Rodman's statement: Lebron James an average player in Jordan era?

It depends, if LBJ came through the basketball pipeline in the 80's he wouldn't be a perimeter player because the rules would've made it too difficult for him to take people off the dribble. LeBron had great top end speed (for his size) during his athletic prime, but in order to take quick defenders off the dribble he generally had to travel and that's a recipe for failure in the hand check 80's. Some might think; wait a minute Larry Bird (& others) was slow as rocks & he often played on the perimeter. The difference is Bird's ball skills were so high that he could get anywhere on the court he wanted despite his average athleticism. Despite the hype LBJ is no where near that level in ball skills and for dang sure doesn't have Larry Legends shot making ability to put the fear of God in defenders anywhere on the court.

Fact is the more tightly officiated or physical the game of basketball is played the less impact athleticism has and the more skill is required to dominate. Manny people don't understand that so when they watch games in the 60's they think oh those guys are slow and nonathletic when that couldn't be further from the truth.

rodman is crazy but he isn't stupid. the man know his basketball alright. he is just saying todays defender suck nothing compare to the 80s or 90s. today everyone wants to score but don't want to play defense because its not flashy. rodman pippen bad boy piston Celtics lakers would shut down LeBron. I cant stand the media and heat fans thinking LeBron could compete with Jordan and the guys from the 80s and 90s. he is mentally weak the only thing he has is size but size wont get u get without heart. the 80s and 90s would knock his *** down. if he cry about todays foul he would retire and quit if he play in the 90s or 80s. I been saying that now finally someone who played came out and said it

It's sort of true. He's better than average. But yes. Have you seen him "cry" about all the fouls? Come on, you are a 6'8'', 250 pounds of muscle monster, and you are complaining over some little fouls? Get over it, little kids deal with this crap. Suck it up. He wouldn't have been able to deal with the handchecks back then.I hate LeBron, but he is good, but not good enough to be comparable to Jordan. The only thing hindering LeBron back from REALLY being one of the greats, is his attitude. He needs to be more humble. He is kind of a show off, with all his fancy alley oops. He should learn from all the players of the past, and of the present? D Rose. LeBron is just a superstar with a bad attitude. And for all I know, all my coaches have said they'd take a bad player willing to work hard and do his best, not complain, a good sportsmanship, rather than a scumbag extraordinary player.

There are many former players in every sport who feel that the era that they played in was the best and toughest ever, and those punks out there on the court/field/diamond today are just lucky they didn't have to go up against the monsters *I* had to play against.

Rodman is wrong, LeBron would have been an outstanding player in whatever era he played in. He has a unique combination of size, speed, and explosiveness that hasn't been in the NBA before. And yes, you can compare him to Jordan. From a raw talent standpoint, LeBron is better then Jordan. The thing that separated Jordan from every other player in the history of the game was his ferocious desire to win and dominate the game. If the Bulls had lost game one the way the Heat did the other day, Jordan would have come out the next game and put up 40. We'll see what LeBron does.

I think what Rodman wants to say is that had Lebron played against him, there would be defenders like himself and Pippen that can constantly and effectively defend him.

Lebron would have still been an all-star but not a dominant player like he is now.

That is completely disrespectful to lebron and our era of basketball. I can't believe no one else sees this but he's not only taking a shot at lebron but the nba as a whole. Hes saying your best player is just an average player in my era. So that means everyone in the nba right now that's below lebron in talent would be considered below average in his era and I totally disagree.

while i have been a fan of rodman for a long time he once agreed with isiah thomas to reporters that if larry bird was black he would just be another player. which rodman now refers to as some really stupid s@#T i said about larry bird once.

lol "crab dribble" or in other words travel. Lebron is pretty overrated especially by his fans, he's no where near the level of MJ or Kobe. You say skill, Lebron isn't skillful at all(ask his 100's of uncalled travels), his game revolves entirely around his athleticism and he relies way too much on his teammates.

If Lebron is an average player in Jordan's era so is Kobe. I think Kobe was only slightly better in his prime than Lebron is currently. Lebron and Kobe should never be compared to Jordan. I really don't like how people diminish Lebrons greatness to just brute force. Lebron also has a high basketball IQ and court vision, as well as a great defender. I think Lebron is on a higher level than Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen.

Perhaps, Rodman meant not as good as he is now. Average is an overstatement. ;)