Stop saying Lebron wouldn’t be able to handle the physicality of the Jordan era

It is time we refute another doctrine from the church of Michael Jordan: the idea that Lebron James would have been less successful playing during the “physical” Jordan era. 

I was just sitting down to enjoy the highly anticipated matchup between Lonzo Ball and Lebron James on TNT when Charles Barkley had to go and ruin it by spouting a bunch of nonsense.

Here is the video, in case you missed it:

That’s right, Charles Barkley believes that “guys can play at a higher level longer because there is no physicality in the game anymore.” So today I’m going to simply give you some numbers that prove there is no legitimacy to this argument.

As a disclaimer, this is not in any way, shape or form a shot at players from prior eras. I have the utmost respect for those who came before. But we have officially crossed the line into insanity.

I mean, as you saw in the video, Kenny Smith actually said: “It’s like [dribbling] against cones instead of [dribbling] against people.”

Have we seriously lost our minds? That was meant to be a joke, right?

But hey, for the sake of being fair, let’s start with what actually is different.

Yes, there was a heck of a lot more hard fouls. Why? Because they were very rarely called flagrant. As a player, you essentially had carte blanche to foul the bejesus out of anyone. The only penalty would be a sideline inbounds or a couple of free throws.

This does not mean that every game was a UFC fight, it simply means that occasionally — if a game managed to get chippy — you were more likely to get clocked than you would be in a similar situation today.

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The only other bone I’ll throw these TNT analysts is this: The floor is certainly more spaced in today’s game than it was back in the day.

The three-pointer is not rocket science (although it is Houston Rocket science). More three-point shooting keeps defenders out of the lane and makes it easier to get to the basket. And, yes, NBA players shoot a lot more threes than they used to.

This season, NBA teams are averaging over ten made threes for the first time in league history. Teams averaged fewer than one during Jordan’s first three seasons.

So we’ve established that the floor wasn’t spaced like it is today, and if you talked trash to the wrong dude, he might have clotheslined you a time or two.

But the question is this: If the game was so darn physical, and teams were constantly clogging the paint due to lack of shooters, nobody could score, right? I mean, they would at least score a lot less, right?

But here’s the crazy part: they scored even more easily than they do today.

The best metric for us to determine how easy/difficult it was to score a basket is offensive rating. Offensive rating represents the number of points a team scores over 100 possessions, thus accounting for pace, which has fluctuated wildly throughout league history.

We’ll define the Jordan era as the 15 seasons that span from 1984 until he retired in 1998.

This season, NBA teams are scoring 107.5 points per 100 possessions. Teams averaged 107.6 or better during 11 of the 15 seasons that make up the Jordan era.

It was actually easier for NBA players to score during the Jordan era. For instance, Jordan’s best scoring season — a 37.1 point per game effort in 1987 — coincided with a season that is tied for the second-highest offensive rating in league history. Big shock, huh.

Logically, we can all put together the idea that less physicality and more floor space should lead to more scoring. But it hasn’t.

So, only one of two things can be true. Either basketball players have gotten markedly worse over the generations — thus incapable of scoring more in the increasingly “soft” league — or these analysts are full of it.

I think they are full of it.

So, what is happening? Why aren’t players able to score more today? Well, it comes down to two things.

First of all, today’s game actually is very physical. Past eras won’t admit it, but there is still contact on every drive, cut and screen. Defenders use their hands on every possession.

And secondly, NBA players are more athletic than ever before. Bill Walton hilariously calls it “evolution.” He may be right, although I think it’s more reasonable to assume it’s about improved player training and sports science. So the athletes that are using their physicality to stop you are faster and stronger than they were 30 years ago.

This is why it’s still hard to score. It is only because of the added floor space from shooting that the modern era can keep up.

Make no mistake, Lebron James is not at an advantage playing in this era.

Again, I mean no disrespect to the players who played in that era. Just don’t let anybody tell you that MJ would average 50 points today.

Must Read: Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned from a tough win over the Lakers

It’s just another lie from the church of Michael Jordan.