2021 NBA Playoffs

[ArtieChokePhin]

I see the Heat and Lakers in unfamiliar positions.  The play-in was a new thing this year and sent the Warriors packing.

[Sunstroke]

This is going to be my year...  Suns are looking good for a run at the title, my Padres are kicking extreme amounts of ass, and my 49ers, now healthy, are ready to get back to the SB.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Lebron James is such a clown. I'm a Knicks fan so naturally I grew up hating Michael Jordan. Now that I am an adult, I see the difference between the two and it's not even close. Jordan would average 45 PPG in today's NBA while Lebron would average 12 PPG at best. Way too soft and no one even tries on defense.

[CF DolFan]

Lebron James is such a clown. I'm a Knicks fan so naturally I grew up hating Michael Jordan. Now that I am an adult, I see the difference between the two and it's not even close. Jordan would average 45 PPG in today's NBA while Lebron would average 12 PPG at best. Way too soft and no one even tries on defense.

Jordon would also play hurt and try to convince you he wasn’t while LeBron tries to convince you he’s hurt when he really not.... LOL

[ArtieChokePhin]

Lebron James is such a clown. I'm a Knicks fan so naturally I grew up hating Michael Jordan. Now that I am an adult, I see the difference between the two and it's not even close. Jordan would average 45 PPG in today's NBA while Lebron would average 12 PPG at best. Way too soft and no one even tries on defense.

Jordon would also play hurt and try to convince you he wasn’t while LeBron tries to convince you he’s hurt when he really not.... LOL

Lebron would learn what getting hurt really feels like if he played back in the 90s.  Especially prior to 1995 when hand checking was legal.  Some guy asked me if I thought guys like BJ Armstrong or Derek Harper could guard Steph Curry.  I told them that if they were in their prime and playing with early 90s rules, damn right they could.  They would hand check Steph to death and his entire game would be thrown off balance.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Lebron would learn what getting hurt really feels like if he played back in the 90s.  Especially prior to 1995 when hand checking was legal.  Some guy asked me if I thought guys like BJ Armstrong or Derek Harper could guard Steph Curry.  I told them that if they were in their prime and playing with early 90s rules, damn right they could.  They would hand check Steph to death and his entire game would be thrown off balance.

It wasn't boring back then either, it was actually more intense. I'm glad the Knicks don't suck this year but watching these 123-117 games is ridiculous and removes a lot of the suspense for me. The Pistons of the 80s would put these kids in the hospital.

[Spider-Dan]

You guys are killing me.  Jordan's NBA was terrible compared to the league today.

Jordan has a bunch of rings because all of his competition sucked; during the '80s when the NBA had quality teams, Jordan couldn't do anything.  On his six trips to the Finals, he played against 6 different teams in the Eastern Conference Finals - a testament to how mediocre the East was.  His opponents in those ECFs averaged 1 Hall-of-Famer per team.

Who was the second-best player on Ewing's Knicks?  Reggie's Pacers?  Clyde's Blazers?  The only other legitimately good team during the '90s was Hakeem's Rockets, which Jordan ducked while he was busy quitting.

[Phishfan]

I think Utah was pretty good in the 90s but I see what you're saying Spider.

[Spider-Dan]

The Jazz were the only team Jordan beat that made two Finals during his run.  Every other team was one-and-done.

The NBA was extremely watered-down during the '90s.  Outside of the first title, the Bulls never had to beat another great team; it was a succession of flashes-in-the-pan who couldn't get out of their own way.  (And even that first title was the last gasp of two great teams; neither Isiah nor Magic ever made it out of the first round after that.)

[CF DolFan]

This is pretty funny

Reggie Miller Talked Trash to Michael Jordan Once
https://youtu.be/Vkks7EqWnhU

[EDGECRUSHER]

The Jazz were the only team Jordan beat that made two Finals during his run.  Every other team was one-and-done.

The NBA was extremely watered-down during the '90s.  Outside of the first title, the Bulls never had to beat another great team; it was a succession of flashes-in-the-pan who couldn't get out of their own way.  (And even that first title was the last gasp of two great teams; neither Isiah nor Magic ever made it out of the first round after that.)

I don't think it was watered down, there were just no super teams where a bunch of guys agreed to join the same team. If Michael Jordan asked Reggie Miller or Patrick Ewing to join him in Chicago, they would've told him to go fuck himself. Each conference had 2-3 teams that were very much above the rest of the teams in the conference, only the Jordan led Bulls were always on top, the others kind of rotated.

[CF DolFan]

If Michael Jordan asked Reggie Miller or Patrick Ewing to join him in Chicago, they would've told him to go fuck himself.

Not sure about Patrick but I remember Reggie saying something along those lines. It wasn't until LeBron joined Miami that it became popular to give up and quit your own thing to join other greats and dominate. Th league hasn't been the same since.

[Sunstroke]

Not sure about Patrick but I remember Reggie saying something along those lines. It wasn't until LeBron joined Miami that it became popular to give up and quit your own thing to join other greats and dominate. Th league hasn't been the same since.

Not to burst your Lebron-hate bubble, but the Celtics trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen beat them to it by at least 5-6 years.

[Spider-Dan]

When Jordan returned from baseball and the Bulls lost to Shaq's Magic in the playoffs, their first move was to go get Dennis Rodman; the same Dennis Rodman from the hated Pistons teams that pioneered the strategy of, "Why don't we just throw Michael Jordan to the ground every play?" So I don't want to hear any complaining from Jordan fans about superteams.  He was perfectly fine with recruiting enemies to his team when it served his purpose.

The real difference is that competent GMs apparently died out in the '80s.  That decade had multiple superteams with 4+ HOFers.  Whether it's the players making the moves or  the GMs, at the end of the day, the '90s had the least talented teams of the last 40 years.

And for the record: Shaq and Kobe made a superteam with their Western Conference rivals Malone and Payton 4 years before Boston.  They were just unsuccessful.

[ArtieChokePhin]

When Jordan returned from baseball and the Bulls lost to Shaq's Magic in the playoffs, their first move was to go get Dennis Rodman; the same Dennis Rodman from the hated Pistons teams that pioneered the strategy of, "Why don't we just throw Michael Jordan to the ground every play?" So I don't want to hear any complaining from Jordan fans about superteams.  He was perfectly fine with recruiting enemies to his team when it served his purpose.

Because the Bulls had no good big men that could rebound once Horace Grant left for the Magic.  Dennis Rodman's relationship with San Antonio had soured and he was pissed at Bob Hill, the Spurs coach at the time.  So a trade was orchestrated and it fit in well for the Bulls because if there was one thing Phil Jackson was good at, it's getting superstars to behave themselves. 

I don't think it was watered down, there were just no super teams where a bunch of guys agreed to join the same team. If Michael Jordan asked Reggie Miller or Patrick Ewing to join him in Chicago, they would've told him to go fuck himself. Each conference had 2-3 teams that were very much above the rest of the teams in the conference, only the Jordan led Bulls were always on top, the others kind of rotated.

This right here.  After the Heat won their second title, Larry Bird was quoted as saying, "I woke up every morning thinking about beating Magic, not joining him."