Michael Jordan Is The Greatest Basketball Player Of All Time
There’s five seconds left on the clock, the team is down by one point. If the shot is made they win the championship. Who will take the shot? Is it Lebron James? Or maybe Kobe Bryant? Or maybe even Steph Curry. No, the player that will take this shot is the GOAT, Michael Jordan is that player. Or is he?
In the first place what gives a player the title GOAT? A GOAT which is the greatest of all time is a title not handed out to many, there can only be one GOAT in each sport. But what makes a GOAT? As described in (Streeter, 2023) GOAT’s are everywhere in sports as they over the years people have gave out the title to many players. However, what really sets these players apart from the rest in their sports? Are there multiple GOAT’S in a sport or can there only be one?
For example Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls which is the greatest achievement you can win in football and Brady has the most ever won. This is one of the GOAT’s in sports. However none set the bar as high as Michael Jordan won six championships in his career and never lost a single championship, as he also holds records for the best regular season average of points of all time and when it matters the most he also holds the record for most playoff points scored a game. We can use these statistics to call a player a GOAT because winning the championship is the hardest accomplishment to achieve in sports and how players go their entire careers without winning one so for a player to win multiple of these is crazy in itself.
There can also be made an argument that there is not just one GOAT per sport; for example in football there are multiple positions, and that leads to several players being the best of all time at their position. But there is a major difference; for example, the best wide receivers are as great as they are because of the quarterback being able to get them the ball. A single wide receiver can’t win or lose a game on his own, but a quarterback can. This is the same on the defensive side of the ball. Sure, the best guys can make huge plays, but they can’t win a game on their own. Tom Brady took bad defenses and a bad offense to the championship and won. This is why he’s the GOAT. In basketball, sure, there are players who are the best at their position, but none of them won like Jordan did or played as well as he did. Another example of why there’s only one GOAT per sport is Wayne Gretzky. In hockey, there are the forwards and the defender plus the goalie. Gretzky was “one of one” in hockey. He broke every record known to man. Not only was he a brilliant playmaker and scorer, but he was also a great defender and contributed greatly on defense. No player in history at another position had as much of an impact as Gretzky did; hence, hockey is another sport where there are multiple positions, but there can be only one GOAT.
We also care about the stats because not only does it show us what kind of player they were but how dominant they were, and how clutch they have been. Some example of being clutch are, hitting a game winning three pointer at the end of the game, scoring an overtime goal, hitting a walk-off homerun to win. These are examples of clutch game winning events, but there’s also other times that can be determined as clutch. An example would be tying the game up or hitting a pop up to get the runner home, or even just making a free throw to keep the lead at the end of game. These are the example of clutch events, but it’s no easy task to be a clutch player. To be clutch you have to have a separate mentality then most, for example if you are down by two points who is going to take the shot? Whoever volunteers knows that they have all the pressure on themselves, no matter how well the player played up to that point does not affect how the fans will feel if the player misses the shot. This player will either be a hero or a villain. That being said there is one player who always took the shot and always thought he would make it, this player never let the moment get to big. This player was Michael Jordan, Jordan holds an NBA record nine game winners during his career. Jordan would also has a 50% shooting percentage in the clutch, to compare Lebron James only has a 29% shooting percentage. Not all players were as graced with confidence as Jordan which led him to be the greatest clutch player in NBA history
There are some more meanings to the word GOAT, for example as described in (Brooks, 2022) this article explains how there’s times in sports where there are multiple player’s being called the GOAT for example in soccer Messi and Ronaldo are considered by many people the GOATS of the sports however there can only be one GOAT, for example people compare Messi’s total goals he scored in his career to Ronaldo’s, which lead to people to think Ronaldo was better, and for a while because neither had won the World Cup which is considered the greatest achievement in soccer this opinion was the same. That was until in 2022 when Messi finally would end the GOAT debate by being the most dominant player in the World Cup and winning it for the first time in his career. The team that these players have played for definitely gave these players a higher chance to win games, however when it mattered the most in the World Cup Messi and Ronaldo both had great teams, with both players being at their peak in skills it was Messi who came out on top. Messi would win MVP of the World Cup and it would show in his stats as he lead in everything not only did he score the most but he elevated his team enough to win it all
This is also in the NBA however in different circumstances, for example Michael Jordan and Lebron James are the two being compared for the GOAT status. In this case we have Lebron James who has the longer list of statistical achievements. For example he recently became the NBA scoring leader of all time. This is a popular claim for Lebron’s claim to being the GOAT, however this is where certain stats matter more then others. Michael Jordan did not accomplish all of these statistical feats, however he won arguably one of the hardest championships in sports six times and never lost once in a finals. While doing this Michal Jordan averaged the highest points per game in the playoffs in history. Jordan also would accomplish this feat in over three hundred less games. Michal Jordan will stay the GOAT of the NBA until James is able to surpass this however its looking unlikely as James is nearing the end of his career. In the end a GOAT is one of one.
Furthermore, there is an argument to be made that Lebron James is the actual GOAT. Lebron James over his longer career has quite the statistical resume to support his claim to the GOAT status. However, do better stats mean a better player?
When we think of the best players of all time do we think of their stats? Or do we think of these achievements these players made throughout the years they played, or is it how these players changed the landscape of the game. Stats have caused many to have different opinions on who they believe are the best players, but how do you take one statistic from the hundreds that there are to declare that one stands above the rest? Stats can also be used out of context for example a player that played the game in the past may have scored less three point shots then today’s player because of a rule change that brought the three point line closer to the basket to make the NBA games more high scoring. If a player has missed more shots then another does that mean they are worse then that player, or if a player has scored more goals in more games does that make them better.
In the article “Are We Becoming Too Obsessed With Stats In Sports?” its explained how people today, are taking these advanced stats and comparing every player with them, the problem with that is these advanced stats don’t include everything that goes into a player for example the stats could be comparing the points per game and the assists per game between two players and only using these to compare the players when a players may be better in other major areas then these two fields. It is explained how stats are being overvalued and can’t truly show how dominant a player is. The article also goes into how people may never watch these players play and just go to the stats section of the players career and use that to define them, this leads to many people believing another player is better than another.
In my next article, “LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan: How their careers compare” this was a summary of the two players’ overall careers and who holds the better statistics and how there’s so many different ways to compare the players. The first statistic was Lebron has had the longer career, going into his 21st season while Jordan played 15 seasons. Many people could use this stat to say Lebron was more dominant over a longer period of time, or someone could say Jordan was more dominant in his years played the Lebron. The next stat was all time points scored LeBron’s has 38,799 while Jordan had 32,292. Lebron currently holds the record for most points scored of all time, this stat can be a major one used to say Lebron was better than Jordan, or you could use another stat which shows Jordan who averaged the most points per game of all time was better. The final stat the article would use was championships won which has Jordan currently ahead with his six championships won while Lebron James has 4 championship wins, However Lebron has been to the championship ten times total compared to Jordan’s six unfortunately for Lebron he lost six of those finals while Jordan never lost a single NBA final. The article’s overall conclusion was how do choose which statistic makes a player better when there are so many different ones to choose from.
In my final article I chose “What is the average points per game (PPG) in the NBA by year? Looking at the last decade and evolution of scoring” In this article is goes over how the 2022-23 season was one of the highest scoring seasons ever in the NBA. Due to the new rules that they did not have in the past which has led to the explosion of the three point shot, the game is played much different in todays game of basketball then in the past. This is yet another example of how the best statistic cause people to think players are better than others, due to more scoring this means there will be a higher assist average and higher points per game averages for everyone. A player back in the day before these new rules would average around fifteen point a game and be treated as a superstar however in todays game this kind of player would be what you hope for from a sixth man. In 1996 around 16 three point shots were being attempted per game while in 2022-23 the average is 34. My purpose for choosing this article is to show the effect that stats don’t mean everything when comparing players.
In today’s world with all of this technology players stats are being more used now than ever before, and the effect of this is causing fans to have all different kinds of opinions on who is the best, but they are consistently downplaying the past players and their greatness and what they brought to the game of basketball.
Additionally, to be the greatest of all time you have to leave an impact in your team’s history that will influence the future of the organization, even after they retire. And Jordan did just that. Without Jordan the Chicago Bulls would have won zero championships.
The Chicago Bulls were founded on January 16, 1966, hoping for early success, like all new franchises. But they didn’t achieve their first championship until 25 years later, when they would draft Michael Jordan. This was a franchise altering move that would forever change the landscape of the Bulls organization. Jordan would have an immediate impact on the team by leading the league in scoring his rookie season and leading the Bulls entire team in scoring, assists, and rebounds. Jordan would also take the third worst team in the league the prior year to the playoffs with a record of 38-44 and even beat the best team in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks once in the series but unfortunately they would be eliminated. For the next decade Jordan would completely dominate the NBA winning many awards and Championships.
In the first article I consulted, “Michael Jordan Career Stats,” I found out just how incredible Jordan truly was. During Jordan’s fifteen-year career, he averaged 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. Jordan currently holds the all time points a game average during the regular season and during the playoffs. If you take away the highest scorer from the Chicago Bulls they very quickly would go from best to worst, even if they tried to replace Jordan it is not possible, a reason for this is because “n 1,072 regular-season games. He was selected to play in 14 All-Star games. He won the Rookie of the Year award, 1 Defensive Player of the Year award, 5 MVP awards, 6 Finals MVP awards and 6 NBA championships”. Michael Jordan was one of one, these statistical feats he achieved would show the insane dominance he played with. You take this away from the Bulls and they would never win a championship. With all of these accomplishments Jordan achieved, this all leads to Jordan being the GOAT. No player has a greater resume as when Jordan first joined the league he was already the best, and this would continue throughout his entire career making him the GOAT.
In “Life without Michael Jordan: The Story of the 1993-94 Chicago Bulls” The Story of the 1993-94 Chicago Bulls,” Michael Jordan has just retired for the first time after the unexpected loss of his father. Jordan was coming off a championship win and an MVP season. This article explains how poorly the Bulls performed without Jordan. The team was coming off two championship wins in a row, and except for the loss of Jordan, they had pretty much the same team. And this factor proved true, with Pippen having a breakout season and coming in third in MVP voting. The Bulls finished the season at 55-27 and advanced to the playoffs, where the loss of Jordan really showed. Losing the greatest playoff scorer of all time really hurt them against other great teams, and they fell in the second round to the Knicks. Pippen did elevate his play to become the new Bull MVP but not the league MVP that Jordan was. While the Bulls were able to replace Jordan in the regular season, they couldn’t replace his ability to will his team to win in the playoffs every year.
If any basketball player can lay claim to GOAT status, it’s the player whose PRESENCE virtually guarantees success and whose ABSENCE spells failure. In my third and final article, “The Chicago Bulls’ Title Drought Without Michael Jordan ” this goes into the struggles the team faced after Jordan left. In 1998 the Bulls would finish 17th in the east after just winning the championship, with almost an identical team, the loss of Jordan would destroy them. Not only did the loss of Jordan contribute to the Bulls losing, but they would lose a massive part of the fanbase they created during his time. Some fans may have been Jordan fans and not Bulls fans, so when Jordan left so did they. The loss of Jordan also destroyed the team’s chemistry as there were now players that wanted to fill Jordans shoes and players who were only on the team to play with Jordan. The following season after Jordan retired the Bulls traded Dennis Rodman, and Pippen. The loss of Jordan gave the superstars no incentive to play for them and the Bulls would quickly go into a very long rebuilding stage which is still in effect 25 years later. This rebuild was so bad that the broadcasting networks would refuse to show their games as it was a complete disgrace to Basketball. After Jordan left, the Bulls record in the playoffs is 4-6. The Bulls who were this great franchise in the 90’s were left to nothing with the loss of Jordan besides the 6 great trophies they won.
To conclude, the Bulls record without Jordan is 207-389 in the regular season and they are 4-6 in the playoffs without him. Jordan won 6 championships for the Bulls, winning all six finals MVPs which was never done before. Without him they would have never won a single one, as we saw in the 1993-1994 season the Bulls were at their best and Jordan retired and the team that was claimed as the best in history couldn’t get past the second round without Jordan. Jordan did what many players dream to do, win a championship and he won six. No player can compare in just how great Jordan was. Jordan was the best scorer of all time and the most clutch and the loss of him is still felt within this franchise to this day. No other player will have an effect on their team for as long a period like Jordan. This is what makes Jordan my candidate for the one and only GOAT status
In brief; with the fate of the universe on the line and I need one player to make a game winning shot, give me the GOAT of the NBA Michael Jordan.
Streeter, K. (2023, July 3). GOATs are everywhere in sports. so what really defines greatness? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/03/sports/tennis/greatest-athlete-of-all-time.html#:~:text=Defining%20the%20term%20as%20%E2%80%9Cthe,the%20acronym%20had%20become%20dictionary
Brooks, M. (2022, December 27). GOAT meaning: what does the term G.O.A.T. mean in sport – why Lionel Messi and Pelé are often called it. NationalWorld. https://www.nationalworld.com/sport/other-sport/goat-meaning-what-does-the-term-goat-mean-in-sport-why-tom-brady-and-rafael-nadal-are-often-called-it-3568312
The Chicago Bulls’ Title Drought Without Michael Jordan | BashaBearsBasketball.com. (2023, November 20). https://bashabearsbasketball.com/the-chicago-bulls-title-drought-without-michael-jordan/
Michael Jordan Career Stats. (n.d.). StatMuse. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/player/michael-jordan-1932
B, M. (n.d.). Life without Michael Jordan: The Story of the 1993-94 Chicago Bulls. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/370455-life-without-michael-jordan-the-story-of-the-1993-94-chicago-bulls
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