The old saying goes even a broken clock is right twice a day. Well, a couple weeks ago Dennis Rodman suggested that Lebron James would be a regular guy if he played in the 80’s. All the talking heads summarily rejected his statement immediately. Even I initially thought it was a cry for attention and didn’t give it much thought. His comments eventually lasted about one 24 hour news cycle and then vanished into the ether.
Now look…. Dennis Rodman is bat shit crazy. A few months ago he went to North Korea and got all buddy-buddy with a saber-rattling, over his head, twenty-something dictator. So there’s that. Then he went on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos and starting pontificating about American Foreign Policy. So there’s that. Obviously that’s ridiculous. Still not sure if I blame Rodman or ABC for that debacle.
There aren’t many things I’d take Rodman’s counsel on. I guess if he was talking about alcohol I’d listen, or he spoke about wedding dresses, I’d have to glance over. Now if he spoke about how to bang Carmen Electra, I’d pull up a chair and take copious notes. I’d be video -taping that, and I’d hire a court stenographer just in case I missed anything. But I digress.
I guess if he spoke about basketball I’d have to pay attention too. He is a hall of fame player. I’d have to listen. So I randomly pulled records from the 1987 NBA season and combed through the data. The more I read the more I realized that Rodman’s statement isn’t as asinine as I originally thought.
Here is a snapshot of the 1987 MVP voting and stats.
Michael Jordan 35p-6r-6a
Larry Bird 30p-9r-6a
Magic Johnson 20p-6r-12a
Charles Barkley 28p-12r-3a
Clyde Drexler 27p-6r-6a
These guys are all-timers, and they were still in their primes. I haven’t even mentioned these guys; Dominique Wilkins, Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin McHale, James Worthy, Bernard King, Dennis Johnson, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Chris Mullin. The 80’s were loaded. There were a lot of great basketball players born in the 60’s. I don’t know why. I may have to research this for a future blog post.
Now look at today’s NBA. Lebron James is the king, and the 2nd best player is Kevin Durant. Is Kevin Durant an all-timer? I’m not sure. But I know this in the 80’s he definitely would have been the equivalent of an Alex English type who was 11th in the 1987 MVP voting averaging 25p-5r-5a. James is head and shoulder above Durant which gives the appearance of all-time greatness. Maybe the NBA is watered down right now? Who’s the 3rd best player Kobe Bryant? This dude is a 17 year veteran. How can a 17 year vet still be in the top 3? Think about it. Dennis Rodman may have been on to something.
I watched the 2011 Finals, and Lebron James cracked under the pressure. I watched Game 6 of the 2013 NBA finals, and he didn’t start performing until his back was against the wall. He didn’t want to deal with the shame of losing. The greats hate losing; they don’t fear the shame of it. No matter what happens tonight in Game 7, Lebron James is not an all-timer, and I’m not sure he has the mental make-up to ever be.
