To be considered a better player than Michael Jordan

Basically the only person who has a well enough rounded game to have a chance in today's era is LeBron.

He has to get three or four more Finals MVPs though to be considered better.

Not championships, but Finals MVPs.

 

LOL the answer here is easy: wait for the MJ generation to get old and be replaced by the LBJ/KD/Anthony Davis generation.

The main reason MJ is being hailed as the GOAT is because he spent 6 years at the top when all the analysts/broadcasters and fans were young/highschool/college etc. The reality is every decade or so there is a "GOAT" that pretty much dominates the NBA, the only problem with MJ is he pioneered the media blitz with the Nike and "be like MJ" etc. etc. so his generation thinks he's pretty much the perfect player. Now that these people who grew up drinking the MJ kool-aid are the analysts, broadcasters and people posting on forums and **** there is no way you can convince them that anybody can beat MJ because they're seeing him through rose-tinted glasses.

In 10 years I don't think you'll read a lot of people talking about MJ the GOAT anymore unless that dude is old. I mean look at Bill Russell, in terms of accomplishments he beats out MJ by a landslide, 11 rings, pioneer/inventor of Big man defense, 5 MVPs, rings as a player, coach and player/coach, absolutely dominated his entire generation and yet the MJ generation gave all kinds of excuses why MJ should be GOAT over him. Well in 10 years the new generation of fans will say the same thing about MJ

 

i watched the last year of MJ's second three peat and i still remembers the feeling of watching MJ play the game, simply dominant, i haven't had that kind of feeling watching anybody else playing the game until kobe showed up, but still kobe is not consistent enough and seems to be more of a volumn shooter compared to MJ, Lebron is lit different because he is more balanced in scoring and assisting, still not dominant enough, maybe because of the way they played, maybe because of their body language or facial expression, i don't know.

i think lots of those who say MJ is the best often are influence by his dominance on the court, not by stats or anything, it's just a feeling, i suggest you watch more MJ games closely, then you will understand, besides, MJ also has the highlights and stats to support his case, but definitely, you need to watch his games to understand it, good luck trying to replicate that

 

Win more than six Champions as the top dog.

 

This is what I'm talking about, for people like you it doesn't matter what anyone else has achieved nobody will be better than MJ because of how you feel about him. All this "Lebron has to win 6 rings" crap is just a built in excuse so nobody can beat MJ, Russell has 11 rings as top dog why isn't he the GOAT? And Russell won rings both as a coach and as a player and a player coach. And he didn't quit basketball to play baseball either. But the MJ generation don't think he's the GOAT because seeing MJ play gave them the feeling MJ was the GOAT. So in a few years it will be the same thing, popular opinion will now acknowledge Lebron or KD or Davis or whoever is the GOAT while MJ will be seen as a lesser player similar to how people saw Russell during MJ's era.

 

True question though. What DOES it take to be considered above MJ? People say Kobe can't be because not enough ring's yet Russel has 11. Then they'll say Russel didn't have scoring power. Wilt averaged 50ppg in a season. Then they'll say Wilt lacked all around. Magic was an All Around player with 5 rings that cold play the 1, 2 , 3, 4 and 5. Hakeem was a better player than Jordan, imo. Yet he is asterisked because of Jordan retiring. Jordan won his chips after Bird and Thomas retired /injured. No asterisk? Oh well.
LeBron has a chance to overlap Jordan if he can win 5 more rings. He has the stats and all around game. Just not the rings. AD is another potential suitor

 

Magic was better than MJ in my opinion. There is no question Magic would have won more championships and MJ less if it wasn't for HIV.

 

It's in the court of public opinion, which is often flawed anyway. LeBron already has my vote for the GOAT, regardless of his record, or lack there of, in the finals. Jordan of course is a better scorer, but LeBron is a better rebounder, passer, ball-handler, defender, and from the way it sounds, teammate.

The thing that gets me about Jordan is the 2 years he took off. You take the GOAT off of a team and they still win 55+ games? You take LeBron off a team and they're headed for the lottery. People also underestimate how much those 2 years off allowed him to refuel and refocus. LeBron has been going at it since he was 18, year round, playing deep into the playoffs, then playing for the FIBA and Olympic teams, turning around and starting another NBA season. That's a ton of basketball.

 

If not for Ralph Sampson's injury, Houston probably takes away a few of LA's titles and possibly even Jordan's. I hate these "ifs".

 

Catch the dragon

 

could have, would have, should have

 

YES.

F**k MJ.

 

Short answer:

Win 7+ rings playing at MVP level, while being the main scorer and go-to-clutch guy on a dynasty team. Play style must be aesthetic enough to inspire a generation of kids to follow and imitate.

 

LeBron struggles to make it to the finals with the cake walk in the east.

For the Western Conference teams in the 80's and 90's, the goal was to win the title. Facing the Eastern Conference contender was usually the true test.

In the last 15 years, a Western Conference team wants to win the conference. Teams simply do not respect LeBron and they know he can be beat, super team or not. Jordan would have taken that very personal.

 

The West for good bit of the 1980s was almost as bad as the East is right now. You realize how often the 2nd place team was only around (54-43 wins) in a given year from about 82-88.

 

From a statistics standpoint, there are plenty of players that you can point to that are superior to Michael Jordan. To start, Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double in a couple seasons, Wilt put up numbers that look like typos, and Bill Russell has ten championship rings as a player. What makes Michael such an important player to the NBA and especially to Nike, is that he was the face of the era where the NBA went global. It all started when Sonny Vacarro went through the 1984 top draft picks and told Nike not to spread the wealth across the talent, but to take everything they have and invest in Michael Jordan. Nike, who was primarily a small stakes shoe company who were mainly in the business of running shoes, put all their chips on Michael Jordan. The fact that everything worked out made that among the greatest bets of all time. Nike now is the premier face of athletics and they owe it to MJ and, as long as Nike is still on top, MJ will always be the Babe Ruth of basketball. There's a really good 30 for 30 on Sonny Vacarro called "Sole Man"

Prior to MJ though, there were Magic and Larry who saved the NBA with their rivalry that brought fans back. It's under-appreciated what Magic and Larry did for the NBA, but Michael took the work they started and brought the NBA to where we are today. Kobe and Lebron carried the torch to present day, but they really just followed what Michael was fortunate enough to be the template for.

 

If not for Ralph Sampson making that no look prayer of a winning shot vs the Lakers in 1986, the Lakers would have more championships than the Celtics. The 1986 Lakers absolutely would have destroyed the Celtics, but the Rockets gave the Celtics a gift championship that year and now the running total is Celtics 17 and Lakers 16 in titles. There's also the 2008 Celtics championship that Kobe has nightmares about because, if he won that one, he would have matched MJ with 6. It really should be Lakers 18 titles and the Celtics 15.

 

One of the things that Helps Jordan achieve his mythical status is that we did not see him brake down. He quit on the top of his game. Players Like Hakeem, Shaq had some years they were a shell of their former selves. This helps the Image of Jordan being transcendent in the minds of many fans.

 

I'd say Wilt is the mythical figure. Jordan is the legend