WHY MICHAEL JORDAN ( AND NOT LEBRON) IS THE GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME!!! [HATER ALERT ]

What does “GOAT” stand for? Greatest of All Time. Born on February 17, 1963; Michael Jeffery Jordan was the face of the National Basketball Association during the late 80s and 1990’s. At one point in time he was cut from his varsity high school basketball team, but through hard work and determination Jordan ended up being inducted into the National Basketball Association Hall of Fame in 2009;

Michael Jordan transcended the game of basketball and influenced a whole generation of ball players after him. So, when the question, “Who is the greatest basketball player of all time?” is asked, the answer should always be Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA player of all time because of his career accolades and statistics, his clutch and big game performances, and his will to win.

In sports it is difficult to compare players from different eras. The best way to draw comparisons, is by analyzing how dominant a player was during his prime or career tenure. In his prime Michael Jeffery Jordan won six NBA championships and was named the NBA Final’s Most Valuable Player all six times. As godly as those accolades are, Jordan has also been selected 10 All NBA first teams. Meaning that he was one of the best 5 players in the whole NBA over 10 seasons. If that is not impressive enough “MJ” also was a lockdown defender, being selected to 9 All Defensive first – teams over the course of his career. The decade of the 1990’s was owned by Michael Jordan.

During the decade Jordan was the NBA’s most valuable player five times, and many argue that he should have won 2 more MVP’s, but instead those two years the awards were given to Charles Barkley and Karl Malone; which whom both were defeated by Michael Jordan in the NBA finals. It’s widely believed that Karl Malone unjustly won the 1998 MVP award over MJ because voters believed Jordan had won the award too many times.

What makes Michael Jordan the greatest player of all time is because of how amazing he was on both the offensive and defensive side of the basketball. Jordan was named the NBA’s defensive player of the year in 1988. For a wing player that plays on the perimeter of the defense to win such an award is mind boggling, but that is just how great Michael Jordan was.

On both sides of the court Michael Jordan was the best player. Over his career Jordan led the whole NBA in scoring 10 times and has a career average of 30.1 points per game, the highest in NBA history.

Michael Jordan also has hit more clutch shots and has had more iconic performances than any other player in NBA history.

The date was June 14th,1998. Up in a hostile environment in Utah it is Game 6 of the NBA finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. The score is Utah 86 Bulls 85, and the Jazz have the ball with time winding down. There’s 25 seconds left in the game, when NBA hall of famer Karl Malone catches the ball on the low block. All hope seems to be lost until out of nowhere Michael Jeffery Jordan comes from the baseline and swipes the basketball out of Malone’s helpless hands. As Malone tumbles to the ground, MJ picks up the basketball with under 20 seconds left.

With a sixth NBA championship on the line, Jordan dribbles up the court calmly waiting until the game clock does down to 8 seconds before making his move. Having Jazz guard Byron Russell guarding him, Jordan starts from the left wing driving ferociously.

With Russel guarding Jordan harshly, Jordan stops all of his momentum at the top of the free throw line and shoots the greatest clutch shot in NBA history. Jordan pushes off of Russell, (which was fairly normal at the time) stopped, popped, and swished the top of the key jumper with 5.6 seconds left, and in that very moment Michael Jordan secured his crown as the best basketball player of all time.

There are plenty of other examples of Michael Jordan being clutch in the playoffs or having big time performances for example, despite in a losing effort MJ scored 63 points on one of the greatest NBA teams of all time in 1986 Boston Celtics which included NBA Hall of Farmers such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. How about Game 5 of the NBA finals where Jordan scored 38 points with a flu, later known as “the flu game.”

What about in 1989 when Jordan hit the game winning shot over Craigh Ehlo and ripped out the Cleveland Cavaliers hearts in the playoffs. It would also be foolish to not to recognize Jordan’s “shrug game”, in which Jordan hit six first half three pointers against Clyde Drexler in the Portland Trail Blazers.

One of the most important trait that separates Michael Jordan from the rest of the NBA legends was his psychopathic need to win. MJ was known for his incredibly intense competitiveness and he would do anything to win. Jordan was one of the all- time great trash talkers in NBA history and got into his opponent’s head on a regular basis. Prior to the 1992 NBA finals the media compared Portland Trailblazers guard Clyde Drexler to Jordan MJ took notice of the comparisons and used the NBA finals to prove the point, that nobody in the whole NBA was in his class. That series Michael Jordan averaged 35.8 points per game, while Drexler only averaged 24.8.

When Jordan and the Chicago Bulls matched up with Karl Malone and the Jazz, the same year in which Malone won the regular season’s MVP award, Jordan dominated the whole series and proved his greatness once more averaging 32 points per game at 33 years old.

Some naysayers may argue that Michael Jordan is not the greatest player of all time because LeBron James is, but that could not be any further than the truth. For one, Michael Jordan played in a way superior and tougher era of basketball than LeBron James. And for those who disagree with that statement; the 1990’s had the most teams that won 50 or 60 games in a decade in NBA history. In Michael Jordan’s career he had to play against some of the greatest players and teams in NBA history. MJ had to play against the 1980’s Boston Celtics, the 90’s Detroit “Bad Boy” Pistons at young age, and later in his career Jordan won the NBA finals over NBA greats like Magic Johnson in 1991, and Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley.

While LeBron James however, his playing in a far easier era of basketball, where the rules have changed; such as no hand checking, and there is a obviously decline in aggressiveness and toughness within the NBA . Not to mention that Michael Jordan was guarded by the Defensive Player of the Year in the playoffs on several occasions – Sidney Moncreif, Alvin Roberson, Dennis Rodman and Gary Payton.

Yes, LeBron James have been to 8 straight NBA finals, but look at the “cake walk” he has had in the Eastern Conference. The only times LeBron James had faced other Hall of Fame caliber players in the eastern conference playoffs were against the big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett and The Boston Celtics, and prime Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

Note that James have lost a series to both of these teams. The only reasons why LeBron eventually gotten over the hump of the Boston Celtics were because he fled Cleveland to create a super team in Miami with the Heat, and also the Celtics have gotten really old.

While in the future LeBron James will have most of the NBA statistical records, it is important to look past the numbers and look at what really matters and that is championships. LeBron James is 3-5 in the NBA finals, while Michael Jordan is 6-0. How can James be the greatest player ever if he lost more than he won in the championship series? Michael Jordan always played his best during the NBA finals and was way more clutch than LeBron James ever will be. In the 2011 during the NBA Finals LeBron James had one of the biggest meltdowns a professional athlete has had on a championship stage in the history of sports.

In Game 4 of the 2011 NBA finals against the Dallas Mavericks LeBron James only scored 8 points. How can the greatest only score 8 points in an NBA finals game?

LeBron James will likely end up passing Kareem Abdul- Jabar as 1st on the All Time points scored list, but in actuality Jordan was a better scorer than LeBron James. As mentioned before Jordan won 10 scoring titles in his career. LeBron has won one.

Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Patrick Ewing, and John Stockton; all NBA greats and legends that don’t have any championships because of one reason, and that is Michael Jordan.

Since Jordan’s retirement he influenced a whole generation of basketball players. Legends like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James whom have been quoted saying that they wanted to be like Michael Jordan. J

Jordan meant so much to the game of basketball. Jordan put the NBA on a global scale, which lead to an influx of foreign NBA talent for generations to come. Jordan’s impact expands far from beyond basketball, as for he has been retired for over 20 years, and his sneakers are still the go to basketball shoe.

Combine Michael’s Jordan brand, his celebrity, and the fact that Michael Jordan is the only Black owner of an NBA team; it is perfectly clear that Michael Jeffery Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time.