Would Michael Jordan be even more dominant in today’s NBA than he was in his era? Alonzo Mourning clearly thinks so.
On the Garbage Time show with Kate Nolan on Fox Sports this week, NBA Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning was asked to make a comparison between Michael Jordan and LeBron James based on their respective eras. When talking about Michael, Mourning said that Jordan “would probably average almost 50 a game” in today’s era. His first reasoning was simple: free throws. Today’s hand checking rules, which became more prevalent because of Jordan, obviously support Mourning’s theory that guys “wouldn’t be able to touch him on the perimeter”.
I think guys from Mourning’s era tend to favor not just Jordan, but their brand of the league as opposed to today’s. Charles Oakley certainly thinks that way. But these guys were at the wrath of Jordan for most of their careers. In that sense, there lies a bit of bias. Still, what Jordan was able to do as an overall offensive player could absolutely be dominant in today’s scoring-oriented NBA. Whether or not Michael would be that much more dominant as a scorer than he was in his era is certainly debatable.
