There is no such time in the history of basketball when Michael Jordan wouldn’t dominate the hardwood. If he played 20 years late or 20 years earlier, he would probably average much more than he did playing most of his basketball in the 80s and 90s. LeBron James, however, would also be much better if he played in previous eras.
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Former Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers forward, who had multiple title successes as well as some gut-wrenching thrashing by the King’s teams over the years, once talked about how James is the GOAT in the game of basketball over Jordan.
David West once chose LeBron James as his GOAT over Michael Jordan
West, a 6ft 9” forward who came into the league in the same Draft as 6ft 9” James, played the latter in 5 different playoff series, losing thrice and winning on two occasions. He probably knows LeBron as well as anybody on the court.
And so, when he says the 4x MVP is better than Jordan (a 5x MVP and 6x FMVP), it actually means something.
“LeBron is too big, strong, and fast for any era,” said the 2x NBA Champ declaring James his GOAT.
His support for the argument is not wrong. When Patrick Ewing who weighed 235–40 pounds was one of the best big men in the league in the late 80 and 90s, you can imagine what the current small forwards of the game who just start around 240-50lbs at least would do to him on the post.
Comparing eras is pointless
From Jrue Holiday (205 lbs) in the East to Luka Doncic (235 lbs) in the West, there are several guards in today’s NBA who weigh 200–240 pounds easily. However great the previous eras might have been (as per the claims of the players from that time), they are not going through such physicality differences.
And if the guards of today’s NBA weigh as much as the forwards and big men of previous eras, you know who is going to dominate, whatever might be the rules. And the older, the better, physicality-wise. Doncic and Nikola Jokic would sure put up better numbers than Wilt Chamberlain if they played in the 60s.
