Michael Jordan: Encyclopedia II - Michael Jordan - Jordan's legacy

Michael Jordan - Jordan's legacy

Jordan's basketball talent was clear from his rookie season in the NBA. His breathtaking dunks, tenacious defense and apparent ability to score at will amazed fans and opponents. After Jordan poured in 63 points against the Boston Celtics in a 1986 playoff game (still a playoff record), Celtic superstar Larry Bird famously described him as "God disguised as Michael Jordan."

Still, many critics refused to consider him as good as the two great players of the 1980s, Bird and the Los Angeles Lakers' Magic Johnson. Jordan, it was said, was nothing more than a spectacular scorer who could not elevate the play of his teammates, as Bird and Johnson had. These critics pointed out that the Celtics and Lakers had immediately become playoff-caliber teams upon the arrival of Bird and Johnson, while Jordan's Bulls wallowed in mediocrity throughout the mid-1980s. But the rise of the Bulls dynasty in 1991 and Jordan's maturation as a player quelled many doubters.

Even as he rounded out his game, Jordan's strengths remained scoring and defense. He led the NBA in scoring 10 years, tying Wilt Chamberlain for consecutive scoring titles with seven in a row, but was also a fixture on the All-NBA Defensive Team, making the roster nine times. By 1998, the season of his famous Finals-winning shot against the Jazz, Jordan was feared throughout the league as one of the game's best clutch performers. In the regular season, Jordan was the Bulls' primary threat in the final seconds of a close game; in the playoffs, he was the only one the team wanted to have the ball.

Commentators have dubbed a number of players the "next Jordan" upon their entry to the NBA, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Chicago Bulls, once said regarding Jordan's jersey number, 23, these words, "For what Michael has meant to the NBA, this number could very well be retired in every arena in the league." (Jackie Robinson's No. 42 has been retired by every Major League Baseball team, and all NHL teams have done the same with Wayne Gretzky's No. 99.)

Jordan was ranked #1 in SLAM Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of all time in 2003.

Michael Jordan - The greatest basketballer of all time?

Michael Jordan is one of several candidates for greatest basketballer of all time, along with:

• Bill Russell, who won 11 NBA titles, eclipsing Jordan's six.
• Wilt Chamberlain, who won only 2 titles, but holds the majority of NBA statistical records (most notably, a season average of 50.4 points per game, much more than Jordan's high of 37.1 PPG).
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also won six NBA titles, and is the all-time leading NBA scorer.
• Magic Johnson, who won five NBA titles and was not only a terrific scorer, but also second in all-time assists behind John Stockton and could play any position on the court well, in contrast to Jordan, who was a pure shooting guard.

Those who argue in Jordan's favor say that he was a much better all-around player than Bill Russell (who was not noted as a great offensive player), won more titles and awards than both Chamberlain and Johnson and promoted his sport better than the often-aloof Abdul-Jabbar. In addition, his 11 total MVP awards (5 regular season and 6 NBA Finals) are by far the most in history.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Jordan's legacy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki