I'm not old, but I grew up when the Bulls won all the championships. I remember when they got smoked by the bad boys. I'm from Chicago.
I've always said Kobe was just as good as Jordan, because he was. He just was on different teams, the game changed, they all changed. Jordan added a 3 pointer later in his career because he was a great player. Period. Both are crazy competitive pieces of crap, but Jordan moreso.
By the way, LeBron is also just as good. It's like picking your favorite movie.
By definition, the greatest ever in basketball (and why it can't be the greatest game) is the center, and that is because it is always dependent on height. They tried to make this less relevant by adding the 3, but changed and some would argue ruined, the game.
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The other issue I have is that basketball is supposedly "non-contact." Not it's not, but it should be. Especially in the 80s, you have all this bravado about taking punishment and "being strong with the ball" (I got that all my years in AAU with some NBA guys too) that they have since taken out of the game, but not totally.
It shouldn't matter if I'm Shaq or Kristaps Porzingis. If I can play, I can play. Backing somebody down because you are bigger and they don't call it is not basketball. It's a mild form of pro-wrestling.