Is This The Second Coming Of Magic/Bird/Jordan?

Lakers101.com by Contributor Written on March 16, 2009
102201_feature

I, in addition to all other NBA fans, am really enjoying the quality of play this year. The Lakers and Cavs are the two best teams in the league, with the two best players.  Dwayne Wade is a legit candidate for MVP, despite the lack of talent around him and the fact that he only has his team six games over .500.

I was watching ESPN, and they showed a stat that took a players total field goals and total assists and used that as a way to measure how much they contribute to the team. For example, Wade is tops, contributing 49.7 percent of his team's field goals this year.

All of this got me to thinking: Is it fair to compare this trio to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan?  

The answer is probably not, at least not yet. However, I am going to compare them side by side nonetheless. What I want to do is actually look at LeBron as Magic, Wade as MJ, and Kobe as Bird.

  • The new group has four rings between them—the '80s and '90s boys produced 14.
  • The current trio has one MVP—the old trio had 11.
  • Kobe, Lebron, and Wade have made the All-NBA First Team eight times (going on 11 after this year)—Magic, Jordan, and Bird has 28.

How do they compare at the same age:

  • Bird (age 30)—37.1 percent of team’s FG         Kobe—37.2 percent
  • Magic (age 24) — 34.1 percent of team’s FG      LeBron—46.4 percent
  • Jordan (age 27) — 39.7 percent of team’s FG     Wade—49.7 percent

 

 

For the rest of the results, go to Lakers101.com.

Vote Now! - Author Poll

Is it fair to compare Kobe/LeBron/Wade to Magic/Bird/Jordan?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Not yet
  • Never
vote to see results
Results - Author Poll

Is it fair to compare Kobe/LeBron/Wade to Magic/Bird/Jordan?

  • Yes

    37.3%
  • No

    10.8%
  • Not yet

    38.6%
  • Never

    13.3%
  • Total votes: 83
(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

3 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

348
reads

3
comments

written on March 16, 2009 Opinion

The best Lakers newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.