Last week we talked about if Bill Russell should be considered the greatest of all time because he has more rings than anyone that has ever played professional basketball. I don’t agree with any of that and I fully believe MJ is the greatest the league has ever seen. Just because he has more rings doesn’t mean he’s better. I know it’s different but I think Peyton is greatest to ever play the quarterback position and he only has one ring. And that’s coming from a diehard Packers fan. Another thing we talked about was the 1992 dream team versus the 2012 dream team and who would win if they played each other. It would be such a crazy game as the 1992 roster was full of future hall of famers. They also had much better big men than the 2012 roster as they had two seven footers in Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Laettner also may have seven foot but his presence wasn’t really needed on the 1992 dream team. But then on the 2012 dream team you have the most dominate player the league has seen since MJ in LeBron James. I would like to say the 2012 team would win because I have seen all these players for years and never got to see any of the 1992 roster play, but I fully believe the 1992 dream team would win, but in a very close game. Maybe if the 2012 roster had another big man like Dwight Howard, maybe the 2012 team would have had a better shot.
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you when you say Michael is the best player to ever play the game of basketball. One thing I recently have had trouble understanding though is when MJ is asked who he would take between LeBron and Kobe, he chooses Kobe because “five beats one.” One question I would like to ask MJ then would be who he would take between Bill Russell and himself? If he is solely basing his decision of rings, then I guess he would have to take Russell. The point is, is that MJ is definitely a better player than MJ, and though I am a Lakers fan, I would say eventually LeBron will pass Kobe on the greatest of all time list, so one cannot simply base things on just Championship rings, even if it is MJ.
-Tyler Jester
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteIn comparing the original Dream Team to the team that just went to London, I think that the original Dream Team would win, although it would be very close. The size and physicality of the 1992 team would just be too much for the 2012 team to even try to compete with. Even if the 2012 had the likes of Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins, and Andrew Bynum who are some the best big men in the game today, the size of 1992 would just prove to be too much. Ewing, Robinson, Barkley, and Malone would destroy the front line of the 2012 team. If it was not just size alone, it would be because of toughness and strength, something today's NBA is severely lacking in. The interesting match-ups would be Kobe versus MJ and LeBron against Scottie Pippen. Kobe and MJ would be interesting because of how similar they are in terms of mentality and LeBron against Scottie would be good because of Scottie's stellar defense (10 All-NBA defensive teams). The only way I believe that 2012 could compete is if the pace of the game was non-stop up and down the floor. This would give them an advantage because of their speed and guard heavy roster (2012 had only 3 post players in Chandler, Davis, and Love).
Another interesting topic that relates to this is that Michael recently did an interview in which he named players who he thought could compete in the NBA back when he was there. Out of all 450 possible players that are in the NBA, he only named 4 that he thought would have stood a chance. Michael said that LeBron, Kobe, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tim Duncan would be able to hang with the old NBA. Thats it, no Kevin Durant or Carmelo Anthony. Thats something I find very interesting and would love to get his reasoning. It probably has to do with their mentalities and their physicality but who really knows.
Zane Langdon
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the fact that the amount of rings does not determine the greatness of a player. There is no doubt in my mind that MJ is the greatest basketball of all time and possibly themost dominant athlete in his sport the world has ever seen. Rings do come into play when talking about greatness but it is not the omly factor. Some great players have never gotten rings (i.e. Charles Barkley). It is possible for some average players to have numerous championship rings just based on luck. Based on this fact, Bill Russell is not better than MJ due to amount of rings.
-Tad Margolies