How dominant would Mj be in todays league

[AnaheimLakers24]

No he isn't. If the defense starts sagging in the middle and playing a zone, he isn't going to light you up and make you pay from the 3 point line the way Durant is. Zone makes it harder for superstars to drive and have an impact on the game. Durant scores so well due to the fact he has Westbrook driving in, and allowing him to become a catch and shoot player a lot of the time. He can mix and match depending on what the defense gives him.

Yeah, Jordan averaged 37ppg on a team that had a losing record. Are you saying he wouldn't be good enough to lead a team to a decent record in today's era? Jordan isn't sniffing 37ppg in today's basketball. Maybe back in 04-07, but now with more teams using zone as a staple, even if he did do it, it'd be on low % numbers.

Hes better than bron

[3ball]

So MJ is averaging 40ppg in todays league when no one is averaging over 28ppg?

That's exactly what he did in 1987 - he averaged 37.1 PPG, and the next guy after that was Dominique at 29.0 PPG.

Jordan's PPG has always been much higher than the #2 guy - he was usually the only guy over 30 PPG, just like he would be today.

You just don't understand how good MJ was because you weren't there to witness him - you're like a white person that's never seen racism themselves, so they don't reeeaally believe it exists - trust me, just take other people's word for it who HAVE seen it - MJ would thoroughly dominate today's game.

[ralph_i_el]

That's exactly what he did in 1987 - he averaged 37.1 PPG, and the next guy after that was Dominique at 29.0 PPG.

Jordan's PPG has always been much higher than the #2 guy - he was usually the only guy over 30 PPG, just like he would be today.

You just don't understand how good MJ was because you weren't there to witness him - you're like a white person that's never seen racism themselves, so they don't reeeaally believe it exists - trust me, just take other people's word for it who HAVE seen it - MJ would thoroughly dominate today's game.

dude...8 is less than 12. And an even worse comparison considering the pace they played at (probably ~10% more possessions than today)

[3ball]

considering the pace they played at (probably ~10% more possessions than today)

In 1987, the Bulls played at a 95.8 pace - today, league-wide pace is 93.8, or 2% slower.

So adjust Jordan's 37.1 PPG downwards 2% - so he'd average 36.5 PPG today.

[Donkey4trading]

pretty good

[ClipperRevival]

MJ won 10 straight scoring titles in his last 10 full seasons with the Bulls (minus 94-95). If that's not dominant, I don't know what is. And the fact that he did it in the modern era and not the 60's like Wilt makes it that much more impressive.

Highest ppg avg in history for both regular season (30.1) and playoffs (33.4), he came, he saw, he conquered. Deal with it Lebron fans.

[3ball]

Zone defense would make him do worse.

Some players say they dislike zone, but when players talk about defense, MOST of their statements say it's harder to score against hand-checking, higher physicality, no-spacing and paint-camping - these things from previous eras more than offset today's zone defense.
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[miles berg]

He would be dropping 35-40 ppg. This league is way too soft for a guy like Jordan not to dominate.

[Dr.J4ever]

MJ would average 45ppg/8 apg/7rpg. He would dominate today's softies and make even the biggest Jordan fanboys wet in their pants.

[3ball]

superstars are impacted negatively based on rules

It's the opposite of what you said - it's common knowledge that today's player benefits from wider driving and passing lanes due to spacing.. Also, it's well-documented that the NBA instituted major rule changes in 2005 designed to make penetration easier (this is the NBA's interpretation, not mine), which included a ban on hand-checking and various physicality..

These rule changes spearheaded a golden age of dribble-penetration, where there are more dribble-penetrators than ever before, and where teams use dribble-penetration to initiate offense more than ever before.. All that's needed is a high screen or an isolation play to take advantage of the hand-check ban and get in the lane.. Players like Harden, Lebron, and Kobe, as well as all point guards benefit from these plays.. Previous era players would be no different.

The 2005 rule changes also included the elimination of paint-camping with a new defensive 3 seconds rule that forced defenders inside the paint to stay within "armslength" of their man at all times (cling to their man), or vacate the paint.. This is the exact definition of man-to-man defense (and a strict version of man-to-man at that) - so while today's NBA allows zone defenses, they aren't allowed in the most important area of the floor - the paint.. In the paint, defenses must play a strict brand of man-to-man.

Otoh, defenses in previous eras could hand-check and be physical.. Also, there was no spacing, so driving and passing lanes were smaller and defenders could help from closer distances.. Furthermore, defenders in the paint didn't have any "armslength" restriction and could legally paint-camp.. It's ironic.. While today's game forces defenders to play very strict man-to-man inside the painted area (stay within armslength), previous eras could actually play zone in the paint, or legally paint-camp, which is the same thing.

All coaches in previous eras foolishly ran offenses that didn't shoot threes and positioned players close to the rim, which activated legal-paint camping, as stipulated in [COLOR="Blue"]Rule 2b[/COLOR] of the Illegal Defense Guidelines - this rule allowed defenders to paint-camp with no time restriction if their man was in the paint already, or within 3 feet of either side.

The legal paint-camping, hand-checking, higher physicality, and no-spacing made it harder to score in the paint in previous eras.. The GOAT versatility of MJ's scoring repertoire would have a field day in today's spaced out, non-physical game.