Kinda bored so please excuse the lameness of this thread. I was thinking about this the other day and thought it would be an interesting discussion. I understand that a lot of people just assume Michael Jordan was the best player ever. Some people even debate players like Bill Russell, Kareem, and Wilt; but in the end it always comes back to Jordan. But I'm just wondering why do people say Jordan was the best ever? I'm not arguing that he wasn't the best player ever, IMHO I think he was the best player ever because of his intangibles and killer instinct. But I was just wondering what you guys/girls thought. He didn't average the most points in the NBA ever: Spoiler 1 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia Warriors 50.4 (1961-62) 2 Wilt Chamberlain San Francisco Warriors 44.8 (1962-63) 3 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia Warriors 38.4 (1960-61) 4 Elgin Baylor Los Angeles Lakers 38.3 (1961-62) 5 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia Warriors 37.6 (1959-60) 6 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 37.1 (1986-87) 7 Wilt Chamberlain San Francisco Warriors 36.9 (1963-64) 8 Rick Barry San Francisco Warriors 35.6 (1966-67) 9 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 35.4 (2005-06) 10 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 35 (1987-88) He doesn't have the most Championships: Spoiler Bill Russell (BOS) - 11 Sam Jones (BOS) - 10 John Havlicek (BOS) - 8 Tom Heinsohn (BOS) - 8 K.C. Jones (BOS) - 8 Tom Sanders (BOS) - 8 Robert Horry (HOU/LAL/SAS) - 7 Frank Ramsey (BOS) - 7 Bob Cousy (BOS) - 6 Michael Jordan (CHI) - 6 He hasn't been to the most All-Star games: Spoiler Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 19 ShaquilleShaquille O'Neal 15 Kobe Bryant 14 Kevin Garnett 14 Michael Jordan 14 He doesn't have the most MVP's: Spoiler Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 6 Michael Jordan - 5 Bill Russell - 5 Wilt Chamberlain - 4 Larry Bird - 3 He doesn't have the highest career winning %: Spoiler K.C. Jones - .725 Tom Heinsohn - .717 Larry Bird - 0.716 Manu Ginobili - 0.713 Sam Jones - 0.708 Bill Russell - 0.707 Tony Parker - 0.7 Tim Duncan - 0.7 Scottie Pippen - 0.683 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 0.683 Magic Johnson - 0.68 Robert Horry - 0.664 Shaquille O'Neal - 0.661 Michael Jordan - 0.66 So why do many people consider him the best??? And if he's not the best who is, and why?
I think the fact that his name is in all these discussions is the reason why he's the best.. He did it all Also he had a ruthless work ethic, and made everyone on his team work hard everyday
His all-around greatness on the court plus successful marketing are likely big reasons why. Plus Space Jam is pretty cool.
perhaps another indicator/variable we could look up to determine the greatness of a player would be the amount of money they bring in NBA......
He was probably the most electric athlete to watch, he dominated his era, and- unlike Kareem- he finished his career on the top (ignore that year with Washington) plus all the marketing.
Space Jam is perhaps a bigger tarnish on his legacy than his stints with the Wizards and ownership of the Bobcats combined. As a marketing gimmick, totally effective and iconic of the NBA in the 90s. As a movie, even a kids movie, complete dog****.
For the record, I don't think he's the greatest...Just like I don't think Muhammad Ali's the greatest, or Shakespeare, or the caveman that invented fire for that matter. There is no comparison, and we can say that they are all GREAT. One can influence you more than the other, but you cannot say the same for everyone. So the best thing to do is to appreciate and emulate certain aspects of their legacies, and not waste your time bickering over who the greatest is.
He did over the course of his career. 30.12 ppg to Wilt's 30.07 ppg. He was an all-star every year he played, obviously missing the ones when he was playing baseball and retired. You can't count this as a knock against him just because he didn't play enough seasons. You're really cherry picking with some of these.
1. jordan has more championships than anyone on the regular season MVP list. that means he didn't just dominate the season, he backed it up, better than the rest of the MVP's. 2. jordan has more final's MVP's than anyone on that list of championships. that means he wasn't just along for the ride like most of that list, he was the guy to lead them to victory. MVP's without championships doesn't mean much when you are considering the greatest of all time. championships without final's MVP's doesn't mean much at this level either. you need all 3. jordan has more of all 3 than anyone else, with kareem a close second.
It wasn't just the accomplishments on his resume. Every team he played had the date circled. Guys knew they had to go all out to stop him, the Knicks and Pistons pushed the limits with what they could get away with against him, and he still destroyed them. Let LeBron and Wade face what he did - they'd get crushed. There was never a guy more focused and bent on winning and dominating every game. Just like Kobe's consumed with being Jordan and LeBron's consumed with his image, Jordan was consumed with kicking ass. This is the guy that gave Steve Kerr a black eye for not working hard enough in practice. Wilt and Shaq were dominant, but neither one ever truly gave 100%, especially not every night. Russell was a major game changer, but was always surrounded by some of the best talent in the league. He also didn't take over the game on both ends of the court the way Michael did. Kareem never reached the stratosphere Jordan did as an individual player (somewhat similar to Duncan). Kareem also benefited from being a great during the NBA's weakest era. You also have to remember that he retired twice and gave up 3 years that would have been automatic All Star nods. He also received fewer MVPs than he should have. Anyone around at the time knew it was a joke when Karl Malone got MVP while MJ was still the best player in the game and kicking his rear end. It became political - the NBA didn't want to keep giving it to the same guy.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SGLaKfEyRL4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> nough said
To be honest I don't count any of those things as a knock at all, like I said I think he is undoubtedly the best. I just threw those things in there to show that you can't say he's the best because of the stats, that it has to be something else.
Ok, take a look at your rankings (some of which are entirely irrelevant for the argument at hand), and tell me another player more deserving of the GOAT title than Jordan.
Obviously someone didnt read the entire thread. I think he is the best, but I wanted to know why? LeBron's taller, bigger, faster and just as (if not more, athletic) yet people laugh when you compare the two. Bill Russell won more rings, Kareem scored more points. My overall point is why do people say he's the best? What makes him the best to you.
