Objectively yeah, Jordan was a Dream in guard form, just more obnoxious and possessed in nature. Dream was a modest Jordan in a body of a big, Top 3 rim protector of Alltime. Houston could have had Glide, Airness and Dream. That's complete control of the air, yet reality ain't that bad either.
Actually those clutch statistics doesn't tell the real story. In every Bull's close games, the last five minutes was called "Jordan time". Jordan just made the right decision after right decision in those situations to the point that Bulls never lost 3 in a row from 1990 to 1998. Don't let the "stats" fool you, it's not just about making shots or making passes, defense and other intangible things count. Jordan's game 6 winner against Utah wouldn't have happened if he didn't steal ball form Malone. Lebron James is overrated by media and young generation in terms of greatness. He disappeared too many times in critical playoff games to be considered "on par" with Jordan. I haven't seen any player who played against both said Lebron is better than Jordan, but I can count at least 15 allstar/HOFers who played against both said Jordan was the GOAT. That includes Lebron's own teammates: Shaq and Ray Allen.
Pretty much my take as well! I think the earlier episodes were better, I really was looking forward to at least a mention of the what if with regards to the Rockets, showing them winning, MJ talking about them, acknowledging them as legitimate champions. Also some insight into Space Jam instead of just the basketball side. As an added point, I definitely did not like how MJ was blaming Horace for the leaks and or that the documentary only showed him saying that. So far I think it's quite interesting, MJ seems to be honest to a degree, I'm happy the gambling was addressed and seems to have been blown out of proportion for sure. My view on MJ has actually been more positive after this and he really doesn't come across as a dick at all. I've read people saying some of the footage will not help MJ's image and legacy, but I don't see that. They kept all the intense footage out, which is a shame. I was looking forward to tough practices, Rodman and MJ arguing in the huddle at games, trash talk from the sidelines etc. It seems they kept some footage out to make it family friendly. I want to see the uncut version! He's trash talking in the footage where they mention he was an *******, the fight etc. but that's not all that bad. He's laughing through a lot of what they show and he felt bad about punching Kerr, so cannot say I know that side of MJ, still. It's all just teammates saying so. There's worse things actually coming out through interviews they are doing now, like quotes from Horace and Bill Murray etc.
They should show the full practice footage from the Dream Team as a special on ESPN. I bet they'd get a ton of people watching it.
Call it hot takes if you want... Jordan is/has become overrated. This 'unquestioned God'. Jordan was an *******. We excuse/accept his *******-ness because he won (I guess?). Jordan says don't let teammate(s) eat after a bad game, "He don't deserve to eat"; Jordan punches his teammates(at least two that we know of [Perdue/Kerr]) ... "Hahaha Jordan being Jordan", "Jordan just so competitive", "Jordan was built different." LeBron says "We're top heavy as ****" ... "Oh my God, what a terrible teammate!" James & Dwight *reportedly* ate separately from teammates ... "Oh my God, how awful, what a terrible teammate!" Jordan: "When people see this they may say, ‘well, he wasn’t really a nice guy. He may have been a tyrant.’ Well, that’s you because you never won anything." Yeah, that's it! #assholesfinishfirst Jordan played more than 6 years (We, well the media, act like 6 years, 6 championships, that's all he played!) Jordan played in 1995 (but but but he wasn't fresh!) Jordan went to Atlantic City to gamble; Jordan went golfing with Ainge. ("Man I wish we could go back to the old days when players hated each other!") Why is he the "GOAT"? Why not Kareem or Russell or Wilt? Because he went 6-6? Without the so-called GOAT, Bulls go from 57 wins to ...wait for it... 55 wins! And questions about "walking away" in his prime. Wanted to go play baseball during his prime? He was tired/burnt out? (So wait, he wouldn't have won 8 in a row like so many proclaim?) (Everyone denies it but...) Or "retirement" suspension? Isiah Thomas: “When you put Jordan and his basketball team in the ’80s, they weren’t a very successful team,” he says. “They just weren’t. When you talk about Jordan and his team dominating, they dominated the ’90s. But when you put him with those Lakers teams and those Pistons teams and those Celtics teams, they all beat him. They just did. What separated Jordan from all of us was he was the first one to three-peat. But he didn’t three-peat against Magic, Larry and Dr. J.”
The narrative in the later episodes reminds me of a Chris Rock bit... The media, the media, the media...
the chicken bleep weasel / back-stabber, Isiah, is trying to pull a fast one, thru sleight of hands, trying to lump / elevate his Piston team w the great / legendary ( Lakers and Celtics ) teams of the 80s, a textbook eg of false equivacating the only thing he got right was that the great / legendary (Lakers and Celtics) teams in the 80s were better than any of MJ's championship teams. by the same token, any one of MJ's championship teams would have defeated the weasel's Pistons teams easily
exactly, somehow everyone else was able to be a civilized person towards their teammates (compeitive, sure) and still win tons of titles. somehow these 6 are the special titles that required an *******. it really worked out perfectly. instead of making a jump from say 45 to 55 wins and seeming like a real threat to the pistons but still losing, his team went from 50-ish wins and "they can't be expected to beat the pistons" to "title favorite" and beating everybody. so there was never a moment of "maybe they could win this". now maybe jordan wins it all with that leap up to 55, but he basically skipped over the struggle and went right to favorite. so he never has a loss counted against him but never has a season where he basically wasn't supposed to win. and then this works out as well. by his own account, he was burned out (again, jordan seems to be one of the few people not in awe of jordan) and needed a break. maybe that level of hypercompetitiveness couldn't be sustained. if 3 years was too many, how would he get to 8? so he leaves right as the first 3-peat team is obviously taking a dip in quality (there's a reason basically only pippen is still around from the first one), dodges an off year, gets a mulligan for ACTUALLY LOSING, and then has the unquestioned best team again for 3 years. so once again, he dodges the "really good team, but could be beat" moment and skips straight to favorite. so he ends up with this "perfect" record because of circumstance. and he even retires before the bulls would again not be favorites and doesn't have to lose. not that he still isn't the GOAT, but part of his god-like status is definitely the perceived "perfection" of his reign. people talk about how weak lebron's eastern conference was, but i think the 8 straight finals is impressive from just the physical/mental toll 8 straight finals runs takes on you, especially with the pressure/fame lebron faces that basically only a few like jordan can know about. to come back year after year, 32 series in a row, without a break is incredible.
Well, let's say the Bulls didn't win squat without MJ, Phil or Krause for that matter. Pippen, Rodman, Kerr, Paxson were all contributors. Chicago wasn't doing anything special. If you tell me about the Lakers and their party style of playing on their way to a championship without having assholes in the Magic era, I would have just agreed maybe. It really depends on the franchise, winning tradition and the market.