Never been a fan of MJ or LBJ napapaisip lang ako kapag di umiiskor si LBJ may nasasabi kapag nagkakamada naman stat padding. I am also wondering naglalaro pa ba si MJ at the age of 37 and yung Wizard ba nadala nya sa finals nung naglaro sya dun?
At 38, MJ was already a different type of player when he decided to be on the active roster of the Wizards (He was the President of Basketball Operations). The athleticism and explosiveness was already gone BUT the experience and savvy was there. He operated more in the low post and got his points by way of his unstoppable turn around jumper mostly.
At 38 he averaged 22.9 points per game along with 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. In two years they failed to reach the playoffs. You can argue that MJ didn't have the help he needed in those 2 years. He only had a very young but still inexperienced Rip Hamilton and an in his prime Jerry Stackhouse on MJ's 2nd year with the Wiz. At the age of 40 in his final year with the Wiz, MJ averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals.
He doesn't need to continue playing and subject himself to being humiliated by the younger kids. He has already cemented his legacy at that point.
LBJ? I think more than the scoring record of Kareem, he would love to play with Bronny in his final year. At his age he is still a force to be reckoned with at his position. He is still a matchup nightmare and defenses are geared towards stopping him.