Is/was there ANYONE better than MICHAEL??? im juss bringin up this subject coz it juss crossed my mind.... is there anyone better then Michael Jordan?? The man everyone calls "the greatest"..?? cause u no i cant think of nuthin...... not even magic, kobe, tmac..... is there anyone?
Kobe and Tmac haven't even come close to Michael. Michael has accomplished much more, and was a better player. Of course, Kobe and Tracy are still relatively young....... Magic's knock was his defense, or lack thereof. He wasn't a terribly great defender. If anyone is close to argue.......its Wilt.
Ya know I'm starting to think this whole best ever thing is stupid. It really is becoming a knock on the games of all the legends that have ever played the game to put one guy on a higher pedestal than others, especially since we haven't seen most of the guys that we critisize play. All the legends have their mark on the game and all of them were the greatest or just were simply great in their respective eras, can't we just give out respect for that instead of nitpicking their game just to put another player higher than anyone else?
Dude.... Jordan isn't unquestionably the greatest ever. Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Magic, Larry, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are all close to him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting abc:</div><div class="quote_post">Dude.... Jordan isn't unquestionably the greatest ever. Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Magic, Larry, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are all close to him.</div> Interesting point of view... I guess you can say that MJ is the greatest player in terms of impact alone. However, it's impossible to compare a guard to a forward/center, let alone the fact that they played in different eras, and never played together. He was undoubtedly the greatest scorer in the game (we have his career scoring average to prove that), and one of the top defensive guards to ever play the game. He drew people to the game of basketball simply because of the way he moved. He was a cultural phenomenon and an international craze wherever he went. He was the leading scorer on the Dream Team, the greatest basketball team ever assembled in history. All these facts point toward him being the greatest, and he is accepted as the greatest, but you'll never know how the other greats would fare if they had played in the same era.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kobeonfire:</div><div class="quote_post">Interesting point of view... I guess you can say that MJ is the greatest player in terms of impact alone. However, it's impossible to compare a guard to a forward/center, let alone the fact that they played in different eras, and never played together. He was undoubtedly the greatest scorer in the game (we have his career scoring average to prove that), and one of the top defensive guards to ever play the game. He drew people to the game of basketball simply because of the way he moved. He was a cultural phenomenon and an international craze wherever he went. He was the leading scorer on the Dream Team, the greatest basketball team ever assembled in history. All these facts point toward him being the greatest, and he is accepted as the greatest, but you'll never know how the other greats would fare if they had played in the same era.</div> Nice post. If you're talking about the fans/money that he brought to the game, and impact he had on basketball, he's the greatest. But as a player, he isn't unquestionably the G.O.A.T. in the sport of basketball.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting jRac87:</div><div class="quote_post">Larry Bird.</div> :thumbsup: i agree
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting txuonline:</div><div class="quote_post">jordan is the greatest in the game no question. the closest to him would be shaq.</div> That is absolutely ludacris. Kareem, Wilt, Russel, Bird, and Magic are all far better than SHAQ. Shaq isnt even one of the top 10 players of all time. I think there have been alot of really great players in the league and they will each be remembered for what they did great in their own right. I do think Jordan was the best to play IMO however these players are all worthy of being mentioned as some of the greatest players to ever play the game. There are a few more that arent listed below. Here are some great players that just popped into my mind automatically. 1. Kareem 2. Wilt 3. Russell 4. Magic 5. Bird
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting txuonline:</div><div class="quote_post">jordan is the greatest in the game no question. the closest to him would be shaq.</div> haha Are u serious tony? SHaq?! anywayz, In my opinion Michael has had the biggest impact on the game cfombined with his greatness as a player. He isn't unquestionably the best player, but i say he is. REmember as some1 said, you cant compare a center to a guard, or a player form one era to another, times change, and so do the players.
If a 24 year old MJ played a 1on1 game with a 24 year old T-Mac, I think that Mac would win just because he would have a serious size advantage and is a much better shooter, but MJ would bling T-Mac with his speed . Would be a GREAT GAME TO WATCH.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting YaoMing03-04:</div><div class="quote_post">If a 24 year old MJ played a 1on1 game with a 24 year old T-Mac, I think that Mac would win just because he would have a serious size advantage and is a much better shooter, but MJ would bling T-Mac with his speed . Would be a GREAT GAME TO WATCH.</div> You have to be kidding. First off T-Mac does not have a huge size difference over Jordan. Second, Jordan is a great defender and would be able to shut T-Mac down and wear him down. Jordan would destroy T-Mac one on one.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">You have to be kidding. First off T-Mac does not have a huge size difference over Jordan. Second, Jordan is a great defender and would be able to shut T-Mac down and wear him down. Jordan would destroy T-Mac one on one.</div> Three inches in the world of basketball is a big difference and great offense always stumps great defence. Jordan would not be able to guard T-Mac, but then again T-Mac would not be able to guard Jordan either. It will come down to basketball intelligence and will both of which Jordan has in abundance over every single player in the league today. There is where his advantage is.
Jordan would scorch McGrady. Jordan at 24 was one of the quickest players in the league. Imagine Iverson in a 6'6" body. That was Jordan at 24. It wasn't until later, that Jordan bulked up and added that deadly turnaround. Jordan has the advantage in quickness, speed, and defense at that point. McGrady would have heigth and better range at that point. And in one on one, defense DOES have an effect. Sure, it tends to be a bit more of a scoring match, but defense still has an effect on the outcome. Jordan would be able to make enough stops to get the lead, and maintain it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fiyah:</div><div class="quote_post">Three inches in the world of basketball is a big difference and great offense always stumps great defence. Jordan would not be able to guard T-Mac, but then again T-Mac would not be able to guard Jordan either. It will come down to basketball intelligence and will both of which Jordan has in abundance over every single player in the league today. There is where his advantage is.</div> I disagree with T-Mac's height advantage because Jordan's jumping ability, wingspan, and anticipation would more than compensate for T-Mac's height advantage. Also 2 or 3 inches does not make much of a difference for Swingmen. The height advantage makes even less of a difference in a 1 on 1 matchup. I agree with you on Jordan's will. His will is often overlooked and not appreciated. I think Jordan's ability to defend would be a significant advantage as well. The playoffs against Detroit, showed a lot of flaws in T-Mac's game, and Jordan would spot them immediately and take advantage of them. T-Mac had a tough time dealing with Tayshaun Prince's long arms and foot quickness, something Jordan has and is even better at than Prince. It also showed T-Mac does not know how to use his size advantage in the post, or we would have simply backed Tayshaun in and flushed it on him.
I think it goes without saying that Jordan would kill T-Mac one-on-one (if they are both age 24). But apparently, some people disagree on this board, which is absolutely ludicrous. Some people just don't know how great Mike was at 24. He averaged something crazy like 37 PPG when he was 24 and this was WITHOUT a good 3 point shot. Mike simply had possibly the best mid-range shot the league had ever seen. No way T-Mac could even get close to beating him. Mike could shut him down defensively. He could them take Tracy to the hole and pull up. Fake a 3 pointer than hit an easy shot from the elbow. Fake a shot from the elbow and give Tracy a facial. How could McGrady even compete with Mike when he was 24?
I think everyone pretty much agrees that T-Mac would lose to Jordan ina one on one. we all just disagree a little on why and the degree that McGrady would lose. Now as great as Jordan was we have to realize that today's players are far more refined and the game has changed a bit on the defensive end even since Jordan was 24 which is why even he had to make significant adjustments to his game (well sure he was older but the game had become harder on offense because of what was now being allowed on defense). In a one-on-one game McGrady would be forced to take Jordan in the paint more often than not and he would only take deep shots when he had Jordan in a bad position. So while height would not make much of a difference if Jordan had to stop McGrady from hitting that three it makes a huge advantage under the paint because now Jordan has to jump straight up from a standing position to even have a chance of stopping McGrady and even then he would be opening himself up for McGrady drawing the contact. McGrady's length is just too much for any swingman in the league to deal with and his wingspan is alot longer than Jordan's. I don't think it would be as much a mismatch as some people are making it out to be. Why would McGrady fall for Jordan's three point fakes?! Jordan was shooting 18% from three point range ... if he wants to take three's let him. Now Jordan is the one who would have to respect every fake that McGrady hands him because of McGrady's shooting proficiency. So how does Jordan win this game? Well apart from him being just being Jordan ... Jordan is bound to steal the ball from McGrady a couple times and beat him to those important rebounds. One-on-one with two closely matched players is all about drive, determination, intelligence, and conditioning. Jordan wins it right there!
People say Kobe at 24 is better than MJ at 24. Those people also say that Kobe and McGrady are more or less equal to each other as players. Now people are saying McGrady will be blown out by MJ one-on-one. Am I missing something?
I totally agree, Kobe and T-Mac are just about equal. and ESPN analysts such as Tom Tolbert, tim Hardaway have said that T-Mac is better, they have also said that Kobe is better than MJ at 24. So take what you want from that. Fact is T-Mac is not 6'8, even though he is listed as that. Have u guys seen the cover of the new Kicks magazine, T-Mac is almost as tall as KG and TD. Both KG and TD even joked about T-Mac being 6'8 and said he was atleast 6'10. Thats 4 inches on MJ, and combine that with T-macs long arms thats like 6 inches. We are talking about 1on1 so all that bball IQ doesnt matter. Micael could jump high, his vertical was about 46, Tracys is 43.Thats only 3 inches. At 24 MJ had some ridiculous speed, but did you guys see T-mac at the olympics, he is huge now. T_mac would man handle MJ. Everyone Knows that McGrady has the best range in the league, only Ray Allen and Toine made more threes. At 24 MJ had no range at all. T-Mac would win 11-6. if u dont agree ask MJ himself.
