Really? I mean I love Pippen to death and think he was not just a super star at his prime but his ability to remain a meaningful role player after surgeries that took his elite level athletic ability away were true testaments to his knowledge of the game. And while I'd take Pippen from the 96 team because of defense over Wade from this year, even I have to admit that's putting a LOT of my own bias in it.

95-96 Pippen had a PER of 21.3 to Wade this year putting up a 24. Now Pippen played more minutes and had a win share of 12.3 to Wade's 9.6. Pippen was also all nba first time and all defensive team first team (an award that is both meaningful and bs). So yeah Pippen was better than Wade imo if comparing this years heat to the best of the bulls.

But for their Careers? Wade's already been on 9 all star teams to Pippens 7. Wade's been on an all NBA team 8 times to Pippen's 7. An interesting stat to throw out there is MVP Award Share where they measure what percentage of the mvp voting you get and total it for one's career. Pippen is 42nd all time at .716, Wade 40th at .793. Best PER ranking Wade led the league once in PER, Pippen 4th. Pippen's best year in PER is below Wade's career average.

But Pippen was the better defender. I'll agree. But wade has been 3 time all nba second team defense. You can hardly say Pippen was so much better defensively that it makes up for the DECADE of stats we have before us. Pippen played more games than Wade by a long shot and saying Pippen's career was better due to success and just the length of it is fine, but Pippen was not better over a longer stretch of time than Wade. Wade is battling to be the second best shooting guard of all time. I'm not sure he'll be able to play at this level long enough to pass Kobe, but through 10 years he's better than anyone not named Jordan at the position, Kobe included.

That's HOME attendance where having a bigger arena matters. I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'd guess MJ played nearly every game on the ROAD to a sold out arena.

The Jazz? The team that mastered the art of choking in the playoffs who's third best player was....Jeff Hornacek and you consider that a top team? Heck in 98 the pacers actually have a team with decent depth...mind you their best player was Reggie Miller so in the all time great team discussion they aren't there.

But now directly to the 96 team which is so often called the greatest ever, and with good reason...72 games is a huge deal.

They beat Miami in the first round. A decent team that was never that good with two guys who were never as good as they should have been in Hardaway and Mourning. Third best player was either Rex Champman or Kurt Thomas. Followed by the Knicks who for some reason Ewing never got any credit for he played his whole career and his best teammate for most of his career was John Starks. 3rd best player Charles Oakley. They then beat an Orlando Magic team that actually beat the bulls the year prior with Jordan. On paper they look good, Penny Hardaway who is hands down the most over hyped guy to ever play and a very young Shaq coming off being embarrassed by the dream in the finals the year prior. 3rd best player Dennis Scott. Add in a shallow bench. Then the finals where they played the sonics and a young Payton and a soon to be washed up Kemp. Kemp mind you struggled to even stay in games due to foul troubles. Third best player Delef Schrempf.

Now the first two rounds you might have a case that those were quality teams for the first two rounds. However this years pacers and this years spurs are far better than the sonics or magic were in 96. Not even close.

As for the rockets they were a one man team for their first title. Unless Sam Cassel and Robert Horry are your idea of all-star help for dream. The next year the addition of Drexler certainly made them look better, but they made 2 finals and that was it. The blazers were solid before jordan left the game, not so much after he came back. The era was a bunch of teams with 2 star players (hopefully) where as during strong periods in the league there were 3 legit stars on teams that were contending.

As for stats between Jordan and James as much as I hate to give James credit, the stats completely disagree with what you're saying.

Jordan at the same age had just lead the league in PER 6 straight years and winshare 6 straight years. James 6 straight PER titles and 5 winshare titles. Gotta love Chris Paul getting in there and without anyone giving credit to him having the best single season as a point guard ever and then getting robbed of the mvp! Winshare per 48 both players 5 straight wins. Now keep in mind MJ would only lead the league in PER once more in his career (never did once he came back from baseball) and 3 more winshare titles.

Best single season PER for both players was 31.7. Jordan gets the nod on peaks for winshare but a lot of that has to do with how teams rest players now. Now winshare per 48 best season for Jordan .321 best for James .322 advantage James.

Number of titles at the same age. MJ 2 James 2. Number of trips to the finals MJ 2 James 4. Advantage James.

Lebron may not be fun to watch play. He might have the worst tatoos of all time (for a player that matters). His interviews might cause more eye rolling than men's excuses for strip club viewing to their wives. All that said the stats between him and Jordan are crazy similar and we are watching by any reasonable metric one of the 3 best players of all time (MJ, Kareem, Lebron). And yes it truly hurts to admit James is that good, but when you look at his stats on basketball reference they are just eye dropping.

I'd take the best of Magic's Lakers and the best of Bird's Celtics over that 96 team. Sadly I'd most likely take the best of the Shaq Kobe lakers teams as well though I'd have to think that one through a bit more before making that statement. And well this year's heat team is definitely in the discussion as well.

He was done when he left the nba...but is birdman's off the court life all that much better?

That's what I was thinking. I'm nearly positive we were using it in SKA.

Are you sure this isn't how 2025 worked? I feel like it people GS people to put them DR back then as well....

Did you just use points per game as a stat to justify a player over another? Wade now vs Pippen in 96 isn't close. Pippen is the better passer, defender, shooter, rebounder, and well you name something Pippen was better. Wade's peak 3-5 years ago was better than Pippen's, but Pippen was one of the best wing defenders to play the game and one of the most complete players we've ever seen.

Jordan played a shorter career than James. The real question is top 5 and top 10 winshare and number of times James will lead the league in PER. Additionally, PER in the playoffs vs the regular season as well as career play off winshare. The rest of those "stats" are meaningless as they don't adjust for the era. Thankfully basketball isn't freaking baseball where stupid 100 year old stats are used for all the milestones.

He's not pretty to watch. His movement is fluid, everything seems to come from explosive power. He reminds me a lot of Shaq. Yeah, what he's doing is amazing but it wasn't fun to watch. It wasn't enjoyable. So yeah, Lebron is boring to me. I'm not "hating" but just calling a spade a spade.

And there weren't any good teams in the NBA that year. I loved that team and all but they didn't have much competition.

I hate when great things are filmed with crappy cameras and then censored!

War for bonus points!

Once again proof reading the books is stupid!

If my scan is correct. SOF's leaders are basically saying they're not smart enough to understand the game, so they want to make it easier to understand? That said maybe sof needs and english speaker to write that so we can understand it?

Monster for sure

Problem solved Abrams is now making star trek star wars so they're equaly bad now!

is lube required?

dear penis

just in case

haha Warren Moon says he can't play the CFL either. I think he's got a point though...it's all about passing. Running isn't nearly as important.

Tebow requires your offense to be tailored to him...that's not a good combo for a back up QB. And he's awful. Plus we get to stop hearing about all that jesus crap!

wow you people have awful taste in tv.

star trek, not even a contest.

I still can't believe people watch the nfl draft.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Dibs is KING of trolls! We need trolls when bad things happen so we have somethign to smile about!

One of the best things I recall from 9/11 was Ron Paul's recount of it where his first response after the shock was along the lines of "great more government." We saw an american city turn into a policy state. It is my understanding (I've been working too much to actually dig into much) that police more than asked people to get off the streets. I will be interested to see how many people's property was searched without a warrant.

If we believe in the ideals of the US and the beliefs in our laws being what both makes us who we are and makes this country a place that others wish to come to, then I'm going to focus on that. Did we act in Boston as Americans or did we give way to our fears and act like those we worked so hard to not be like? Lets remember until a trial both this 19 year old kid we arrested without reading him his rights and his now deceased brother are innocent people accused of a crime they have not been convicted of. I say this not because I believe them to be innocent or because I support them, but because that is an idea so essential to America, so essential to what makes "USA" a saying worth chanting that it has to be said. How we respond to these kinds of tragedies defines us as people.

I was at work when they finally arrested the guy. I was listening to police scanners and watching streaming video while a co worker was calling his sister over and over again who was less an a mile from where he was finally arrested. The human element wasn't forgotten, but the 300 plus million americans still alive after this have to think about what will our country be as a result of things like this. We worry about our children and future generations and if they will be able to live in a free country. So yes I'm not sure the ending of this tragic event is something I want to chant "USA USA USA" about....I'm certainly glad they appear to have caught the person who did this.

This will be an interesting test in if we remain a free nation or if we give up freedoms like we did after 9/11. I'm not sure chanting USA makes much sense. This was definitely NOT a good day for America.

The trial and how we handle this will be very interesting as well. Not reading him his rights is just dumbfounding.

Yeah ska among other places.

Been out of the game a few years...maybe more, but does anyone still see him around any?

And here I thought this would be about how to best use bonus points....

Hehe....it's funny because loc's started wars before!

Was a SKAnk!

The league has been growing in popularity by leaps and bounds over the last few years. The talent is the deepest since the Bird days.

Mind you I have no idea how much watch the NFL so I can't comment on what makes it so popular, but the NBA seems to be doing pretty well, and the growth in popularity internationally has been HUGE.

And I must say with my college sucking beyond our normal sucking in football, the only two guys I found interesting in the NFL not playing, and NBA not being here...well this sports fan is hurting. I'm not sure even having UK has a near lock for a title in basketball can fix this.

I swear these people saying the game hasn't been the same since Jordan just aren't watching. This last season was the best season I've seen in my life time, mind you only 26. I loved the Jordan years and Jordan is the best player I've ever seen, but the league right now is beyond words amazing to watch. We have more talent in the league that EVER before and we very well may see 10+ of todays guy be considered 10 of the 40-50 best ever.

As for the lockout, the issue has been the share of REVENUE which seems insane to me. If costs outside of players rise then the profit for the owners drops. Now keep in mind the numbers who if the owners are losing money are iffy and not confirmed (I haven't seen numbers so please let me know if there are hard numbers out there). There are issues over the accruals and what is and isn't revenue for them, but whatever. The NBA needs a hard cap, with maybe a one player per team COMPLETE exemptions. What is interesting is that the best players in the league are grossly under paid. Jordan made 36 million his last ear with the bulls, that is still the highest single season pay for a player. Mean while we have Reshard Lewis making either max or new max pay right now...really WTF? Also contracts are too long today. 3 years outside of the rookie contracts should be a max. That or they shouldn't be guaranteed. I get it, the union wants to protect a guy who gets hurt. The problem is he keeps other guys from getting into the league and making an impact! The league as it stands doesn't offer teams the ability to easily improve. Now is does offer the fans more stability than the NFL, which btw is why I like the NBA 10000x more than the NFL, but a bit more mobility would certainly be nice.

I dont' see why they aren't looking at costs and revenues for player salary, and frankly I don't get why the owners would give the players such a chunk of revenue in the fist place. For the plaeyers their salary is all profit. The owners it isn't...

His company certainly hasn't done anything of any value in decades, but he was a major factor in the the computer. He was an amazing human being, and while the "i" everything is a good way of labeling fluffty products, he was an amazing person who changed the world we live in. Very few people will ever be able to claim 1/100 as much. The world is a little but worse off today, but thankfully someone else will come along.

Sure it is logical, but it is essentially mandatory rent. It makes a person feel like they don't own it because really it is just renting at a low cost to the government.

I understand it, I see why they do it, it isn't terrible for the economy, but damn if it isn't harsh.

Young male drivers make of a fraction of drivers period...most drivers are middle aged. Oh....this is like talking to a republican or a democrat...

Do you know what insurance is?

You can make 15 an hour working as a server/bar tender. If you can't get a job...odds are you're not skilled and should work on your education.

I'd say 90% of people have been in at least a minor one (made up number but I can't think of anyone to never get in at least a minor event who's been driving over a decade)...

There's a reason young drivers pay FAR higher insurance rates (fact). They have higher accident rates by a mile. Add in the abuse especially young male drivers put on their cars....

I'd say 30-50% seems about right for first cars getting wrecked. I might be low balling that one.

Brands clearly play a big role in resale and if you're saying "new is better" then there's more resale to be had. That said why would someone pay for a warranty? If it is a factory one, the value is factored into the selling price of the car. If you're past factory then you're just paying more than you're expected to benefit.

BTW if if a new driver doesn't wreck the car...they put wear and tear on them far worse than an older driver. Though i'm still driving my first car (though for how much longer is questionable).

I still can't figure out why they are attacking "wallstreet." The lobbyists are in DC. The guys creating programs to manipulate the markets (not that I think these things are really a major cause of any of our economic problems) aren't located anywhere directly. Wallstreet is a market that creates second party liquidity which adds value to the investments people put into companies.

What are they doing that phones can't outside of having a bigger screen and maybe a bit more power?

30 miles is a short commute? Wow.

I can't imagine spending over 10k for a first car, and as mentioned if you can get something that will run for 2-3 years without any problems for 2-3 grand that's always a good choice.

This thread has me wondering. What purpose is there for a tablet, ever? I've been trying to figure this out since the i-pad came out. It doesn't replace an mp3 player for most people, it can't go to the gym with you. It doesn't replace a laptop. It is unreadable on a sunny day (clearly a few people here don't go outside to read). I just don't see where the nitch is for these things.

Well, it taxes rental property higher than residential. This means that higher taxes are placed on renters than on home owners. This then is a higher tax on the lower income and on the younger. Another perfect example of government using taxes to tell us how we should live.

BTW did Ortiz kiss Mayweather after the head butt? If he did, I think the punch was even more awesome.

You choose to live away from work, so you choose to pay for gas. I can't imagine ever living so far away from the grocery that I'd have to drive there. That to me is just insanity. I can bike to work, I don't but I certainly can. We chose to build our cities outward instead of up, and that was idiotic. People also choose to drive 30+ minutes to their jobs which is again just mind blowing to me. I made that mistake once, I moved the second my lease was up!

I really doubt most homes still use gas for heating. It is rather sad that people still use water tanks as part of their water heating, but I suppose that is going to be around a lot longer. Still I would guess the vast majority are using electric by now. I've certainly never lived anywhere that used gas heat and I've lived in some pretty old apartment complexes. Also that's natural gas which is a separate resource.

Now the cost of freaking tires is getting insane...just bought two of the cheapest tires I get get and it was over 200 bucks!

Gotcha, you guys are Sarah Palin Supporters!

It is our fault we are dependent on it. Gas is still well below what the market is very much WILLING to pay for it.