OT: Jordan is the greatest ever to play the game

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAr6oAKieHk&feature=share

[video=youtube;LAr6oAKieHk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAr6oAKieHk&feature=share[/video]

I just haven't seen anyone as impressive as this guy

 

Not sure who would bother arguing this. Seems pretty cut and dry.

 

Just making a statement. Not saying anyone in here disagrees.

 

Jordan dominated at a time when I think the league was at its very best. It would be interesting to see where the Bulls would have ranked when the Celts and Lakers were running things, but I still think Jordan would reign supreme.

 

I remembered some of the craziest plays were how him and Pippen would dunk off the free-throw misses by their team.

 

I'll be the guy who disagrees! He may be the most individually impressive, but if it weren't for a guy named Arvydas Sabonis people wouldn't be wearing Air Jordan's today. MJ owes Sabas the vast majority of his fortune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tnToDLHV4

 

He still would have been the greatest if the refs called everyone by the same rules, but the margin wouldn't have been anywhere near as wide between him and the next few guys...

 

LMAO!!!!

 

I agree that Sabonis would have made a huge difference if he had come over. I don't think MJ would have gotten quite so many rings.

 

If LeBron keeps up what he has been doing this year over the next 4 years, I think he may have a case.

If LeBron truly wanted to be the next "MJ" I think he could easily average 30+ points a game. I think he really just wants to be the first "LeBron" and be more Oscar-like in his approach.

I think the Kobe to MJ comparisons are laughable. Kobe has never been the defender, passer or playmaker MJ ever was.

 

Yeah I could see the case for Sabas and LBJ. LBJ is the closest thing to the sheer dominance of Jordan, IMO.

 

The thing is there is a lot of people that could be or may have been (with different circumstances) as good but no one that actually really was (or really is at this point).

 

blue9 you are an asshole for bringing up Sabas man!!!! I am wondering what this team would look like with the same Sabas we had 12 years ago.

 

Lebron is just different. He's certainly great in his own way, but MJ's game combined with his demeanor was just so indomitable. I just don't see that same killer instinct in James and I doubt he'll ever be Jordan's competition for GOAT.

 

That's it for me as well. Few players have the same kind of drive that Jordan had.

 

Precisely my point. MJ is only "the greatest ever" due to all the hardware. If he had only won one or two rings, the waters would be MUCH murkier. It certainly wouldn't be unanimous that he was "the greatest ever"...and he might not even be in the conversation with only 1 or 2 rings.
I understand that on the surface it seems laughable to question MJ's place in history, but it's largely due to circumstances. Of course it can never be proven that Jordan wouldn't have a double-threepeat if Sabas had come over. But I think a pretty strong argument can be made that PDX would have won a handful of championships if Sabas came over when (or shortly after) he was drafted. And that would make ALL the difference in the world with how MJ is viewed today. It's doubtful that he'd have all the ancillary endorsements that he STILL has.
So, I stand by my statement that MJ owes everything he has to Sabas.
(Oh, and just to be clear - I'm not making the case that Sabas is the greatest ever. I'd like to, but I'm not.)

 

Did you know that Jordan has the highest career PER than any other player in NBA history? Did you know that he had a 30+ PER for 6 consecutive years, while defense was allowed to hold him from the perimeter?

I think too many people overlook just how good Jordan was. He was doing things in a talent filled league, with all teams and key players putting a "Bullseye" on his back. Tell me any player that was that good against that much competition?

 

Oh and just for the record. I fucking hated Jordan!

 

Did you know I don't care about PER?
And for as much as it sounds like I'm denying MJ's greatness, I'm not. There's a reason he's universally accepted as the greatest to ever play the game. I just like to argue the point about the malleability of history. Whenever I hear talk about Jordan I can't help but think of how different history would likely be if Sabas came over earlier.

 

It really doesn't matter if you like it or not. It's a definite sign of the efficiency of the player. Also, did you know that the PER differential was greater than any other player in the NBA? So you may not care about his PER, but his PER being so much greater than the other team's SG's PER is a huge achievement.

And quite honestly, we could say the same if Oden wasn't injured. Maybe Roy stayed healthy? Maybe if we had a better coach than Nate? Those are all hypotheticals that didn't happen so it can't be factored.

We can only give credit and rating to what "Has" happened. Jordan destroyed the Knicks, with Ewing being arguably the best defensive center of his generation. He also dismantled the Magic with a Shaq led team. He pummeled past the Cavs with the great Price, Daughtery and Nance.

The road through the East was extremely hard. Most those teams were physical and they would foul you hard. Today's players wouldn't be able to last 20 minutes in physical games like they had in the 90's.