Is Michael Jordan Really The Best Ever?

Warning: This post may be blasphemous to some.

I know this doesn't relate to Philadelphia sports specifically, but it's something I've thought about for a while and want to write about. Most major sports have their player who is considered the best to ever play the sport. In hockey, it's Wayne Gretzky. I think this is the most clear cut case out of the four major sports. He holds records that will never be broken. 92 goals in a single season. 163 assists in a single season. In fact, he holds 10 of the top 11 highest single season assist totals. I could go on and on, listing his records and career rankings.

In baseball, it's Babe Ruth. Though a lot of his records have been broken, I still believe he is the best ever. He hit 714 career home runs, a record that stood for almost 40 years, and is still good for third all time. He still holds the records for highest career slugging percentage and OPS. And he is second all time in RBI's, on base percentage, and home runs per at bat. To top it all off, in the 148 games he started as a pitcher he won 94 of them with a career ERA of 2.28.

Football doesn't lend itself to this kind of conversation. Each skill position would have to be analyzed separately. My best skill position players would go like this: WR: Jerry Rice (not even a close second here), QB: Joe Montana, RB: Walter Payton.

In basketball, it's Michael Jordan, right? I'm not sure I agree with this one. At the very least, it's not as clear cut as it is in the other major sports. I'm not saying he isn't one of the best ever. I just don't think he is the unanimous, no-brainer, number one that many people consider him to be. Jordan does hold a lot of NBA records, including most career points per game at 30.1 and most MVP's. But I think that the real reason he is considered the greatest is twofold.

1. He played in an era when the NBA was at it's peak popularity. The dream team crushed the Olympics, Magic vs. Bird was in full swing and the dunk contests were epic (Wilkens vs. Jordan, Spud Webb, etc.). Within that era of basketball, Jordan was the best player. He won 6 championships and led the Bulls to an NBA record 72 wins in 1996. He was the face of the NBA in a time when the NBA was much more than it is now.

2. He changed the NBA in numerous ways. He paved the way for players to be more popular and recognizable than their team. He was the first player to really market himself as a brand. He became an international phenomenon because of his shoe, cereal and other apparel deals. The "I wanna be like Mike" commercials were wildly popular. His sneakers were coveted by any young basketball player wanting to play like Mike. He opened the door for players like Iverson, Kobe, Shaq and Lebron to really market themselves and to make their own brand outside of their NBA team. However, none of this is related to his play on the court. Though I think this is in the back of people's minds when they consider Jordan to be one of the greatest.

I think the case for the greatest player to ever play basketball is better made for Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell. Personally, I think Wilt is the best player of all time. He's second to Jordan in career points per game by only .05 points per game. Though he is second to Jordan, he holds 5 of the top 6 highest point per game averages for a single season, ever. In the 1961-62 season her averaged 50.3 points per game (PPG), a record that will never be broken (I know in sports you can never say never, but I think it's safe to use it here). Not even his 44.8 PPG in the 62-63 season will be touched. Another record of his that won't be touched: scoring 100 points and grabbing 55 rebounds in a single game (separate games). Wilt also holds the records for career rebounds per game at 22.9 and total rebounds. Though blocked shots weren't tracked when Wilt was playing, it is largely considered that he would hold that record as well. One game his coach asked the score keeper to keep track of the shots Wilt blocked, he counted 25. He even finished in the top seven in assists per game in four different seasons. In total, he holds 72 NBA records.

All of this is really impressive, but how his play forced the NBA to make rule changes is the thing that astounds me most. The NBA widened the lane to keep him further away from the basket and hopefully less able to dominate games. The NBA instituted offensive goal tending and changed rules regarding inbounding the ball, all as a direct result of Wilt. The funniest, and most fascinating, rule change was the rule that was created governing how free throws can be shot. Wilt reportedly had a 50 inch vertical leap, he was literally able to convert foul shots via a slam dunk without a running start. He completely undermined the difficulty of the shot. Now, you can't cross the line when shooting a free throw.

I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize his "achievements" off the field. Wilt claimed to have slept with over 20,000 women, though I won't use this in my argument.

I think the knock on Wilt is that he only won two NBA titles. This was due to the fact that the Bill Russell's Boston Celtics were busy winning 11 titles and consistently knocking Wilt out of the playoffs. I don't factor championships into the best player discussion as much as other people do. These are team games, so many factors go into winning a championship that are beyond any one players control.

The best player to ever play a sport is really a matter of opinion. It's my opinion that Jordan isn't the best player that every played basketball, like most people consider him to be.