Decades later, Michael Jordan is still the GOAT

“Never say never because limits, like fears, are often an illusion” is a quote said by a six time NBA champion, three time MVP, and the most respected player to ever play the game of basketball. Micheal Jordan. Micheal Jordan is the best basketball player to ever touch a basketball. Now the question will always be a question as long as the NBA is up and running. Some people say that Kobe Bryant is the best, and others side with LeBron James. Some might even argue the greatest of all time is Steph Curry. Don’t get me wrong, they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but the best overall player ever is Micheal Jordan. I can prove that Micheal Jordan was the best with a couple statistics from his career. Micheal could shoot, drive, finish around the rim, dribble, pass, rebound, and play at an extremely high level.

Micheal Jordan is the only player, probably that's ever going to have two three-peats. He won three championships back to back, not once but twice. He did this for a total of 6 NBA championships which is more than Kobe or Lebron have as of right now. Le’Bron currently has 3 NBA championships but he is currently in the league. Kobe is retired but ended his career with 5 NBA championships. This proves that his ability to play under pressure was undisputed.

Micheal Jordan, unlike Kobe or LeBron, was playing in what is considered to be the roughest and toughest era in NBA history, a time where everybody on the court wanted it so bad that there were fist fights almost every day. It got to the point where players wouldn’t even get ejected for fighting. In the NBA, between the 1960s and the 2000s the average steals per game was around the mid 20s ( 25.7 ). In today's NBA, an entire NBA team only averages about 13 steals a game. That's just lazy. Moreover, Michael was playing against other greats like Denis Rodman, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and a young Kobe Bryant. By comparison, Kobe played against average players like Paul Pierce and a 5’8 Isaih Thomas. LeBron’s opponents are players like Steph Curry and Kahwi Lenord who both aren’t as physical as the players Micheal was playing against. Michael was the best player in an era of great players.

Unlike modern players who NBA fans consider to be “-THE G.O.A.T.-” Micheal wasn’t only a go to scorer for the Chicago Bulls. He was also their main man on defense. Let me put it into perspective. Jordan had over 30,000 points throughout his whole career. What people don’t talk about is the amount of steals he had. Throughout his whole career, Jordan had a total of 2,514 steals. He’s top 3 players with the most steals.

Many people say that LeBron went to the finals eight straight times so that makes him better than Micheal. To any basketball player that would be amazing stat to have under your belt but this still doesn't make him better than Michael because Micheal actually won the finals. You can’t really use that stat either because some of the players that go to the finals every year get carried by another star player. For example, Scottie Pippin and Denis Rodman made it to the finals every year with Micheal but everyone knows they aren’t nearly as talented as him.

Some people say that for reasons off the court, Michael is not the greatest. He got in trouble for gambling, for example. By this logic, however, Kobe could not possibly be the greatest either because he has had affairs on his wife and has been accused of sexual assault. LeBron has the most stellar reputation off the court, having been happily married for many years, a family man and good father, and the founder of his own school for at-risk youth. However, the rebuttal to this is that my argument is about what happens on the court, and the stats here are totally objective.

I asked some people around Airport High School what they thought on this topic. Albert H., a player on the varsity basketball team, stated that “Micheal was just a dog on the court, his energy level and his ability to make everyone on his team better is unmatched.” There are many great players to play this game but a player that makes everyone around him better is extremely rare.

I asked Bre’Asia J. , a key player on Airports girls’ varsity basketball team, and she said, “LeBron is just an overall G.O.A.T on and off the court. He has more career points scored than Micheal.” I mean this is a good point but it’s not fair to say that because the game has definitely changed since Micheal played defensively.

Coach Kinard, the head varsity basketball coach said, “ All three are great. What people forget is that Micheal, Kobe, and LeBron is that they played and dominated in three different eras of the NBA.” This completely true but but if you watch film on each of these players play Micheal more consistently had better stats than the other two players. You can just tell he wants it more.

These are only a few reasons why Micheal Jordan was the best player to ever play the game of basketball. To this day, nobody has been able to run a team like he did. And I hope you don’t expect anyone to ever do it better.