Alonzo Mourning thinks MJ could put up 50 a game in today’s NBA.
Seven-time All-Star and 2006 NBA champion Alonzo Mourning made an appearance on Fox Sport’s Garbage Time with Katie Nolan last week, and spoke on former Chicago Bulls great and current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan.
Mourning believes that newly instituted rules which prevent defensive players from putting their hands on opposing perimeter players would allow Jordan to parade to the free-throw line, racking up close to twenty points from the charity-stripe alone. Pair this with Jordan’s virtuosic scoring ability, and Mourning fancies that you have the makings of a 50 point per game scorer in today’s NBA.
Jordan, who averaged a career-high 37.1 points per game in the 1986-87 season, would certainly dominate today’s league, but averaging 50 points per contest is a little far-fetched even if we are talking about the greatest player of all-time. In today’s game, defenses are able to employ double-teams easier than they could before, which would make it much more difficult for MJ to amass 50 points on a nightly basis.
However, it would certainly be interesting to see the hyper-competitive Jordan attempt to pour in 50 points on a night-after-night, as he would certainly try his hardest to prove naysayers wrong. That’s just his nature.
Mourning would go on to say that he would love to see Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James play in the late 80’s and early 90’s, a timeframe synonymous with rough-and-tough play.
