Which player is most similar to Michael Jordan?

[bledredwine]

Kobe, by far.

The recent Lakers headline is that they are looking for a "Grinder".
They had Phil, they saw Kobe, both knew Jordan.
The mentality is no joke.
They understand
the importance of a grinder mindset to winning.

You aren't simply shooting for perfection as a goal, because then you'll always be disappointed and
won't practice as much. The goal is the grind because you know you're improving, even if you suck currently.

Take that streamer, Tyler1 (or one? I don't know, not much of a gamer these days). He grinded chess for 20
hours a day, playing 40 rapid games daily, which is insane.
He sucked at first, even regressed so perhaps the talent wasn't even there, but he got to 1900 in the
span of 2 months, getting attention from grandmasters everywhere.

That's the grind. It only happens with the mentality of grind, which is an addictive mentality.
Ironically, it's meaningful and enjoyable.

If the Lakers find a coach who embodies that, it'll make a difference. Mindset sounds like a generality,
but it isn't. It makes all the difference. This is what links Kobe and Jordan far closer than any other player
on this list, though ANT is a possibility as well.

[JM00n69]

Kobe 100%. Especially out of those four. He played like MJ, copied his moves and had the same killer mentality. Win at all cost just like MJ. And he did. Absolute workaholic bordering on insane.

I think the comps Ant is getting are because of the memes of him being Jordans bastard kid but he reminds me of prime DWade not Jordan. Similar size/body and explosiveness. Great defender as well but a better shooter from three than Wade. Not that Wade was bad from three but Ant is much more comfortable playing outside and taking threes when open. Sign of the times.

[MMyhre]

Kobe is most similar to later years Jordan, but I always thought Dwyane Wade was most similar to early years Jordan.

Neither was quite right.

Kobe was like a light version of the second three-peat version of MJ, I think. Never had first-run MJ's quickness or ups, though obviously the bogged-down era in which he played during his youth limited some of what we could see of that. And of course he liked to fire a little too much from three, and was more concerned with showing breadth of ability than getting to his spots and going for a couple of well-developed pet moves, which was more of Jordan's MO.

Wade was a relentless, basket-attacking monster, but he never had Jordan's lift or jumper, so he also wasn't quite the same. But he was closer in quickness, and had more power than a younger MJ, which was interesting. Like Kobe, Wade was amazing in his own right, but not quite Jordan.

I honestly think Wade was more similar to Jordan just in terms of his intensity, he was like you said, relentless, you can`t be the Finals MVP in your 3rd year without this special intensity and ability to tap into the flow state. And people forget he got injured and was on his way to the finals even in the 2nd year taking over as the best player of the Heat in that postseason. Just a special talent and combination of an exciting package, I think he would have bested LeBron and Kobe as the best player of the late 00`s if he did not get injured, but it will always be a "what if"... ah.

[Rainwater]

MJ literally said that Kobe stole all his moves lol

[MMyhre]

Kobe 100%. Especially out of those four. He played like MJ, copied his moves and had the same killer mentality. Win at all cost just like MJ. And he did. Absolute workaholic bordering on insane.

I think the comps Ant is getting are because of the memes of him being Jordans bastard kid but he reminds me of prime DWade not Jordan. Similar size/body and explosiveness. Great defender as well but a better shooter from three than Wade. Not that Wade was bad from three but Ant is much more comfortable playing outside and taking threes when open. Sign of the times.

Nah, Ant is more Jordan than Wade, Wade never had this lift on his jumps, but he was a monster at getting low, accelerating and changing directions, moving laterally and twisting his body around screens and bodies to make wild dunks and layups with his long ass wingspan (6-4 and 6-11 3/4 wingspan) allowing him finishes despite not being a crazy leaper. Wade is the smoothest savant driver to the rim, alongside Tony Parker who also mastered this craft and had crazy high rim % despite not having a vertical game.

Ant as far as I have seen is more of a vertical and straight line athlete, I have not seen enough to judge his total package but I don`t see that Wadeism in his highlights, that one is a special package.

[zero rings]

MJ was much more efficient with his movement than Kobe. He knew what he wanted to do and didn't waste any time getting to his spots. Kobe liked to dribble, spin, pump fake and do all sorts of stuff that didn't really improve his shot quality.

In this way I think Kawhi is the most similar. There's no extra fluff in his game.

[JM00n69]

Kobe 100%. Especially out of those four. He played like MJ, copied his moves and had the same killer mentality. Win at all cost just like MJ. And he did. Absolute workaholic bordering on insane.

I think the comps Ant is getting are because of the memes of him being Jordans bastard kid but he reminds me of prime DWade not Jordan. Similar size/body and explosiveness. Great defender as well but a better shooter from three than Wade. Not that Wade was bad from three but Ant is much more comfortable playing outside and taking threes when open. Sign of the times.

Nah, Ant is more Jordan than Wade, Wade never had this lift on his jumps, but he was a monster at getting low, accelerating and changing directions, moving laterally and twisting his body around screens and bodies to make wild dunks and layups with his long ass wingspan (6-4 and 6-11 3/4 wingspan) allowing him finishes despite not being a crazy leaper. Wade is the smoothest savant driver to the rim, alongside Tony Parker who also mastered this craft and had crazy high rim % despite not having a vertical game.

Ant as far as I have seen is more of a vertical and straight line athlete, I have not seen enough to judge his total package but I don`t see that Wadeism in his highlights, that one is a special package.

Wade definitely had the hops in his prime. Plenty of posters over bigger dudes but that wasn't his game. Ant has more lift defo and I think being young still he wants to dunk hard if he can. More like Vince or TMac. I've not seen that killer mentality from him yet though. He's been great this playoffs but if you watched the last couple of games, while he got his numbers big time, he didn't take over the game. He's only 22 though and he'll be the best two guard for a long time. Can't wait to see his prime.

[brutalitops]

ITT

Literally nobody has ever seen Michael Jordan play a game of basketball outside of tiktok clips and what their uncle has told them

How TF you look at Shai or Kahwi and think "Oh they play like Jordan"

I sort of get Edwards, I get Kobe, But what the ****?

[JM00n69]

ITT

Literally nobody has ever seen Michael Jordan play a game of basketball outside of tiktok clips and what their uncle has told them

How TF you look at Shai or Kahwi and think "Oh they play like Jordan"

I sort of get Edwards, I get Kobe, But what the ****?

Amen!

MJ lead the league in scoring 10 times. And he was voted first team all defense 9 times. Kobe comes close to playing style the most but comparing the SGA/Kahwi/Ant is a stretch. A big one.

[tsherkin]

I honestly think Wade was more similar to Jordan just in terms of his intensity, he was like you said, relentless, you can`t be the Finals MVP in your 3rd year without this special intensity and ability to tap into the flow state. And people forget he got injured and was on his way to the finals even in the 2nd year taking over as the best player of the Heat in that postseason. Just a special talent and combination of an exciting package, I think he would have bested LeBron and Kobe as the best player of the late 00`s if he did not get injured, but it will always be a "what if"... ah.

Sure, sure, but aesthetically and stylistically, even in terms of skill distribution, not REALLY the same kind of player. Young guard with burst who likes to dunk isn't enough to "be like Mike," you know what I mean?

[JayMKE]

Aesthetically and in terms of personality/approach to the game its definitely Kobe, its not hard to squint your eyes at Kobe and see MJ.

[10DayContract]

You won't get a real answer from most on this board, but it's obviously Kobe. Dude was practically Mike's little brother. MJ cried like a baby at Kobe's memorial.

[Jabroni Lames]

For the MJ highlight reel acrobatic stuff... it's easily Vince Carter.

[MavsDirk41]

Kobe was Jordan light

[Black Jack]

MJ was much more efficient with his movement than Kobe. He knew what he wanted to do and didn't waste any time getting to his spots. Kobe liked to dribble, spin, pump fake and do all sorts of stuff that didn't really improve his shot quality.

In this way I think Kawhi is the most similar. There's no extra fluff in his game.

this plus the claw sized hands.

[LakerLegend]

Watch on YouTube

[Gregoire]

prime Vince Carter

[MVP1992]

Allen Heckard

.

[Ein Sof]

Spencer Dinwiddie

[scrabbarista]

Pretty easily Edwards to me. But all are quite similar in their ways, and yes, none are (yet) on the same tier or even close.