Athletes are getting bigger, faster, stronger, and more skilled.
But somehow you guys think that basketball players stopped getting better in 1990/1996 and started getting worse.
It’s the Star Wars effect. Back in the 1980s, Star Wars had the greatest special effects ever seen. It revolutionized the movie industry. But now, special effects are infinitely better. But that doesn’t stop old people from remembering how great the special effects were in Star Ward/Jaws/Indiana Jones/whatever old movie.
Bird and Jordan were amazing for their time. But if you dropped them into the modern NBA, they wouldn’t be the same.
The fact is, we haven’t ever seen the combination of size, speed, strength, athleticism, basketball IQ, and shooting that LeBron has. You can talk about Jordan’s shoes and icon status all you want. But only comparing their game, LeBron is better than Jordan and way ahead of Bird.