POLL All MJ team vs All LeBron team, who ya got?

[logic]

I think to some extent any NBAers that play along side all time greats benefit. McHale played along side Bird. Worthy played along side Magic.

As far as Kyrie. Not sure what's wrong with that fella. It'll be interesting to see if he becomes unhappy with KD the way he did with LeBron.

Those Bulls teams when Jordan was gone were still good, losing in the Conference semis (to the team that went to the Finals for the East to lose to Hakeem). How were those Kyrie-led teams?

 

[Wamu]

Those Bulls teams when Jordan was gone were still good, losing in the Conference semis (to the team that went to the Finals for the East to lose to Hakeem). How were those Kyrie-led teams?

We all know how a Kyrie-led team has faired in the playoffs. No playoff trips when he was in Cleveland. The Celtics made it to game 7 of ECF without him. And last year he played some of the worst basketball of his career during his epic no-show in the semis against the Bucks. He will never be The Man that leads any team to the ultimate goal.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

3 time first team All NBA, 2nd team and 3rd team twice each, all defense 1st team 8 times.

Kyrie has made all NBA twice. 1 2nd and 1 3rd team.

Even if you don’t want to classify Pippen as a superstar (which I think is a mistake), there is a vast chasm between the 2 resumes in terms of individual accolades.

You're making it sound like I flat out said Kyrie is better than Pippen, which I didn't do.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

We all know how a Kyrie-led team has faired in the playoffs. No playoff trips when he was in Cleveland. The Celtics made it to game 7 of ECF without him. And last year he played some of the worst basketball of his career during his epic no-show in the semis against the Bucks. He will never be The Man that leads any team to the ultimate goal.

Exactly right. But he would have been a great #2 guy if he was willing to accept that role.

That's why I don't think the Nets are going to be as dominant as some think. I have a feeling with KD back, Kyrie still thinks its "his" team.

 

[broncosmitty]

Ron Harper instead of Kukoc

Jerry Stackhouse instead of both.

 

[logic]

Exactly right. But he would have been a great #2 guy if he was willing to accept that role.

That's why I don't think the Nets are going to be as dominant as some think. I have a feeling with KD back, Kyrie still thinks its "his" team.

I'm not sure it will be such an issue with Durant as he has always done very well as a #1-A and they have some good support as well.

Nets dominant? No, but they'll be there with the Bucks, Heat, 6ers, Celtics fighting for home court first round.

 

[Wamu]

Exactly right. But he would have been a great #2 guy if he was willing to accept that role.

That's why I don't think the Nets are going to be as dominant as some think. I have a feeling with KD back, Kyrie still thinks its "his" team.

No question he'd be a great Robin to someone's Batman. But he has to want to accept that role. If he doesn't his time in Brooklyn will end badly.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

No question he'd be a great Robin to someone's Batman. But he has to want to accept that role. If he doesn't his time in Brooklyn will end badly.

Kyrie is very easily threatened. In Cleveland he was threatened by Lebron, in Boston it was the young guys like Tatum and Brown.

I don't see how having a top 3 player in the league (when healthy) on the team is going to have him calm down.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

I'm not sure it will be such an issue with Durant as he has always done very well as a #1-A and they have some good support as well.

Nets dominant? No, but they'll be there with the Bucks, Heat, 6ers, Celtics fighting for home court first round.

Possibly. If the team chemistry is absolutely perfect and health is good too, the Nets should be fighting for the 1 or 2 seed.

I think I predicted them as the 5th or 6th seed as it currently stands.

 

[tlance]

Exactly right. But he would have been a great #2 guy if he was willing to accept that role.

That's why I don't think the Nets are going to be as dominant as some think. I have a feeling with KD back, Kyrie still thinks its "his" team.

Kyrie’s playing style doesn’t really allow him to be a great #2.

He has the talent and ability. But his game lacks substance.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Jerry Stackhouse instead of both.

Not bad

 

[tlance]

Coulda-shoulda

The 2004 Lakers should have wiped the floor with the Pistons
The 2011 Heat should have beat the Mavs
The 2013 Spurs should have beat the Heat

Pippen was a tremendous player, but not on the superstar level.

You can call him a superstar or not. That doesn’t really matter.

You made it sound as if it was close between Pippen and Kyrie. It isn’t.

You said Kyrie would probably be considered better if he accepted a #2 role and that Pippen is overrated.

The difference between the 2 players is that Pippen is a winner. He does the little things to help his team. Kyrie seems to care more about his numbers and his status than he does helping his team win.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

You can call him a superstar or not. That doesn’t really matter.

You made it sound as if it was close between Pippen and Kyrie. It isn’t.

You said Kyrie would probably be considered better if he accepted a #2 role and that Pippen is overrated.

The difference between the 2 players is that Pippen is a winner. He does the little things to help his team. Kyrie seems to care more about his numbers and his status than he does helping his team win.

No I didn't.

My exact quote:

I'm torn by the "Pippen is an all time great" notion.

His accomplishments with the Bulls is second to none. But only because he was willing to be the #2 guy behind Jordan.

If Kyrie would be happy to take that role on, eventually he'd probably be known to be better than Scottie.
Problem is, Kyrie has always considered himself the alpha of the team but doesn't want to take any of the responsibilities.

Not once did I say Scottie was overrated. I said he's not on the superstar level.

Superstar players are Jordan, Magic, Lebron, Kareem, Wilt, Bird, Shaq etc etc. Not a single person would say Pippen on the same level as those guys. He's on the tier below. The tier which features Karl Malone, Dirk, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley etc.

And yes if Kyrie was willing to accept he was a Beta rather than an Alpha, there might have been a chance he could end up better than Scottie.

 

[tlance]

No I didn't.

My exact quote:



Not once did I say Scottie was overrated. I said he's not on the superstar level.

Superstar players are Jordan, Magic, Lebron, Kareem, Wilt, Bird, Shaq etc etc. Not a single person would say Pippen on the same level as those guys. He's on the tier below. The tier which features Karl Malone, Dirk, Moses Malone, Charles Barkley etc.

And yes if Kyrie was willing to accept he was a Beta rather than an Alpha, there might have been a chance he could end up better than Scottie.

All of those guys are superstars.

And my definition of superstar is pretty strict.

And again, no. Because it is way more complicated than “accepting a role”. Some guys have skill sets that are extremely conducive to winning because they are easy to play with. Klay Thompson is a modern example.

Kyrie is like Harden, but not as good. His playing style is difficult to play with. So he would have to entirely change the way he played. And even then, he isn’t a good enough athlete to be an elite defender. Which Pippen obviously was.

Everything Kyrie does best is with the ball in his hands. That, by definition does not lend to being a great #2 because the best #2s play off the #1.

Kyrie won a ring because he got lucky as hell that LeBron James chose to join his team.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Everything Kyrie does best is with the ball in his hands. That, by definition does not lend to being a great #2 because the best #2s play off the #1.

Kyrie won a ring because he got lucky as hell that LeBron James chose to join his team.

That's why I said IF Kyrie accepted being the Beta rather than Alpha. That naturally comes with a different mentality.

 

[tlance]

That's why I said IF Kyrie accepted being the Beta rather than Alpha. That naturally comes with a different mentality.

It is his skill set too though.

His skill set lends more to being a bad #1 than a good #2.

Putting him off the ball doesn’t allow him to take advantage of the things he does best.

 

[bksballer89]

What about the bench?

Bron would have Ray Allen, Rondo, Danny Green, and Dwight Howard

 

[tlance]

What about the bench?

Bron would have Ray Allen, Rondo, Danny Green, and Dwight Howard

Don’t forget Kevin Love

 

[DrewScott]

Team Kawhi

Kawhi
Duncan
Parker
Siakim
Paul George

 

[tlance]

Team Kawhi

Kawhi
Duncan
Parker
Siakim
Paul George

Team Kawhi

Kawhi
Duncan
Parker
Siakim
Paul George

Team LeBron is better.

But that would be a good matchup for team MJ.