Would Michael Jordan have been loved as universally today?

MJ was a media darling and the corporate world's wet dream come true. He gave the press what they wanted and knew what to say.

Not even Kobe or LeBron have reached his level as a global sporting icon/brand. You'd have to look outside of the NBA, namely Tiger Woods for that.

 

Jordan was pretty obsessed with his brand.

 

Since he would have probably prevented Kobe from winning half his championships and most likey stopped all talk of the Heat being a dunasty over his team? Yes he would have been huge today winning Championships that others like the Mavs and Spurs swept up on down years of the league. Some championships away from either Kobe or Duncan.

 

I don't buy the winner argument. Jordan is a lot less popular now because people are more and more focused on his character. I am sure if there were internet in his time, he would have been sort of like Kobe, lots of fans but also lots of haters. And his douche-ness would have been routinely chronicled and scrutinized.

 

I agree with you if he messed up. There is a HUGE backstory to Kobe and Lebrons haters. One being Lebron leaving Cleveland the other being Kobe accused of rape and driving Shaq out of town. Unless Micheal did something like that? He would have been universally lauded until then.

 

I somewhat disagree, it depends on what teams or franchises he ends up on. If he played on a team equivalent the early 2000s Wizards, pretty much any Cavs team, or the modern Bobcats. He's not going to be anywhere close to NBA title.

People never understand this about the league's greatest players who go on to win alot of championships. Yes, they are dominant players, but at the same time ... they cannot do it alone -- without a quality roster and competent management.

The man that MJ might have hated the most in Chicago could be one of the biggest reasons that Jordan became one of the most successful players in NBA history - General Manager, Jerry Krause. MJ without a great supporting cast around him, yielded mediocre teams.

Krause, often criticized for his moves and draft choices, still remains one of the most instrumental factors to the Bulls success. He brought in most of the players for the Bulls championships, sometimes against the wishes of MJ (Oakley Trade and MJs criticism of drafting Toni Kukoc). People often describe how Jordan did not really have any input on certain roster moves and transaction (HONESTLY, these days, that's probably a good thing).



Look down at my sig, that a Jordan quote from the 80s, funny how somethings manifest themselves in reality. Krause was one thing that MJ may never become -- a great team general manager.

 

Duncan wins this year and he's right there with those two. How many guys won titles their first season and the tail end of their season. Only one I can think is magic but he is also retired young.

 

career*

 

MJ was the first of his kind


Without MJ their is no Kobe, and maybe no D.Rose or Wade


A LOT of younger players looked up to MJ a LOT

Foget just the on-court performance, what about the MJ sneaker craze back in the day.


MJ set the bar so high during his time as an athlete its crazy

 

Compared to MJ, kobe and lbj are saints. Punching teammates. Gambling. Womanizing.

He was always about the Jordan brand. He refused to show the rebook logo during the Olympics.

It is the whole good ole days syndrome.

 

Even so, you can't be a NBA fan and NOT hear about Kevin Durant. When you're considered a strong MVP candidate and only have the #8 selling jersey, there's an unexplained disconnect there, and I don't think it has to do with where he plays.

Nash was MVP twice, and I doubt his jersey sales even cracked the top 5, during those two years.

 

this thread is

 

I blame David Stern, had he not rigged and screwed so many small market teams over the years for the big cities, maybe more people would know about guys like James Harden( before the elbow to a "lakers" player in MWP)


If more small market teams werent screwed over, and a real champ was decided, it would be better for the game. And many of these all-star players would have to feel the need to bolt to big city teams and join other superstars

 

Wow. Hotly contested poll results.

People everywhere tend to revere and somewhat like Tim Duncan, one of the truly biggest winners of the 2000's.

It depends on whether Jordan would have stayed obsessed with the game, or whether he would have become more about ego satiation like Kobe and BronBron and Wade.

 

There is NO Kobe without Jordan

how can Kobe exsist, when he paterned his game after the GOAT. Kobe would be a totally different player than what he see him as today

The league would be so different, because im sure players would not be trying to go iso and not as many ballstoppers. More ball movement, players would try and imitate guys like Hakeem, Bird, and Magic

You cant just throw MJ in todays era, because the other players would be different

When many pundits say MJ changed the Game... ( it isnt just lip service)

 

I don't think Jordan would enjoy the same popularity today as he did in the 90's. He would still be super popular, but with all the new ways we have to connect with superstars we would have known what a massive jackass he was (is). I knew that he was intense player when I watched him, but I didn't know about all the crap he pulled behind the scenes.

 

I think Tiger Woods basically shows us exactly what would have happened.

Ability and success would still have seen him turned into a "brand". He would have been helped along on that ride by the sport as administrators rode on the back of his popularity.

A lot of stuff would be kept quiet, a lot of people would look the other way at certain things, and when it all came crashing down it would happen in a huge way and he would never be seen the same way again.

One thing you have to remember is that Jordan was the key figure in turning a sports star into an international brand that you could sell a lot of things off. In that sense, he didn't have much to compete with in terms of marketing.

Now, he would be be having to fight his way through in a very crowded market.

 

Universal love? I've hated Jordan since I started watching basketball in the early '90s. He had plenty of jock-riders back then, but nothing universal at all about it. It seems like only in retrospect that there is this conformity pressure to declare and resolve that he was, is, and will be the greatest player ever. I learned a long time ago it was pointless to argue against the groupthink.

 

Jordan was a dick. He's also a God and I love him. "Oh noooo, I don't like Jordan cuz he's so mean, why he gotta be so mean and driven and win all the time, wah, wah, wah, why doesn't Jordan like me, why doesn't Jordan want to play with other stars, how come Jordan drives a C4 Corvette at 80mph in a baseball uniform, how come Jordan seems to hate his competitors instead of helping them off the floor and being a good sportsman, how come when Jordan gets sick he gotta be unstoppable instead of checking into the ER" -- y'all are some suckers.