THE GOAT

Earlier today while I was in the gym keeping my skinny-ness toned and sculptured, I was distracted by a tweet that came in on my phone. It had something to do with snow leopards. Either way, right below on my timeline was a discussion between two good friends of mine talking about how championships separate great players from elite players (for example, Malone/Barkley = great. Magic/Bird = Elite). One friend then made the argument that Bill Russell may indeed be the greatest player ever because of his mass amount of rings. Well, of course I had to chime in. Now before we go any further, let me just say that I am a certified, beyond a shadow of a doubt Michael Jordan stan. A stan goes beyond your everyday fanhood. With that said, I offer my sincerest apologies for anyone who may find this piece to be a little biased.

In my professional opinion, Michael Jordan is THE aboslute greatest player to ever put on an NBA uniform (along with some of the greatest sneakers as well). The argument for some other players is entertaining, but let’s be real about the situation. Mike sits at the throne alone. Some try to argue Kobe. If any of you saw the comparison between the two over the course of the same amount of career games, then we all know that argument is now null and void. The awards, the numbers, and the accolades just don’t add up in Kobe’s favor. Not taking anything away from Kobe; he’s the closest thing on the court I’ve seen to Mike. He’s got a much better long range shot, and when he wants to get to the hole, he gets to the hole. Just ask any white girl in Colorado.

Some will say Bill Russell. It’s hard to argue with 11 championships. I will give Bill Russell the title of greatest on court leader. But greatest player ever? Nah, can’t do it. Just talking from a skill wise and talent perspective, Wilt Chamberlain was killing Bill Russell in head to head comparisons pretty much every time they played. I realize that Bill Russell’s teams won most of those games (he did play alongside about 30 hall of famers), but my point is that nobody ever dominated Mike on a routine basis like that.

And then there’s the case for Magic. The most entertaining case of them all. He is the definition of a team player. He could play all five positions. He could pretty much put the ball anywhere on the court that he wanted to. He’s got the championships and the numbers to put up a good fight with Mike. The most compelling argument that Magic Johnson fans will make is that he started winning as soon as he came into the league. True enough. It’s should also be noted that he came in playing with Kareem, and was soon joined by other Hall of Fame players. Michael Jordan’s best teammates for a while were Charles Oakley and Craig Hodges. Even when he got Pippen, Grant, and Phil, it took them a few years to get fully developed before they started winning. But once they did, it was a wrap for the rest of the league. Even if Magic’s career was cut short because he couldn’t keep his d*ck in his pants, does anybody out there really believe he would’ve beaten Mike in a finals rematch? No, I didn’t think so. You’ll have people say that Mike never played against other elite players like Bird or Isaiah Thomas. Well if Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Payton, Stockton, etc could’ve beaten Mike then maybe they would be considered elite. But they couldn’t, so they’re not. The fact of the matter is, Magic just didn’t have a kill switch where he could take over the game and completely destroy the other team on both ends of the floor like Mike. Not saying he couldn’t do it, he just couldn’t do it better and more consistently than Mike. If Lebron ever gets one of those kill switches, we may have to revisit this argument in another ten years or so.

You know what really sets Mike apart from every other player to ever play the game? Every single time he stepped on the court, we expected him to win. In his last six seasons (with the Bulls of course), was there ever a doubt as to who would win the championship? Find me another player who could take over the league like that and we’ll talk. Until then, let’s put the argument to rest. Michael Jordan is and continues to be the greatest player in NBA history. I won’t even bring up about how much he changed the game (for better and worse), and made the NBA the global business that it is now, and how there will never be another athlete who will have an impact on pop culture like he did because I could go all day with this stuff. On that note, I’d like to say GO BULLS…D ROSE FOR MVP!!!