The experts @ Slam Magazine put together “The 500 Greatest NBA Players of All Time”. We can all agree to disagree, but the fact of the matter is that Slam put a lot of research into coming up with their final list. This is indeed a tough task! “I perused the Basketball Encyclopedia and Total Basketball and filled out index cards for more than 1,000 players”, said Al Stark. “I checked obvious stats, awards, honors, number of championships and All-Star appearances. Then, head spinning, I bounced my ideas off some basketball expert friends of mine and then numbered the cards from 1 to 500. An exhausting exercise!” I’m obviously not going thru the whole list, but I am going to take a look @ the top 10. (Starting with number 1.) I will give my own opinions and critique the list as well. I’m interested to hear what you think. Let the debate begin!
Number 1 –MICHAEL “AIR” JORDAN What can I say about this pick? For those of you that really know me, I grew up idolizing M.J.-so I guess you can say I’m a little biased. The facts speak for themselves though. He had everything-the complete game, style on and off the court, competitive drive, killer instinct, tireless work ethic and he was the ultimate winner. If you grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, you patterned your game and your swagger after Michael Jordan. That includes: Kobe, LeBron, D Wade, Carmelo and all of the players of today’s generation. Even kids that don’t play basketball from the ages of 6-17 are influenced by M.J. and they never saw him play. They rush to get the newest pair of “Air Jordans” when they hit the stores. When I hear the name Michael Jordan, I think of “greatness”, “iconic figure”, and “living legend”-his name will forever be synonymous with these titles. I have this Kobe vs. Jordan debate with my younger brother and his peer group (age 25 & under) all of the time. It’s actually ridiculous; I don’t even know why I entertain it. Granted, Kobe Bryant is a flat out beast, he can score the hell out of the ball, and there are a lot of similarities to his game and M.J’s. Kobe did the best job of any player of mimicking the original prototype. Since he was a little kid he studied M.J.’s footwork, mannerisms, arsenal of moves and commitment to being great. Tons of guys have tried to reach Jordan’s status on the court (Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Harold Miner), but Kobe has come the closest. I’m not mad at Kobe though. If you’re going to be great in any industry-you have to model what you do after the person or thing that’s considered the greatest. If you’re an entertainer, you study the other M.J. (Michael Jackson) Every aspiring boxer has to study Muhammad Ali’s blueprint. If you want to design the best vehicle on the planet, you study the engineering of the classy Mercedes Benz. It’s easier said than done though. In my opinion, the pupil will never be better than the teacher! I admire Kobe for taking on that challenge, but as I try to explain to my brother Antoine-aside from similarities on the court, you can’t compare the two.
Ultimately, Michael Jordan played in an era that was way more competitive and physical. (You could hand check, and clothes lining someone wouldn’t get you ejected.) He never played with a dominant big man. No disrespect to the great Scottie Pippen, but anybody in their right mind would want to play with a dominant Shaq. Jordan is responsible for taking three struggling companies (Nike, Chicago Bulls, and the NBA), and turning them into huge financial assets. At the end of the day, players should be judged on their basketball achievements-M.J’s is ridiculous! Quick question for you. If he didn’t miss 86’ due to a broken foot, 94’, majority of 95’, and 99’ due to retirement-how many more points would he have scored? How many more rings would M.J. have won? The Rockets don’t repeat if Jordan was there. It’s my theory that the Bulls could have won 9 straight. (91’, 92’, 93’, 94’, 95’, 96’, 97’, 98’, 99’) With an average season scoring total of 2,152, he could have easily passed Kareem with 40,900 career points.RESUME-6 Rings.-6 Finals MVP’s.-5 League MVP’s.-32,292 Career Points-30.1 Career Scoring Avg.-10-Time Scoring Champ.-All-NBA 1st Team 10x’s.-All NBA Defensive Team 9x’s.-Defensive Player of the Year 88’.-All-Star Selection 14x’s.-ASG MVP 3x’s.-Slam Dunk Champ 2x’s. -Olympic Gold Medal 2x’s
“IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL ON THE COURT OR IN THE GAME OF LIFE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE FUNDAMENTALS.”-ERIC R. HARRIS
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