Many people look up to Michael Jordan and say that he is the greatest basketball player of all time. After all, MJ transcended the sport and became its most popular player.
Michael went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and won six Finals MVP awards aside from taking home five NBA MVP awards, 10 scoring titles, and 14 All-Star selections. However, Jordan himself doesn’t think that he is the GOAT.
“False,” Michael said when the late Georgetown head coach John Thompson said he’s the greatest ever. “Cuz I didn’t play against, you know, all the great players prior to me, and those were the players that influence my game.”
“I mean, it’s a great honor, don’t get me wrong. But I love to have played against Jerry West to determine if I was the better guard than him or Oscar Robertson, but we’ll never know,” Jordan added.
MJ cringes when he’s called the GOAT
Mike’s perspective is different from his fellow players and NBA analysts, who have no trouble picking only one NBA legend as their basketball GOAT.
In fact, Jordan doubled down on his take during his 2009 interview with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon. “His Airness” even went as far as to say that he cringes when he hears people calling him the GOAT.
“I don’t want it in a sense because I think it disrespects Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West — you know all the guys that prior to me I never had a chance to play against,” Jordan said.
“What everybody is saying I am, I never had the chance to compete against other legends that were prior to me. When I hear it, I cringe a little bit because it’s a little bit embarrassing because no one knows,” the Hall of Famer concluded.
Kareem said there could be more than one
While Michael refuses to crown himself as the greatest ever, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once said that the GOAT discussion is a “fun distraction while sitting around waiting for the pizza to be served.” The legendary big man then went on to say that there can be more than one basketball GOAT.
“The reason there is no such thing as the GOAT is because every player plays under unique circumstances. We played different positions, under different rules, with different teammates, and with different coaches. Every player has to adapt to their circumstances and find a way to excel. This isn’t Highlander. There can be more than one,” Kareem said.
Everyone will have something to say the GOAT debate. However, the reason why people have different choices and opinions is because only a few candidates for the title actually competed against each other, which makes the comparisons pointless.