Sorry, but if I may suggest the slightest edit on this part of your otherwise solid analysis of the Jordan-Lebron debate…
Which I wouldn’t even attempt to address until after Lebron retires…
Considering he may win another title or two by relocating in Philadelphia, or Houston, or Los Angeles (if he could get to the Finals with the current Cavs roster, even the Lakers could have a deep playoff run)…
Not to be too subtle about my response to this point, but…
NOT ONE SINGLE TEAM THAT JORDAN BEAT IN THE FINALS COULD CARRY THE JOCKSTRAPS OF THE ALL-TIME TEAMS YOU LISTED.
The Suns, Sonics and Jazz can not be mentioned in the same breath as those historic teams. You might as well as say that Abdul-Jabber, Magic, Bird, Chamberlin, Duncan, Kobe, West, Robertson, Olajuwon, Shaq, Moses Malone, Havlicek, and Baylor are on the same level as Kemba Walker because they all played in the All-Star game.
Those teams had the most dominant players in basketball history, along with a couple of other Hall of Fame players, or (in the case of the Spurs) a collection of All-Stars who sacrificed individual honors to play in a winning system. These teams would not only destroy Jordan’s victims, but be favored in many cases to beat Jordan’s best Bulls teams, which had three HOF players.
Jordan beat good teams that had either only one or two HOF players, but not one player in the top 15 of Simmons’ basketball pyramid:
93 Suns: HOF Barkley (19), Kevin Johnson (93), Chambers (96)
96 Sonics: HOF Payton (41), Kemp (88)
97–98 Jazz: HOF Malone (18), HOF Stockton (25)
On the other hand, Lebron James played far better teams:
07 Spurs: HOF Duncan (7), Horry (84), Ginobli, Parker and Finley
12 Thunder: 3 x HOF (in a few years) Durant, Westbrook, Harden, along with DPOY Ibaka
15–18 Warriors: 3 x HOF (in a few years) Curry, Durant, Thompson, DPOY Green, Finals MVP and former All-Star Igoudala
With regard to wondering if Jordan could be an underdog in the NBA Finals once he reached his peak, if he played any of those all-time teams he would have been an underdog in many of those series. ESPN did an NBA simulation, with the 1971 Bucks beating the 1996 Bulls in the Finals.
The Jordan GOAT argument should be based on his performance as one of the most dominant two-way players in history, not because his prime coincided with the aging and retirement of the all-time great players in the 1980s, combined with six expansion teams being added to the NBA between 1988 and 1995.
If you’ve going to go by winning titles, Bill Russell got 11 in 13 years, including 8 years in a row. Jordan took off a year and a half years to play baseball, so he was able to rest and recharge. He then lost to the Orlando Magic. So he wasn’t unbeatable in his prime. He just lost before the Finals, so everyone ignores that blemish on his record.
