Rick Carlisle compares Shawn Marion to Michael Jordan, LeBron James
By Mike Dyce
It seems like players are constantly being compared to one another in the NBA. Miami Heat star LeBron James is constantly being compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Very rarely though do players get compared to LeBron however, mainly because he is such an elite player.
Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle bucked that trend and compared Shawn Marion to LeBron James. Carlisle also compared Marion to all-time greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The comparison he was trying to make is that those players can guard any position on the floor except maybe center, and Marion has proven to be a quality defender.
“That’s cool,” Marion said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Especially Pippen. I always thought he was a great player, a great defender.”
Against the Memphis Grizzlies, Marion guarded everyone from point guard Mike Conley to power forward Zach Randolph.
“Sometimes, it’s got to be done,” Carlisle said. “It’s tough, though. It’s not easy chasing a point guard, then going to one of those big guys.”
The one things the Mavericks need to work on is consistency.
“That’s what we got to work on,” Carlisle said. “Hopefully, the more we work with each other, we can get this more consistently. That says a lot when you can shoot 40 percent and still win a game by double digits against a good team.”