Michael Jordan and LeBron James. (Credit: Getty Images)
(WSCR) The moment LeBron James emerged as an elite, league-changing talent, the debate began.
Micheal Jordan or LeBron James?
That debate, of course, is premature, as James has yet to finish his career and still trails Jordan by five NBA Championships. Still, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau tried to tackle that very question with reporters Monday.
“With all those type of comparisons, those are tough to make,” Thibodeau told the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t think you can do it until LeBron is done. To speculate now I guess makes for interesting conversation. They’re both great. Of course what Jordan did was just incredible. Who knows? Kobe (Bryant) has had a great career. LeBron has had a great career and he’s still young.”
Thibodeau believes the game is different today than it was when Jordan played, making it even more of a challenge to compare the two.
“Jordan put so much pressure on you in so many different ways,” Thibodeau said. “It’s a different game now than it was then. It was a lot more physical than it is today. You couldn’t play zone the way you can today. In some ways, having the ability to play some zone and use some zone principles helps. It’s still difficult to guard the great players. But it helps some.
“And then the flip side is not being able to be as physical hurts you some. When Jordan played, you could play a lot more physical. He took a beating. All the great players take beatings. But it was probably to an extreme in the 90s. I think the game is a lot better today because they cleaned that stuff up.”
What do you think? Jordan or LeBron?
