Quijano: Who had the most help?

ANOTHER interesting byproduct of the Goat conversation after the airing of the “The Last Dance” documentary series is the debate on who between Michael Jordan and LeBron James had the most help in their careers.

FIRST. Jordan won six titles and Lebron has three. So I guess the best way to start comparing is to focus on the title runs because having teammates when you didn’t win titles really doesn’t matter. For MJ’s first title run, his best teammates were Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. For Lebron’s first two titles in Miami, he had Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

Scottie Pippen was a seven-time All-Star, while Wade was a 13-time All Star. Wade was also a one-time Finals MVP. Pippen made the All-NBA first team thrice, while Wade made it twice.

On the defensive end, Pippen lorded it over Wade as he made it to the All-Defensive First Team eight times, while Wade had zilch. Wade was a one-time scoring leader while Pippen was a one-time steals leader.

In the playoffs, Wade averaged 22.3 points, while Pippen had 17.5. Pippen though, being taller led him in rebounds at 7.6 to 5.2. It’s almost even at the assists department with Pippen averaging 5.0 and Wade at 4.9. Wade also shot better from the three-point area as well as in the two-point field goal percentage.

All in all, I would give the edge to Wade due to having more All-Star appearances and a higher scoring average.

What about Grant vs. Bosh? The latter is clearly better by a mile. Bosh was an 11-time All Star, while Grant only made it once. Bosh also made the All-NBA Team once, while Grant never did. Grant though is superior in defense, having made the All-Defensive Team four times. Bosh also was a better scorer in the playoffs at 15.6 compared to 11.2 for Grant while the latter was the better rebounder at 8.6 to Bosh’s 7.5

All told, I would say that Lebron had the better teammates offense-wise, but Jordan had better defensive teammates in his first three-peat.

Second. In his second run, MJ still had Pippen but we will substitute Dennis Rodman for Grant. For Lebron, this time he had Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Irving was a six-time All-Star compared to Pip’s seven but Irving suffered and continues to suffer several injuries which derails his All-Star Appearances. Pippen leads in All-NBA Teams selections with seven compared to two for Irving.

But in the scoring department, Irving leaves behind Scottie with a scorching 23.5 while the taller Scottie is clearly the better rebounder. The assists are tied at 5 per game and the steals are pretty close with Irving at 1.5 and Pip at 1.9. Irving was also clearly the better shooter especially at the 3-point range at .398 compared to Pip’s .303 Irving again wins in offense while Pip wins in defense.

Rodman vs Love? It’s Love all the way except in rebounds and defense departments.

All told, it’s not even close as Lebron clearly had the more star-studded teammates. Jordan did more with a lot less help, but there’s another reason why Michael Jordan still trumps Lebron James even in this department—Jordan didn’t go and actively recruit team-mates to make super teams. Rodman was probably an exception but even he wasn’t Jordan’s idea. The Bulls management got him and Jordan worked with him and turned him into a great role player. Lebron purposely surrounded himself with pieces so he could achieve success. Even so, he wasn’t as successful as MJ.

Last Rounds. Are on Jojie Cabrillos of MTCC Branch 2 Talisay City and lovely wife Josie, who are celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary. Cheers!

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph