I don't get involved in these Jordan vs whoever conversations anymore because not much I'm going to say that will convince someone who, imo, is blind to how great Jordan was that he's GOAT. I will say that it's wild that all these years after he retired, ESPN can do a poll where all ages have him as GOAT by a vast margin. This despite Lebron having entire PR teams in the league, media, etc while Jordan just stays silent (hint: If you have to call yourself GOAT it's a huge red flag). Mike said he cringed when people called him GOAT, Lebron "that one right there......"
As someone who has watched the sport for almost 30 years, looked at it's history, etc. there just isn't anyone else who is on that tier. I've seen Jordans entire 90s career, Kobe, Lebron, etc. and plenty of 80s games. Also, looked at careers in the 70s and before.
The great thing is that even younger people who didn't watch him play have EYES. You can't look at this as an objective fan of the sport and point me to any singular player that could do all of this on the court - the defense, the mid range, trick shots, insane finishes, layup package, clutch, dunks over anyone, hops, exciting and did it all on the highest stages where his production went UP.
Can't point me to the player that had to go through grueling defenses like the 90s Pistons, Knicks teams that would straight batter you when you went into the lane. People that haven't played, or don't REALLY understand basketball don't get what constant physical punishment takes out of you. Not only from a physical standpoint, but mentally if you get rocked a few times you're going to be hesitant to go inside. It's not about defensive schemes, xs and os or any of that. It's about will to take it every time when you know you're going to get hard. Over and over and over. You can finesse all you want, but you're going to hesitate eventually if you're getting battered if you don't have the mettle. Just look at this:
A lot of these could cause serious injury, yet:
82 games 6x
80 games 9x
Still persevered. Still got his.
Jordan never lost 3 games in a row from 90-98. I mean, that alone is insane.
No one is ever going to be in 100% agreement on anything. There will always be detractors, especially on a conversation like this. But I'm comfortable enough that the facts clearly speak to him being GOAT and it's not really a conversation actually. Most people from casuals to hardcore fans understand that. Hell just look at his reception here:
Still the star of stars in basketball. You may not like it, but it is what it is.
I'll also clear up a myth about people who have Jordan as GOAT - somehow we're tied to the man himself. No, I'm tied to what he did on the COURT that was insane and we've never seen anything match it before or since. I WANT someone to come along and be better than that. If and when it happens, I'll gladly admit it because holy shyt what a player that would be! Would love to see that again in my lifetime. Not going to give it the undeserving though. You might have to actually be an alien to surpass Michael Jordan as a basketball player.
Finally, people should really be more like this lady. She has her favorite player but recognizes reality. Too many are delusional because they hate Mike or want their favorite to be GOAT. These people are flat earthers to me.
both the NBA and Nike rode MJ’s back to unprecedented prominence. To this day they are still chasing that high
