Last week I put to bed my belief in politics as a functioning apparatus that forwards government and actual policy, at least as far as the federal government goes. Vote local! By the way, trump just nominated the rapist I talked about last week from Congress to head the Department of Justice. To be clear, a rapist nominated a rapist to oversee justice. Ha! These people ain't real, man. A system that would do that, that would allow that, ain't real, man. So, lullaby to that. Next, this debate of who is the greatest between LeBron and Jordan. I spewed here, upchucked yet a again, and now I'm done with it. Enjoy.
People really gotta stop, the media in particular, as the Jordan vs LeBron debate is not only tired but, ridiculous, and most often offensive, usually pointing one direction…at one LeBron Ramon James. Dude just living his life, strays coming his way from nowhere, just because people want to make a point about someone else. I remember when Jordan’s name used to come up, outside of the context he exists in, it was always to compare someone to greatest. He was the standard. “Oh, he’s the Michael Jordan of such and such or whatever the fuck”. “That’s Jordanesque”, which is actually the description or phrasing that caused all of this from the very beginning, but I’ll revisit that later. LeBron’s mentions, within social media, at the water cooler, or just causally, are usually based in something he didn’t do. His very existence is critique.
Now, don’t get me wrong, no one is above reproach, especially when what you do, your art, in his case basketball, is available for public display. That welcomes opinion and critique, which can be, literally, anything. Those standing in the arena understand that and likely welcome it, if for no other reason than motivation. But, if I’m honest, I just don’t think what comes LeBron’s direction is even in the least bit fair, especially when the context is brought forth, and I don’t mean what’s made up or imagined, I’m mean what’s actually known, what actually happened. And I want to keep it Basketball for the most part because I don’t know him, Jordan, or Kobe, who I’ll touch on just a bit because I’m sure some reading this feels he’s unfairly left out of the conversation between the two, with LBJ somehow just leap frogging him without merit. Not true is the short of it, further explanation forthcoming.
Anyway, the comparison is offset from the very beginning, as they don’t even play alike...AT ALL. Jordan was a singular power, in and of itself; never seen before, never to be seen again, at least that's what we thought. I remember his games didn’t even come on TV, you just heard about him, saw a commercial or two. S-Curl, I think, which is off a tad cause he had a baldy. Maybe that was just one of the commercials that ran in a loop. I just remember "Soooouul Train, duhda dada dadah..", and him on the break; rocking the ball and finishing with two hands. It was art, no question. Grace was his game. I mean it actually “looked” good. Crazy. His uniform tight, baldy crisp, mind sharp, language articulate, dare I say, handsome. Whoever came up with the “Be Like Mike” campaign, kudos. Perfect. Kobe, himself, almost did it...
Anyway, I don’t have to hype Mike, “The Guy” as a description of someone has never fit a person so snug. Again, at one point, all things that were seen as great or amazing were seen as Jordan like. This wasn’t him really, tho, because we don’t know him, the man I mean. What we know is his legacy. The championships, the shoes, the commercials, the movie, the lore, his legacy, that’s all we know. Agreed? Ok, bet, let’s keep it moving.
Fast forward some twenty years, bypassing a young, vibrant, exciting, also handsome and can hoop like crazy, 21 year old with a fro who is already in the league, to arrive at a 15 year old kid. Just being 15, hooping and, gotdamn, he can hoop too, like other worldly. He’s doing shit we’ve never seen before, surely not from a 15 year old, less his name being Lew Alcindor, but we can’t compare him to him because he doesn’t play like that. He’s off the ground, heavy. Even tho, 15 to 15 would be a more accurate comparison, if it’s absolutely necessary for you to make the comparison, which it isn't, but, nah, we just don’t see that, we see something else. Who is “we”, those looking to tell a story, to garner attention, to also create a way for themselves? A furthering of a career, a cry for attention, whatever, just something that creates an interesting conflict in the ever declining debate show arena, even if the actual comparison doesn’t even make sense.
The truer comparison for LeBron is Magic Johnson and the truer comparison for Jordan is Kobe, the carbon copy. But, style of play is not being compared, not really. What’s being compared is greatness and each person’s own definition or feel for it, so there is no real bar, it’s mainly what matters most to you, which could even work with this debate, the Jordan and LeBron debate, if, on its face, it was a comparison between Jordan and LeBron. It’s actually a comparison between LeBron and Jordan’s LEGACY, when he, LeBron, was 15, at least that's how it began. What it has become, ultimately, is commerce. Skip Bayless literally made a career, fed his family even, off non-stop hate aimed at LeBron. Others saw the potential for the payoff and looked to cash in. Opinions, in the field of sport media, are what drive it mostly, but none of them mean anything until, finally, someone gets one right. Countless empty, wrong spirited and downright clownish takes, get one right and the sports world stops as if Dionne Warwick just walked in. Their opinions aren't attached to any consequence, so they can be reckless if they choose to, even if their opinions cause harm, but I digress. Where was I? Ah yes...15 years old
What were you doing at 15? I don’t know, but I’m sure it wasn’t being compared to the greatest player whoever lived and, beyond that, his LEGACY no less. I’m highlighting that because I want to frame the atmosphere that was created around LeBron and placed on his shoulders. He was compared to Jordan’s LEGACY at 15, placed on the cover of Sport’s Illustrated at 17, who coined him “the chosen one”. Did he call himself that? Nah, he just leaned in, tatting it on his back, essentially announcing his commitment. Nike, NIKE, Phil Knight, you know the name, he’s attached to Jordan in some way, handed him 90 million before he even played an NBA game. What he do? Put a bunch of unprovens, his friends, in place to run his business. Oh Wait, my bad, I said I’d stick to hoop, by bad, let me get back to that. First pick, an 18 year old handed a failing franchise, in is home town, and asked to breath life into it. No one knew at 20, he’d be handed the keys to the NBA, all on the watch of that other guy who is undoubtedly the second best two guard ever. What he do in his first game, put up numbers that NBA vets marvel at even today, all while his teammates had been speaking aloud about how he won’t make that much of a difference.
Fam just kept playing basketball, while others wrote the story, crafted the next goal post movement, became even more incessant in their slander because they saw they couldn’t get to him. He just continued to hoop. Jordan got 6 rings, tho, he’s undefeated in the finals. 6 MVP’s? Unquestionably the best, ALL context be damned. This is more often than not the divider because it’s the one thing LBJ will always come up short to Jordan in, totally excluding actual basketball play altogether. The ultimate "one on one" player, who is broadly dismissed as a horrible teammate, gets to use the ultimate team effort of winning a championship in his GOAT argument against the ultimate team guy, who is broadly liked as a teammate. Go figure. Circumstance is always the unseen, unheard, at least when someone wants to make a specific point, undoubtedly one where bias exist. Now, I won’t rehash any of the moments, we all know them ad nauseam, and YouTube is always within reach. What I want to do is offer something else for examination, not to sway you, but just for observation purposes and maybe to bring a bit of critique without being critical, for the most part…
People like to disparage Jordan because he never won without Pippen, which is a great point, bolstered by Pippen taking the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals and a bullshit foul call away from the NBA Finals, without Jordan. Again, youtube is available. But, the truth is neither one of them, Jordan or Pippen, ever won without the Triangle offense; 8 changed to 24 included. Jordan’s game was dominance, but if you think about it he was dominant with or without the Triangle, but he only won with the Triangle. Fam who put up 81, during the dark years, when Shaq left and before Gasol came, was putting up scoring numbers that the league had never seen, I’m talking 40’s for weeks straight. Come on. Mamba was cold, but it was all in losing efforts, same for Jordan. When the Triangle came, it didn’t change either one of them. They were still shoot first, alpha male assassins, who did whatever they wanted in spite of permission. But, they wouldn't be Champions without an able minded steward like Phil Jackson, he of golden ego management, and Tex Winters, the architect of the offense itself.
Not just any offense. tho, one that could take the dominance of Jordan, "will to be the best" of Kobe, harness those characteristics, refine them, all without changing them, and turn it into 11 championships. Add another 4 with the Warriors as a "hidden" offense just for good measure. How many times does one thing have to happen for folks to credit that "thing" as the reason? Again, when have you ever known Jordan to not be dominant or , simply, the very picture of dominance? When have you ever known Kobe to not be about Kobe, to not go after someone’s neck at every turn, take a green light whether it’s given or not? The Triangle, a system, allowed for that, even encouraged it at times.
Jordan’s era Triangle offense had his dominance, and it also had Pippen’s ability to be a jack of all trades, which allowed Jordan to concentrate on his specialty, which is scoring. The Specialist. What else we need? Umm, a good rebounder? Sure, how about Horace Grant and then the best ever in Dennis Rodman. We need a shooter? Of course. Who though? Well, there's Paxson, Kerr, BJ, Hodges. What else is needed? A big man to block a few shots and clog the middle? Call Cartwright, he'll do or even Luc Longly. You know what, just get an archetype that's serviceable. 6 championships. Formulaic, precise. Micheal Jordan is the best system player ever. Proof is in the pudding, no disrespect. I love Jordan, ain’t a more beautiful game, mixed with no one colder, but no Triangle, no championships. I can't really call it a fact, but we can do the math, and it does not lie. He’d still be Jordan of course, he always was, but he wouldn’t be JORDAN. LeBron, no expert rearing, no college, no Hall of Fame coach, just his own feel for playing the game, and let’s take a look at what that looks like: pass first, get your teammates involved. Exactly how every coach teaches it across the world. Damn, fam even catches slander for playing the game the same way your AAU coach is teaching your son or daughter right now. Again, damn. He didn’t back down from for any of it, always said the right thing, even at 15. Folks put an impossible path before him and then get mad when he walks it and, according to some, including me, surpasses it? Wow.
Earlier, I mentioned the term "Jordanesque" and how when applied to LeBron. it just doesn't, at all, measure up. I don't mean stature, I mean game wise, the playing of basketball. Again, Jordan was grace, LeBron is force. Placed side by side on a big screen, they look absolutely nothing alike. It could be said, and rightfully, that their games are polar opposites of one another, other than the obvious athletic gifts, but you know whose game is "Jordanesque", and we could even take off the "esque" if we wanted to? One Kobe Bean Bryant. By the way, has anyone ever had a Kobe steak? Let me tell you, the Jordan of steaks. You know, I don't even know if this is a rabbit's hole that ventures deep. The walk, the talk, the uniform, shit, the very mannerisms, and, yes, most importantly, especially here for these purposes, his game: all Jordan. Some how we witnessed an actual carbon copy. Xerox would be proud.
You know what, that's not fair, as life itself evolves, things get better, so certainly Kobe did and would over time. He did have a better jump shot than Jordan, after all. Wait, did he? Nah, Jordan, from the midrange, was, IS, THE standard. Maybe from 3 point range, yeah, surely Kobe is better than Jordan from the arc. Hmm, I guess I'd give him the nod because he could make them, but Jordan didn't shoot many. That's the excuse Jordan fans use against LeBron. I wonder if it applies here? Surely it should. If it can be used at all, it can be used for all. Add to that, Kobe isn't a marksman by any stretch, so this is a wash at best. Defensively? Maybe? Yeah, Kobe was stellar defensively, his numerous First Team All Defensive selections being the proof. Jordan was lock down too, tho, like for real. It's not like he's going to have 50 and you're going to have 47. Nah. he dominated you offensively and shut you down on the other end. His game, literally, had no flaws. He was a basketball expert, pure. Can we say that about Kobe? Could he dominate you offensively, surely, embarrass you is probably a better phrasing, but he wasn't going to expend the necessary energy on the other side of the floor to shut down an opponent. We'd see it in spots, shut down LeBron on one play, D-Wade on another, but, again, in spots; that is, after he changed jerseys.
When #8 checked in at the scorers table, it was electric, an excitement that only the bright lights of LA could properly capture. He was brash, hungry, eager and anxious to show what he could do, who he could become. He was 17, game crazy, Hollywood sign at his back, world at his feet. My brother summed it up for me one time when we were watching a Laker game, he said: "The thing about Kobe is he just doesn't give a shit". Ha! He didn't, and it was on full display every night. What we got from him early on was flashes of brilliance, but, always, during those days, while wearing that number, a defensive stalwart. Defense is about competition, effort; Kobe embodied that, at first. When he became "Kobe", and recognized that scoring, and doing so in bunches, is where the fame is, the GREATNESS is, he concentrated mainly on that and cost the Lakers a lot of nights on the defensive side of the floor. Curry shoots so good, folks act like the other side of the game doesn't even exist for him. Look at Curry catching strays for no reason. Damn. And, if you're a Laker fan first and a Kobe fan second, you know some of those defensive teams he was named on was due to popularity. Moreover, if I had a dollar for every time i yelled at the TV "Pass the ball, Kobe!", I'd have, well, a bunch of dollars. Thinking about it now is painful.
I was working for John Muir Medical, standing in the middle of the milieu when a voice caught my ear: subtle, low tone. "That's odd", I thought, because it was close, too close. What the fuck? The voice simply whispered "81". I heard it, of course, unnerved by it a little, but I recognized the voice, so I thought I'd get to it in a minute, as I was actively having a conversation with a nurse about patient care at the time. La Voz, however, apparently disturbed by my non response, eased by again and again said "81", this time with a little more meaning in tone, as if to say "nigga, did you hear what I just said!?". Ha! I had, but I just didn't realize the magnitude, the importance. Moments later, after delivering a superb and thorough reporting to the nurse about a patient's affect, I code switched quickly: "Dog, what the hell you taking about?". Me asking my homie Andrell what the "81" was all about. Two Laker fans caught in discussion, one having all the information, the other having none. Amazing. His retelling was SportsCenter worthy and, luckily, I had the DVR set, watched when I got home, have watched it a number of times since, and I could watch it tomorrow; each and every time it's nothing short of poetry.
Kobe was poetry, no question, and I'm not here to disparage him, but, again, I'm a Laker fan first and this is a hoop discussion, which will always be the guiding light for any opinion I have, so, the truth is, Kobe's game just doesn't match up to Jordan's and all know it, proof being that he was alive when the "Jordan vs LeBron" discussion began. His calls for being the greatest, sadly, didn't begin until his untimely passing. He's gets the sentimental vote, I get it, but hoop wise, that's about it. He was never the clear cut best player in the league, even his MVP year. Does he get unfairly treated because of playing with Shaq, of course, who wouldn't? But imagine if he would have remained in Charlotte. Would he be "KOBE"? I don't think so, let's not forget that he didn't even come in ready. He had to become Kobe, which there is nothing wrong with, but when you compare him to the other two guys, both of whom came in dominant from their very first tip, it factors. Not to mention they both began on poor teams, not a storied franchise with the ability to make room for product development. This conversation existed long before I decided to write about it here, effectively putting it to bed for me forever, and long before Kobe's unfortunate death. Blame the basketball media, they shaped it, we're just living in it.
He is the second best two guard to have ever lived. What's wrong with that? When has the copy ever undone the original? It just doesn't happen, heart strings and all. His game, cold as it was, we've seen it before in Jordan, and once you've seen Jordan, there really is no unseeing Jordan. By the way, what's up with this "Mamba Mentality" shit? Kobe being openly mad and critical of others for the sole reason that they weren't like him, because they didn't approach the game with the same maniacal, madman intent as him? Huh? What? That's wack. There are a host of ways to be great, not just one way, especially when that one way makes you look like an asshole. I don't like that. This about hoop, tho, so my bad.
Now, past all the minutia and fluff, on the other side of the ring, staring grace in the face is force. No one said he could. In fact, they all said he couldn't. He was 15, for goodness sake, how could he? They piled expectation after expectation on him. What he do, live up to and surpass every one of them. Media, what they do in response? Continue to move the goal post, craft more impossible storylines, mythical creatures for him to slay. What he do? Slay them. One media outlet said that if he's not a first ballot Hall of Famer, he's a bust. This was when he was in high school. Come On. So, exasperated in their attempts, the media corners him in, puts a task before him that he couldn't possibly overcome: Jordan got six rings and six Final's MVP's. Do that LeBron. Impossible, but try he did. Why not? He came to be the greatest, said he wanted to be when he was young. Don't we all? I guess because it's him somehow its different. Weird. We just talking hoop, tho, so that's what he did.
All knew he couldn't do it in Cleveland, even Cleveland, but somehow they burned his jersey and threatened his life all because he wanted to pursue a Championship, something that all who opine on his industry lament as a mandatory prize to be considered great, at least in the upper echelon conversations. Fam can't win for losing. He did chase, tho, to the tune of going to the Championship 8 straight times. A chase for real, which delivered moments for the ages, but the focus was on his losses, like he didn't play immaculate basketball; a process that saw two dudes win Final's MVP because they were guarding him, him leading in all categories in another, and came back from what was seen as an insurmountable deficit in yet another. Wonderful basketball play throughout going unappreciated because he couldn't quite get it done. But, its a team game right? Not when it comes to LeBron. When it's him, its only blame, no credit. Ahh, YES, we got him. The media rejoiced in his defeat. Set up an impossible task and then laugh at him when he couldn't achieve it. That's iLL..
"...taking my talents to South Beach", you mad at that? Boy's and Girl's club ain't. Ask them. The game tho, my bad, his in particular: EVERY team LeBron went to, they were in the toilet when he got there. When he left, they went back to the toilet, immediately, and had a Championship. This is for those choosing to somehow make less of LeBron because he went to other teams. On any team he's on, he is the main reason for success or lack there of. Everyone gives him all the blame when his teams lose, but none of the credit when they win. Lose/lose for dude at all times, all he does is continue to ball. This LeBron section, if that's what this part is seen as, because, up to this point, the flow of the piece has suggested so, I'm sad to disappoint, as I'm not going to do a full breakdown on LeBron because it truly doesn't matter what I say, what I spell out. No matter how profound and meaningful the "thing" is, you'll find some way to lessen it, cheapen it, make an excuse as to why it happened, other than what's the most obvious, which is the way he plays basketball, and you'll do it all just because you don't like him. Why? Do you know him to even assess him like that? How could you have such hate for someone who you, yourself, only compares to one of two players of all the players who ever played. Saying that LeBron is second to Jordan, is that somehow a dig at him? Why all the angst? I guess we'll never understand the psyche of a fan, but we do understand the media's role, and even goal, here: What's the quickest way to the dollar bill? Say something disparaging about LeBron James. Easy, tired, proven, entire industries have arisen because of it.
Honestly, LeBron is keeping these other greats relevant because they're only brought up as it relates to him. Furthermore, we should stop comparing actual anomalies anyway. Siri defines "Anomaly" as follows: something that deviates from what is standard, normal or expected. In other words, by definition, an anomaly is incomparable. Is LeBron not an anomaly? Was Jordan not an anomaly? Rhetorical sure, but done so to emphasize the point: How do you compare something that really has no comparison? That also extends to "greatness" as well; that is, the act of being great or becoming great. If someone can reach a height where they are considered great, what is the argument really? This person or that person did more? More?? Certainly there are circumstances that separate everyone's path, but somehow that path still leads them to being great. Man, we gotta let that alone, unless its purely to muse. "Greatness" can't be defined, not really, its just is, and that should just be it. You know it when it walks through the door.
That's not sports tho, its not how it operates or how fandom operates within it. When we see something, usually something we've never seen before, we have to compare it to something else, if for no other reason than to make sense of what we just saw, so from that perspective, I offer this: LeBron James is the only athlete who wasn't allowed to become great. Jordan received grace, Kobe even more, LeBron? Greatness or bust from the very beginning. I don't care about the stats, I don't care about the Championships, because, really, in that regard, once someone has multiple championships, that is no longer a thing. Folks only count them when its Jordan against LeBron anyway, so, again, I don't care about any of that, the stories lines that have been told and will be told in the future. What I care about is a player emerged with a basketball game that was able to rival one that no one but he and his inner circle thought could, and he was able to play basketball for long enough for us all to see it, to witness it, if you will. Gotta salute that. His game alone allowed him to do, literally, the impossible, which is stand next to Jordan. He does't have to do anymore, he can stop right there. And, to me, that's why he's the greatest. Everyone bet against him and he covered all bets. That's not hyperbole, or fiction, it's not made up to sell stories or, in this case, a blog, it's simply a telling of what actually happened. One Love
-Smirk
