Who is better than Jordan?

All of the above

This reason is pure bull, plain and simple.  It is a desperate plea from a Jordan worshipper who realizes his goose is cooked.  Here is why.

Let's compare Wilt Chamberlain to Jordan, for instance.  Wilt has 56 NBA single-season records to Jordan's 4.  Wilt nearly QUADRUPLED the number of 50 point games Jordan had in his career.  Wilt led the league in assists, fg%, minutes and rebounds 29 times to Jordan's Zero.  He owns 6 of the 9 70+ point games in history - Jordan has zero.  He topped Jordan's best scoring season three times and Wilt's best scoring season is 13 ppg higher than Jordan's.  Imagine Jordan leading the league in scoring at 33 ppg and the runner up having 20 ppg.  Simply put, Wilt was in a class ahead of Jordan.

A Jordan fan will respond with, "Yeah, but Wilt only has 2 rings to Jordan's 6".  Fine.  That means stats mean very little and the much stronger emphasis is on championships.  When one man so strongly overwhelms another in the area of statistical accomplishments, to say he is not better means stats are irrelevant.  We are not talking about Kobe Bryant vs. Tracy McGrady or Charles Barkley vs. Karl Malone - guys with similar numbers.  We are talking about a mismatch that rivals Shaq versus Greg Kite.

Therefore, to say Jordan is better is Wilt means stats and scoring are irrelevant.  Since championships are the overwhelming factor, then we have to look at the man who prevented Wilt from winning more championships - Bill Russell. He has 11 championships to Jordan's 6.  He has nearly TWICE the number of championships.  Therefore, Bill Russell simply has to be better than Jordan.  Let me repeat that - as impressive as Jordan's six titles are, it simply pales in comparison to Russell.   To win 6 championships, it took Michael Jordan 14 years and Bill Russell only 7 years.  Jordan played 15 seasons to Russell's 13, yet Russell has FIVE more championships than Jordan.  Jordan and Magic Johnson COMBINED have as many rings as Bill Russell.  Jordan and Magic defined "winning" for an entire generation!  Yet, it takes both of them together to match the dominance of Bill Russell!

A Jordan fan cannot say that Jordan was a better individual player than Russell.  After all, Russell AVERAGED over 22 rebounds per game.  He is acknowledged by most to be the greatest defensive player in the history of the game, and to go along with that, he finished in the top 10 in the league in assists FOUR times (Jordan only did this once).  He added 15 ppg to go along with this superior passing, rebounding, and defense.

The only recourse for a Jordan worshipper is to discount Russell's superior defense, rebounding, passing, and his overwhelming dominance in championships -- discount all of it -- and say "Jordan scored more points".  However, as I showed above, points are irrelevant.  Wilt Chamberlain dominated Jordan in points, and most other categories, but this was all discounted because of championships.  You simply cannot say that Jordan's extra scoring somehow makes up for a 5 ring deficit after you just discounted Wilt's OVERWHELMING dominance of Jordan in scoring on account of a 4 ring deficit.  And face it: it has to come down to points and rings because Jordan's passing and rebounding are simply unimpressive and his defense - while exceptional - is not on a plane higher than Chamberlain and Russell.

Therefore, there is no way that Michael Jordan can be the greatest player in history.

Back