Would Jordan ever lose to the Mavs?

I know I haven’t written in a long time, but I’ve been really busy lately, and now I’m going to try to get back into it. Enjoy

A few weeks ago, Scottie Pippen made waves when, live on ESPN, he shared his thoughts on the Lebron-MJ debate. Pippen said that while “Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to ever play the game, I may go as far to say that Lebron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game."

Really, Scottie?

Predictably, these comments have sparked a ton of controversy within the basketball world. From Jeff Van Gundy to Mike Wilbon, educated basketball minds across the NBA landscape are up in arms about Pippen’s assessment.

What Scottie was trying to say was that, while Michael Jordan is the greatest scorer of all time, Lebron James does other things that Jordan did not. Pippen talks about Lebron’s court vision, his passing ability and his defence as factors in his comment.

Well first off, citing Lebron’s defence as an advantage in the MJ-Lebron debate is ludicrous. James is a fantastic defender, capable of guarding multiple positions, but do we forget what Michael did on that side of the ball as well?

Jordan won Defensive Player of the Year honours in ’88 (an award that has recently been changed to the Dwight Howard award), was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times, and led the league in steals three times.

Now I don’t want to base the entire defensive aspect of this debate on one play, but roll back the tape and watch what Lebron, standing maybe five feet away, did last night as Dirk drove past for the winning bucket. I’ll give you a hint; it wasn’t much.  

This leads to my next point. Even if you say Lebron is a better passer than Jordan or a better rebounder, there is one thing, one extremely important thing, which you can’t say. Lebron James is definitely not a better winner than Michael Jordan.

Case in point, this series. Now I’ve never seen Michael Jordan live in his prime (the Wizard years do not count), but based on the film I’ve seen and the stories I’ve heard, I will ask you this. Do you think there is any chance that a Michael Jordan led team would ever lose to this year’s Dallas Mavericks?

I thought so.

This isn’t a knock on Dallas, I’m personally one of the biggest Dirk fans in the NBA and I love the way the Mavs play as a team. Dallas just does not have the same talent that the Heat do, and this is an illustration of the difference, at least right now, between Jordan and Lebron.

MJ would never even be tied in a series like this, and there’s absolutely no way he would’ve let his team lose game two, or even game four, for that matter. In Pippen’s quote, he says, in passing, about how Lebron James can also score at will. Well, Heat fans, where was all that “at will” scoring in game two, while the Mavs went on their unforgettable 22-5 run to close out the game?

Where has all that at will scoring been all series, as the Heat have failed to eclipse 95 points, and in three out of the four games, failed to reach 90. I’m not placing the blame solely on Lebron, but again, Jordan would not have let this happen.

In a way, Lebron’s oft touted unselfishness can be seen as a negative in times like these. Jordan would not have let his teams lose in a series like this because he would have taken control. He would’ve put on the You-Can’t-Stop-Me face, stared his man down, stuck his tongue out and gone to work.

If Jordan ever had a guy like Jason Terry on him at the end of an NBA finals game, there would be no more offence. It would be a “give me the goddamn ball right now” iso-fest between Jordan and his man, and you know Jordan would win. He always did.

Again, I’m not trying to discount Lebron as a player. He’s an incredible physical specimen, a great teammate, and he’s great for basketball in general. He’s just not Jordan.

You can bring in all the stats and advanced metrics you want, because in reality, it only comes down to one letter, and that letter is W. Michael Jordan would never allow himself to lose to the Dallas Mavericks; and he wouldn’t even need Wade and Bosh to help him through it.