Better overall player: Julius Erving (in his prime) or LeBron James (in prime)?

[hawkfan]

Better overall player: Julius Erving (in his prime) or LeBron James (currently in his prime)?

[TennesseeFan]

Oh God, this forum was worse than I thought!

[JordanTime]

Lebron James.

Simply because he was JUST the better player. Overall........ defensively, offensively whatever Lebron James is better.

Playmaking?:Lebron James/Julius Erving
Scoring?: Lebron James/Julius Erving
Defensively? Lebron James/Julius Erving

[SuperPippen]

Erving was obviously the more groundbreaking player and had a greater impact on the game, but LeBron is slightly better at his peak than Erving was at his.

LeBron is the better ballhandler and playmaker, LeBron is the better defender, they're equally mediocre shooters, and at scoring and rebounding you could give Erving the slight edge, depending upon how much weight one thinks Erving's ABA years hold.

[eliteballer]

Who says Lebron's a better defender.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Dr. J was great, he's a legend who changed the game, but, I don't see how this is particularly close when talking about who the better player was.

Nevermind the fact that Lebron's size and superior ball handling skills make him more unstoppable going to the basket, but he's also a better perimeter shooter. Shooting and ball handling skills may have a lot to do with the eras they played in, but the point that Lebron is considerably more dominant as a scorer stands.

But that's not the biggest difference. While I think Julius was an underrated passer, Lebron is in a whole different league as a passer. Lebron has been one of the best passers in the NBA for years and pretty much his team's point guard. The same can't be said for Julius. Lebron has also become an excellent defensive player, while Julius seemed to be more of a gambler to some extent, though it's worth noting that Lebron's trademark chasedown blocks were something Dr. J was doing before Lebron was even born.

Dr. J was a significantly better offensive rebounder, a better post player and I'd say a better rebounder overall. Rebounding is the most overrated part of Lebron's game, imo.

Dr. J did have more team success, so maybe it's not that simple, but the differences in how they could impact a game from what I can see are big enough to make Lebron the obvious choice.

[asdf1990]

one played in the shitty 70s and 80s while the other plays in one of the most stacked perimeter player eras in nba history.

[donald_trump]

these threads end up being ridiculously pointless and idiotic.

when people finally admit that lebron is a good shooter and great defender than we can have a normal conversation about this.

as far as the comparison goes, its not close. as a player there might only be 5-7 players actually better than lebron at his best. this includes jordan, shaq, wilt, kareem, bird and thats about it.

[Kato]

these threads end up being ridiculously pointless and idiotic.

when people finally admit that lebron is a good shooter and great defender than we can have a normal conversation about this.

as far as the comparison goes, its not close. as a player there might only be 5-7 players actually better than lebron at his best. this includes jordan, shaq, wilt, kareem, Iverson,bird and thats about it.

agreed

[t-rex]

Lebron James-Better skilled player


Julius Erving-Better results as teams franchise player. Better ambassador to the game.


Edge-Dr. J.

[D.J.]

Clearly LeBron. The only real advantage Erving has is defense. LeBron(all accolades aside) is the best SF not named Larry Bird. Dr. J. could be as low as 4, if you rank Scottie Pippen above him.

[Duncan21formvp]

Dr J for sure. Dr J would never had choked like Lebron did in 2004 (bronze medal), 2005 (no playoffs), 2006 (bronze medal) 2007 (Got outplayed by Tony Parker and shot 35% FG), 2008 (shot 35%), 2009 (lost to Dwight Howard), 2010 (got outplayed by Rondo), 2011 (Got outplayed by Terry), 2012 (got outplayed by Durant who averaged 31 ppg on 55% FG and Lebron 28 ppg on 47% FG), 2013 (Ray Allen saves the day), 2014 (most lopsided defeat in history), 2015 (role player won finals mvp over him), 2016 (Kyrie saves the day and outplays league mvp), 2017 (Durant outplays him as usual) or 2018 (Durant outplays him and sweeps him).

[Manny98]

Dr J for sure. Dr J would never had choked like Lebron did in 2004 (bronze medal), 2005 (no playoffs), 2006 (bronze medal) 2007 (Got outplayed by Tony Parker and shot 35% FG), 2008 (shot 35%), 2009 (lost to Dwight Howard), 2010 (got outplayed by Rondo), 2011 (Got outplayed by Terry), 2012 (got outplayed by Durant who averaged 31 ppg on 55% FG and Lebron 28 ppg on 47% FG), 2013 (Ray Allen saves the day), 2014 (most lopsided defeat in history), 2015 (role player won finals mvp over him), 2016 (Kyrie saves the day and outplays league mvp), 2017 (Durant outplays him as usual) or 2018 (Durant outplays him and sweeps him).

[Mr.GOAT2408]

Dr. J was the better overall player, pure dominance in his prime.