Throughout the 134 year course of basketball history, there have been many claims of the greatest of all time, or the GOAT of the sport. When the NBA was founded 77 years ago, many have had the honor to be referred to as the greatest player to ever touch a basketball. However, it is with complete certainty that there is only one greatest of all time. It is none other than ‘His Airness, Black Jesus,’ Michael Jordan.
To be the greatest of any sport, one has to win accolades. Michael Jordan is the absolute king of them. He has been awarded the highly sought after MVP five times, along with six NBA Championships, in only six attempts. In other words, he is undefeated in the biggest stage of basketball. NBA Star Bojan Bogdanovic said that the biggest reason he thinks Jordan is the GOAT is because of his undefeated record. Jordan averaged a record of 30.1 points per game with 10 Scoring Titles, the most in basketball history. Not to mention, Jordan was a 14 time All-Star, 11 time All-NBA Team, Rookie of the Year, 9 time All-Defensive Team, and a ridiculous 5-time MVP. Needless to say, His Airness has a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The greatest players always have their supporters who believe that they are the greatest of all time. According to HoopsHype, 49% of NBA players said that MIchael Jordan is simply the best. That is 12% more than the next contender, LeBron James. Interestingly enough, international players, who provide an unbiased, third person point of view of the NBA, 65.2% voted for MJ. All-Star players, who are the best of the best, 58% of them voted for Jordan, while only 25% said LeBron James was. Another fascinating part of this poll is that 50% of LeBron James teammates have voted for Michael Jordan as the greatest player, even with their obvious bias as a teammate of a contender.
Speaking of James, he is arguably the only person currently to have a case to dispute as the GOAT. However, there are a multitude of reasons why he cannot pass Jordan. One reason is that James has been criticized many times for changing teams in order to win a championship. James left the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team which drafted him in 2003, for the Miami Heat to form a ‘superteam’. This departure of teams to seek a championship is widely frowned upon in the basketball world, and LeBron has done it not once, not twice, but three times. Michael Jordan stuck with one team for the majority of his illustrious career, and only played for the Washington Wizards as an owner of the team.
Another reason LeBron fans argue is the fact that James has the most points scored in NBA history. This argument is, in a word, unfair to Jordan. According to StatMuse, the average NBA team averaged 103.1 points per game throughout LeBron James’ much longer career, while during Jordan’s prime it was 98.4 points. Also, the NBA has become more efficient, with teams shooting better, scoring more efficiently, players shooting more 3 pointers. This will result in LeBron’s stats to be more ‘inflated’ or show up bigger than it would’ve been in the 1990s.
Any reasonable person, with advanced knowledge of basketball and a deep understanding of the game will tell you that Michael Jordan is the GOAT. As of right now, it seems there is no one to dispute it. However, the game of basketball that we all know and love is ever changing, and we will never know what kind of player will change the game next.