Rodman = Draymond? 2020 comps for 'Last Dance' Bulls

Michael Jordan | LeBron James (Lakers)

Though MJ was a shooting guard, the only good comparison to him has to be James, who plays multiple positions. The King might be the only truly similar player to Jordan in basketball history. We can debate who is better forever, and people on the Internet certainly plan to, but they’re obviously the same kind of galactic superstars the whole league, not just their teams, orbits around. 

LeBron is bigger (6-foot-9 vs. 6-foot-6) and passes more; Jordan was a better scorer and terrified his own teammates more. If Jordan played in 2020, he’d probably shoot more threes, and if LeBron played in the '90s, he probably would have accidentally put someone in the hospital by dunking on him too hard. A ball-dominant scorer like James Harden might seem like a better fit stylistically, but MJ was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, and Harden has never even been the best defensive player in his own backcourt. And if you don’t factor in personal charisma, Kawhi Leonard is also a good comp for MJ, especially in his methodical late-game playoff scoring. 

Scottie Pippen | Paul George (Clippers)

In his prime,  Pippen could guard four positions and dunk ferociously, and even at 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, play a passable point guard. He was one of the best players in the league, but he thrived as the perfect complementary piece to the best player in the league. The best modern comparison for Pippen has to be George, another big, versatile defensive wing who can be a clutch scorer or a defensive stopper. Because of their temperament and skill level, Pippen and George will always be known as the supporting guy to a bigger star, like PG-13 was with Russell Westbrook or Kawhi Leonard. On both ends of the floor, the George-Leonard combination is the closest thing to Jordan-Pippen as the NBA has now. 

Steve Kerr | George Hill (Bucks)

Hill is 33, just slightly older than Kerr was in the '97-98 season. He also provides backup guard minutes for an Eastern Conference powerhouse. They’re both 6-foot-3 and both bounced around the league a bit, and Gregg Popovich loves them. While Kerr was always a three-point specialist, Hill has recently settled into his role as long-distance assassin, leading the league in three-point percentage this season and taking 45 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. No word yet on whether he wants to get into broadcasting or coaching a superteam in a few years. 

Dennis Rodman | Draymond Green (Warriors)

Green doesn’t rebound like Rodman (13.1 rpg. for career), but who does? What they do have in common are ties to the Detroit area, an uncanny ability to guard taller players as an undersized post defender, love of publicity, championship rings and a propensity for kicking innocent bystanders in the groin. Like Draymond, Rodman was a talented interior passer, but he’d never come close to matching the ballhandling of Green, though he could certainly give him a run when it comes to technicals. Another similar player to Rodman, also without the gaudy rebounding numbers, is P.J. Tucker of the Rockets, a tough power forward who rarely touches the ball on offense. 

Ron Harper | Andre Iguodala (Heat)

Harper was a 20 PPG scorer in 1993-94, the season before he signed with the Bulls. But at age 30, he reinvented himself as a perimeter defender and ballhandler, instead of a slashing, scoring wing. That’s similar to what Iguodala did in his second year with the Warriors, coming off the bench to play shutdown defense and function as a point guard for the second unit. Both are known for late-career knee issues. Like Harper in his prime, Iggy is rock-solid on the perimeter and in the clubhouse, and plays well with stars because he remembers what it was like to be one.   

Toni Kukoc | Ben Simmons (76ers)

Kukoc was another talented player who sacrificed stats and sublimated his game in the name of team success with the Bulls. He was a superstar in Europe, a 6-foot-11 forward who was such a good ballhandler that people called him “White Magic.” It’s reminiscent of the magical playmaking of the 6-foot-10 Simmons, another huge, foreign-born point forward whose numbers are somewhat depressed by playing with stars. Simmons is a more skilled defender, but Kukoc was actually willing to shoot threes, so call it a draw.  

Luc Longley | Meyers Leonard (Heat) 

Longley was a tall Australian center who had a decent jumper and an array of hook shots he used around the basket. But ultimately, Longley was in the league because he was huge. At 7-foot-2, he’d be one of the five tallest players in the NBA in 2020, and of those five, he’s probably the most like Leonard, another lottery big man with a sweet shooting stroke. If he played today, Longley would have been a “stretch five,” bombing away from three-point range, but in his era, Longley's shooting touch was good enough that it opened the lane for Jordan’s drives. That’s a lesson Leonard learned from playing with Dame Lillard in Portland: Get out of the stars’ way. 

Scott Burrell | Pat Connaughton (Bucks)

If Mario Chalmers were still in the league, he’d be the best match for Burrell, as both were known for their steady and unspectacular outside shooting and getting yelled at all the time by an all-time great. But for active NBA players, Burrell, a small forward, was not unlike Connaughton of the Bucks, who is also an athletic guy with an outside shot. They’re both clearly reserves who play with a lot of effort; both have baseball in their background -- the Orioles picked Connaughton in the fourth round in 2014, and Burrell was a first-round pick by the Mariners in 1989. Did Jordan yell at Burrell because he reminded him of minor league baseball? 

Randy Brown | Cory Joseph (Kings)

Brown was an athletic backup guard who played tough defense and took the ball to the basket. Same style as Joseph. Like Brown, Joseph cannot be trusted with a shot from more than social distance range — 6 feet from the basket. Also like Brown, Joseph has high energy and defensive tenacity.

Bill Wennington | Frank Kaminsky (Suns) 

Like Wennington, Kaminsky doesn't give you a whole lot on defense. Wennington had just enough outside shooting to provide spacing for guys who actually could score near the basket. Kaminsky has a similarly gregarious personality to Wennington, currently a Bulls broadcaster, and perhaps the only backup center ever to get his own McDonald’s sandwich (the “Beef Wennington”). Although he's younger than Wennington was at the end of the Bulls’ run, Frank the Tank has the outside shooting range and the stiffness to match Wennington.