ.

[Saltheart]

Yep , I notice the taveling, double dribble and palming all the time. Lebron is a big offender in that department and so is Wade. Like all sports , BBall has had rule changes to make it easier to score. the same applies in baseball and football. the fans want to cheer when someone scores so everything has been shifted in favor of the offense. What would a guy like Oscar Robertson's or Pete Maravich's numbers look like if there was a 3 point line in those days??

[BigFish]

So Scottie......how does LeBron stack up this morning???

[Strike_King]

Fitting...

[Pete F.]

That pic needs its own thread