Let's take a little air out of Jordan

I hate to say it but I've never been a big fan of Michael Jordan.  Sure, he was a great player, maybe even the greatest, but his arrogance both on and off the court really annoys me.  I've made it a point not to watch The Last Dance precisely for this reason.  I see I'm not alone in that Scotty Pippen was also taken aback by how heavily the documentary series was skewed in Michael's favor.

The GOAT debate comes up every year.  Sportswriters provide a myriad of reasons why Jordan should be regarded as the greatest of all time.  It's too bad Wilt is no longer around to shoot down most of those arguments.  Jordan is coy enough not to give credit to himself.  He says he wished he could have played against these previous greats, as he imagines they wished they could have played in his era.  

It is Bill Russell who makes the most salient point.  There were only 12 NBA teams back then.  Competition was tough.  Boston may have won a slough of titles, but that wasn't because of a lack of great talent in the league.  Wilt Chamberlain for one.  He and the Philadelphia Warriors managed to steal one title away from the Celtics. Russell says he could have dominated the Celtics like Wilt did the Warriors but that isn't how you win championships.  Even Wilt had to admit Bill was right, which must have been a bitter pill to swallow.  When Wilt came to LA, he opted for the same strategy and won a second title with Jerry West, Hap Hairston and Gail Goodrich.  He no longer tried to score 50 points, but became a role player content with 14 points and snagging nearly 20 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists per game.   He also played great defense, stymying the up and coming Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) by blocking his patented sky hook.

Jordan also would defer to other players on the team, but as Scotty pointed out, this wasn't because of any humility on his part but rather the offense Phil Jackson had beaten into their heads.  You look for the open man.  Pippen gives much of the credit for the two championship runs (3 titles each) to Phil Jackson, who had the Bulls playing team ball in the same spirit as championship teams of the past.  When Jordan was allowed to run free, the Bulls could never get out of their division.

Greatness becomes less about individual ability and more about how you integrate yourself within a team.  If it was purely about individual ability, Wilt Chamberlain would be the GOAT hands down.  No player was as dominant as he was in the 1960s.  A freak of nature towering more than 7 foot tall with a massive wingspan and a 48-inch vertical jump. He claimed he could clear 52 inches.  He maintained his unmatched physical ability for years afterward by turning to professional volleyball.  The only player in recent history that comes close to this level of athleticism is Hakeem Olajuwon, who won two titles of his own with the Houston Rockets.  Yet, you hardly hear anything about Hakeem these days.

Instead you hear a lot about Shaquille O'Neal, who has a prime time slot on Inside the NBA with Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.  O'Neal was a great player but Hakeem schooled him in the 1995 NBA finals when Houston took out Orlando in four straight games.   Barkley also likes to blow his own horn but it is a stretch to put him on any NBA All-Time list as there were so many players better than him, even in his own era.

Jordan smartly lets the sportswriters do the talking for him.  This allows him to maintain a smug air of humility.  But, every once in awhile it comes out.  Like the time he dished on Steph Curry, considering the young point guard unworthy yet for Hall of Fame consideration despite having won three titles with the Golden State Warriors and breaking all sorts of the 3-point shooting records.  It seems Jordan doesn't like anyone new entering into the conversation about the greatest players of all time.  

It is easy to imagine that in a few years time Curry will enter into the GOAT conversation, especially after winning his fourth NBA title.  Many thought the Golden State era was over.  Like Jordan and Wilt before him, he is a game changer.  Steph very well may be the greatest perimeter shooter of all time and his ball handling skills are second to none.  Curry could put up 40 points per game if he wanted to but realizes this is a team sport.  Coach Steve Kerr instilled this attitude from his years playing under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. 

On an amusing note, one of the arguments used against Wilt is that in a mythical one-on-one game Jordan would simply draw him out with his perimeter shooting and then race by him for easy layups.  Well, the same argument could be made of a mythical one-on-one game between Steph and Michael.  

But, this wouldn't really define the greatest player.  I think Julius Erving could take them all out in a one-on-one game as he literally had everything.  Dr. J. may very well have been the greatest individual player of all time with his incredible athleticism that literally seemed to defy gravity.  In his prime, Erving was unstoppable. He was doing amazing dunks with incredible hang time long before Michael.  Alas, he spent his formative years in the ABA and was only able to garner one ring in the NBA with the 76'ers.  Despite years in broadcasting, you hardly hear anything about him either these days. 

It is interesting to note that he has stuck with his Al-Time NBA starting five ever since he was 15.  He puts Michael, Bird and Magic on his second team.  In part, this stresses who he grew up with as his idols.  However, Dr. J has seen all the other players that have come after them and played against Kareem, Bird, Magic and even Michael.  This makes him as objective an authority on the subject as anyone.  

Being genuinely unassuming, he doesn't put himself on either team.  Having grown up with Dr. J as one of my basketball idols, I would put him on the first team and put Elgin Baylor on the second team, bumping Karl Malone.  I'm not sure how Kareem, Bird, Magic or Jordan feel about being on Dr. J's second team, but it is interesting that Erving omitted LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, idols to the current generation.

Of course, Jordan is safe in the eyes of sportswriters.  Most sports panels have Sir Michael securely placed at number one, with many putting LeBron at number two. It all comes down to who you grew up with.  You rarely see any mention of Bob Cousy, Walt Bellamy or George Mikan.  It is just assumed that many of these players from the 50s and 60s couldn't compete against today's players, forgetting that guys like John Stockton, Tim Duncan and Larry Bird are very much from the same mold as these former NBA greats.  

What makes today's NBA so interesting are foreign players who have made a huge impact on the league.  This highlights just how much the game has grown internationally.  Guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Joel Embid will soon be considered for All-Time NBA teams.  Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash already are.  

The game is constantly changing.  It would be nice to think at some point we won't hear so much about Jordan.