List of the best Defenders who ever guarded MJ and Lebron

[oarabbus]

the dpoy guarded lebron, and lebron won.

actually the DPOY won FMVP

[3ball]

Mason? Are you off your rocker??

Mason was a great defender - All-NBA... And he absolutely guarded MJ.

Mason would've been the perfect defender for Lebron - an athletic Boris Diaw - literally, not joking... He was big, strong, athletic, and tough - and obviously, when MJ played him, he was available to guard MJ every game.. But MJ's typical GOAT stats or performance were never deterred by Mason.

Came into the league in time to catch MJ in a Wizards jersey. Never once played against MJ on the Bulls.

Wizard MJ (old man MJ) destroyed Shawn Marion for 41 points, all on Shawn Marion, and hit a game winner on him in another game... That's MORE impressive than if he'd have played Marion in his prime as a Bull:

41 points, all on Shawn Marion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd9ayPlqCMg
Game-winner in Marion's face: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjo06p5zchg
Would-be GW on Marion in All-Star game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPmPu-JxJ9A
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[3ball]

Your stats include Lewis' early games as a role-player, and your footage doesn't include the games where Jordan struggled against him.

Re-post with a more balanced assessment.

All Games of MJ vs. Lewis, starting SG vs. starting SG:


[COLOR="White"].........................[/COLOR]Date[COLOR="White"]............[/COLOR]MP[COLOR="White"]...........[/COLOR]FG%[COLOR="White"]....[/COLOR]REB[COLOR="White"][COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR][/COLOR]AST[COLOR="White"].....[/COLOR]PTS

Michael Jordan....12/6/88.... 43:00:00........0.70........9........5........38
Reggie Lewis...... 12/6/88.... 43:00:00.......0.54........6........4........33

Michael Jordan.... 1/15/89.... 41:00:00.......0.56........9.......11........42
Reggie Lewis...... 1/15/89.... 40:00:00.......0.52........7........3.........32

Michael Jordan.... 11/4/89.... 34:00:00.......0.55........5........6.........24
Reggie Lewis...... 11/4/89.... 35:00:00.......0.42........2........2.........15

Michael Jordan.... 3/4/90..... 40:00:00.......0.47........6.......11........36
Reggie Lewis...... 3/4/90..... 28:00:00.......0.33........3........1..........8

Michael Jordan.... 4/17/90.... 36:00:00.......0.54.......11.......6.........35
Reggie Lewis...... 4/17/90.... 37:00:00.......0.84........3........2.........24

Michael Jordan.... 4/20/90.... 35:00:00.......0.72........8.......9..........45
Reggie Lewis...... 4/20/90.... 40:00:00.......0.52........7.......4..........28

Michael Jordan.... 11/6/90.... 45:00:00.......0.50........8.......12........33
Reggie Lewis...... 11/6/90.... 19:00 :00......0.71.........2........1........13

Michael Jordan.... 11/9/90.... 34:00:00.......0.68........5........6.........41
Reggie Lewis...... 11/9/90.... 35:00:00.......0.35........4........3.........11

Michael Jordan.... 2/26/91.... 35:00:00.......0.58........8........4.........39
Reggie Lewis...... 2/26/91.... 23:00:00.......0.62........3........1.........10

Michael Jordan.... 3/31/91.... 51:00:00.......0.33........7........9.........37
Reggie Lewis...... 3/31/91.... 53:00:00.......0.50........3........2.........25

Michael Jordan.... 11/6/91.... 38:00:00.......0.62........3........6.........44
Reggie Lewis...... 11/6/91.... 38:00:00.......0.47........3........2.........21

Michael Jordan.... 12/25/91.. 35:00:00.......0.42........8........5.........14
Reggie Lewis...... 12/25/91.. 34:00:00.......0.47........6........2.........20

Michael Jordan.... 3/11/92.... 35:00:00.......0.60.......13.......3.........32
Reggie Lewis...... 3/11/92.... 30:00:00.......0.28........8........1.........11

Michael Jordan.... 4/5/92..... 40:00:00.......0.42........2........2.........26
Reggie Lewis...... 4/5/92..... 38:00:00.......0.46........1........7.........21

Michael Jordan.... 12/5/92.... 37:00:00.......0.40........3........5.........24
Reggie Lewis...... 12/5/92.... 36:00:00.......0.26........5........1.........12

Michael Jordan.... 1/18/93... 30:00:00.......0.45........8........3.........29
Reggie Lewis...... 1/18/93.... 37:00:00.......0.50........2........1.........21

Michael Jordan.... 4/4/93..... 40:00:00.......0.60........5........2.........32
Reggie Lewis...... 4/4/93..... 44:00:00.......0.22........5........2.........11


[COLOR="Red"]MJ's Averages: 33.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 6.2 APG, 54.2% FG[/COLOR]

Here is footage of MJ vs. Lewis, starting SG vs. starting SG - footage

Source of Data: http://www.basketball-reference.com/...01#stats::none


Reggie did block MJ 4 times once tho
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[3ball]

.
Lebron's best defenders (All-NBA Defenders Only)

Kobe
Shawn Marion
Kawhi Leonard
Andre Igoudala
Paul George
Gerald Wallace
Bruce Bowen
Tayshaun Prince
Andrei Kirelinko
Jimmy Butler
Luol Deng
Ron Artest
Thabo Sefalosha
Shane Battier
Tony Allen
Raja Bell
Dwayne Wade



MJ's Best Defenders (All-NBA Defenders Only)

Dennis Rodman
Gary Payton
Michael Cooper
Derrick Mckey
Ronaldo Blackman
Alvin Robertson
Sidney Moncrief
Eddie Jones
John Starks
Shawn Marion
Doug Christie
Anthony Mason
Clifford Robinson
Nate McMillan
Kevin Garnett***
Dan Majerle
Latrell Sprewell
Joe Dumars
Dennis Johnson
Bobby Phills



MJ's Best Two-Way Opponents:

Penny Hardaway
Grant Hill
Kobe Bryant
Clyde Drexler
Dominique Wilkins
Ron Harper
Reggie Lewis
Ray Allen
Sean Elliot
Michael Finley
Kendall Gill
Richard Dumas
Nick Anderson
Jerry Stackhouse


Also, the list above doesn't include many of the tremendous offensive wings that MJ faced including: Dr. J, James Worthy, Bernard King, Mitch Richmond, Alex English, Glenn Robinson, Jamaal Mashburn, Detlef Schrempf, Chris Mullin, Larry Bird, Fat Lever, Jeff Hornacek, Allan Houston, Jeff Malone, Glen Rice, Kiki Vandeweghe
.

[Hoopz2332]

why isn't Garnett on the lebron list?

[HurricaneKid]

Mason was a great defender - All-NBA... And he absolutely guarded MJ.

Mason would've been the perfect defender for Lebron - an athletic Boris Diaw - literally, not joking... He was big, strong, athletic, and tough - and obviously, when MJ played him, he was available to guard MJ every game.. But MJ's typical GOAT stats or performance were never deterred by Mason.



Wizard MJ (old man MJ) destroyed Shawn Marion for 41 points, all on Shawn Marion, and hit a game winner on him in another game... That's MORE impressive than if he'd have played Marion in his prime as a Bull:

41 points, all on Shawn Marion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd9ayPlqCMg
Game-winner in Marion's face: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjo06p5zchg
Would-be GW on Marion in All-Star game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPmPu-JxJ9A
.

And I could dig up a clip of Muggsy switching on to Mark Eaton. So the **** what? That doesn't mean they were matched up for any meaningful amount of time.

Scoring on rookie Marion is More impressive? Its like you are TRYING to be stupid. Marion came into the league 5 years after Kobe. No one thinks Kobe and MJ were the same era. Why would someone coming in 5 years after THAT be considered same era?

[HurricaneKid]

why isn't Garnett on the lebron list?

Because ignorant arbitrary list is arbitrary.

[Hoopz2332]

Because ignorant arbitrary list is arbitrary.

[Hey Yo]

lebron's team lost by more than any team ever has in the Finals.

that means you could've replaced him with literally anyone in the world - you or me - and the same thing happens - the Heat lose by record margin..

so yeah, i'm quite certain Lebron's pursuit of efficiency over all else was suboptimal.

the stats back me up - In 21 out of the 24 years since 1991, the team leader in shot attempts on the Finals-winning team took more than 25.56% of the team's shots - which means that the load Lebron took on in 2014 Finals (25.56% of his team's shots) was not a large load, and the notion that he couldn't have done more, or that no one else would've done more, is wrong - 21 out of the last 24 did more.


also, the guys that DID win while shooting less than Lebron - they all had well-balanced teams (KG's 08' Celtics, Parker's Spurs, Rip Hamilton's Pistons).. the Heat were top heavy - they OBVIOUSLY needed Lebron to take over, especially once it was evident the Spurs were playing him straight up - but he was too addicted and blinded by the efficiency strategy he'd employed all year to see the obvious.
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That was the 3rd consecutive Finals he led his team in points, rebounds assists and steals.

Not all superstars who comeback after quitting for 2yrs have 2 All-NBA defense first teamers, the best rebounder in the league and a shortened 3pt line waiting for them

[3ball]

That was the 3rd consecutive Finals he led his team in points, rebounds assists and steals.

Not all superstars who comeback after quitting for 2yrs have 2 All-NBA defense first teamers, the best rebounder in the league and a shortened 3pt line waiting for them

Here's what happens if MJ only got 28 PPG in 93' Finals instead of 41 PPG:





Team Stats - 1993 Finals

Bulls PPG: 106.7
Suns PPG: 106.7

Bulls ORtg: 113.0
Suns ORtg: 113.0


As you can see, every ounce of Jordan's 41 PPG was needed against the Suns #1 ranked offense.. Otoh, when it was Lebron's turn to take a shot at 3-peating, his production stopped at 28 PPG and the remaining gap was left for his teammates to make up..

But without Lebron attracting sufficient defensive attention and disrupting the defense by being aggressive, the Spurs stayed at home on his teammates.. So the supporting cast had no chance to make up the gap, not to mention being uninspired by their passive, play-it-safe leader.

Lebron only took 17 shots per game while leading a top-heavy team and thought he had would win that way - there are no excuses for that type of sheer dumbness.

Also, he averaged 4 APG and 4 TO's.. So if you prefer "leading your team" that way instead of dropping 36.3 PPG and 7.9 APG (Jordan's Finals average thru age 30), then fine, but don't be surprised when Lebron keeps losing.
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