You are correct Shady - ball and also baseball were my best sports, I was lucky enough to be able to play both at a pretty high level and got to travel all over canada and down in the states a bit.
Jordan really was the perfect storm and he came along at just the right time where globally he actually transended the game. He set an unfair bar for anyone after him to follow and we will probably not see a player reach those heights ever again, he made such an impact on an entire generation that will be felt for years to come. Lebron has tried to carry that torch and i think he has also changed the game and shown this young generation that you can win without being a dominant scorer. Passing, rebounding, defending - making the smart decision instead of always forcing. Has he set a good example when it comes to the offcourt stuff? Mabe not but the whole new generation of nba players dont care about earning things on their own and now they are forced to employ this stratedgy to keep up with this whole superteam trend. Sports as a whole has gotten so much younger this last decade and i think some of the decision making reflects that. I am a little more old school and would like to see things go back the way they used to be when their wasnt all this flopping and tic-tac fouling going on but thats not what the kids want to see these days. What i have always liked about lebron's game is that i think he is one of a handfull of guys that could bang with all those teams from back in the day. Kobe is obviously another guy that could have dominated in jordan's era, garnett/cp3 ect. It will be really sad when that is completely removed from the nba. I am rambling over here lol but i just enjoy talking hoops