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Message: [QUOTE="champs99and04, post: 2738517, member: 488"] "Jordan would have won eight straight titles if he didn't retire" has never been an argument that does much for me. There is a huge difference between being the best and winning every year. The wear and tear he saved his body by sitting those two seasons is unquantifiable. And if you want to appeal to Jordan's will to win, well, he was on the floor when they lost to Orlando in '95. The guy [I]was [/I]mortal, even if just barely. Otherwise, let's go ahead and give Shaq credit for all those years he wasn't in shape and assume he would have won the title. Peak Wade was better than peak Pippen, but LeBron really only got one year out of him, and he was far more inconsistent in the playoffs than people remember. In hindsight, they weren't a great fit together. It wasn't really until they started surrounding LeBron with shooters - Miller, Battier, Jones, Allen, etc. - that those Heat teams took off. Bosh was a stud, but he got badly outplayed by Duncan in the 2013 finals, putting up a goose egg in game 7 and averaging an empty 12 points for the series. You can debate the merits of Kyrie and Love, but LeBron only played two full postseasons with them. They won the title one year and the next a 73 win team added Kevin Durant. Jordan, meanwhile, got Pippen's entire prime. All of it. And when he retired before the '94 season, the Bulls won [I]fifty-five [/I] games without him. Go ahead and tell me which team LeBron has ever played for is winning 55 games in his absence. 2013 could maybe win 50. Prior to this point, I sided with Jordan in this debate simply because he doesn't have a stain on his resume like the 2011 Finals. I also had questions about whether LeBron was mentally unstable enough to do the things to win that Jordan did (call it competitiveness if you prefer). But after last night, I'm about ready to flip. LeBron might just be better. Scoring - specifically one on one, in high leverage situations - was the one area Michael had him beat. Given the fact that LeBron is averaging 35 PPG on 55% from the floor (what?) while still hoisting over five 3's a game, I'm no longer sure that edge is enough to compensate for LeBron being better in other areas. [/QUOTE]

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