Rodman: If LeBron Was In NBA In Late '80s Or Early '90s, He'd Be Average Player
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As LeBron James continues to dominate for the Miami Heat, the argument about whether he'll ultimately be better than Michael Jordan continues to gain steam.
But Dennis Rodman, Jordan's former teammate with the Bulls, doesn't want to hear it. To him, it's an asinine argument.
"If LeBron was playing in the late '80s or early '90s, he'd be just an average player," the Hall of Famer told The Dan Patrick Show.
The five-time NBA champion did tell the show that James is "a great player, a helluva player," but he contended that Jordan played in a far tougher era in basketball history.
"If Michael played today … really?" Rodman said on The Dan Patrick Show. "If he played the game today at 28 years old, he would average 40 points a game, probably more. I'm just sick and tired of people always comparing him and Michael Jordan. It's a whole different era, man."
But going back to James for a second -- an average player, really? Average? James, who is playing in his third consecutive NBA Finals, has won four MVP awards and is a nine-time NBA All-Star. And he's only 28.
"Look at those teams (when I played)," Rodman said on the program. "Look at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Look at Golden State when they had Chris Webber and all of those guys. If those teams then could play now, they would kick anybody's a-- today. Are you kidding me?"
Oh, and how about if the Bulls of the 1990s -- who won six NBA titles -- played the Heat? Rodman is confident that his former squad would take it to the defending NBA champions.
"The Heat has better talent than we had, but we had smarter players," Rodman told The Dan Patrick Show. "We would match up with the Heat easy. I would take (Chris) Bosh out of his damn game easy. That's not even a problem. How would Dwyane Wade match up with Scottie Pippen? Really? Scottie Pippen would guard LeBron easy. How are you going to cover (Jordan and Pippen)?"
And the former rebounding and defensive wizard said that in his heyday, he would have more than welcomed the opportunity to guard James.
"If I was 28 years old guarding LeBron … are you kidding me?" Rodman said. "If he scored on me, I would be like, 'OK, thanks.' Guess what, though? Sooner or later, somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose. And most of the time I don't lose."
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