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Michael Jordan the greatest?

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by finalsY2K, Jan 3, 2000.

  1. finalsY2K

    finalsY2K Member

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    Greatest what? Dad? CEO? African American? No...ESPN voted him the greatest athlete of the century. This, by inference, makes him the greatest NBA player of the century.

    I don't know if it is proper ettiquette to start a new thread on a similar subject, but I thought I would point something out about most of the posts I read. None of them discuss what may have been the criteria for judging greatest athlete.

    It could not have been merely number of championships or Bill Russell or one of players on the dominant hockey teams. Carl Lewis might have the most gold medals. I don't know who has the most accolades of any sport, but the point is....that alone won't get you in. Still, when you look simply at that vital piece of the puzzle you see that Jordan was in the winnner's circle 6 times (7 if you count the NCAA tourney that he won with his clutch shot and 9 if you include his 2 Olympic golds). Chamberlain? He only won 3 times. Of course, he was always pitted against Russel and his Boston juggernaut, but still....all those years of dominance and no more hardware than that? Think about it. According to most posters on here, Jordan had a bunch of mediocre athletes to complement hi s game. Pippen was the best Bull besides Jordan, and everyone knows how Pippen just "rode Jordan's coattails" to the championships. This means that Jordan did more than any other player when we consider Magic had Kareem and James Worthy, etc. Bird had McHale, Parrish, and co. Chamberlain had ample opportunity to win more rings with a great Lakers team that included Jerry West of all people.

    Anyway, that is only part of the story. When you look at the tremendous fame Jordan, wealth, and power Jordan ammassed, it is clear to see Jordan is on a completely different level than all other NBA'ers. You can talk about modern times, 24 hour cable, huge TV contracts, etc. but Babe Ruth, Muhammed Ali, and Jim Brown were household names before Jordan had picked up a basketball. Many of the top athletes changed the way the game was played, left an indelible mark on the world's consciousness, and were pure competitors and winners. Wilt Chamberlain lacked in a couple of key areas.

    People talk of Ruthian endeavors--using people's knowledge of the athlete as an adjective to describe astounding performance. People talk of Jordan-like competiveness or the next Michael Jordan or a Jordanesque move, etc. Not many words like that are in our vocabulary to describe Wilt.

    I don't want you to think I am disagreeing as regards Wilt's performance and dominance. He left a huge void when he passed on. I remember him being the first name I knew about the NBA with Dr. J following close behind. I don't even think a person has to like Jordan. There are a lot of traits and the fact that he played on a team you rooted against that a person might not like. Still, how can a person argue and use as their argument a narrow discussion such as stats?

    The mere fact that the question is being asked shows that there is an even divide on people's feeling about whether or not he is. No doubt many of the top 50 athletes on the list got there because of their recent exploits as opposed to the athletes of other times, but Jordan would not fall into that category. In my mind, it had to be Jordan, Ruth, and Muhammed Ali in no particular order for the top 3.
     
  2. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    What about Jim Thorpe?.
    or the Babe Dickerson lady

    They were great in multiple sports.

    greatest Athlete is a lofty title that means JACK.

    Athletics is a matter of what you want. The Greatest golf IMO is not a real ATHLETE

    but it is a Game that requires *ss loads of talent.

    You cannot compare apples to oranges. . .

    BTW all those polls and sh*t. . .
    ain't nothing but popularity contest.

    Jordan = MEDIA DARLING

    Without the Media what would jordan be?

    Wilt's 100 Point Game is myth and not much else because there is no footage of it. you could not see his dominance. you could not see him gliding in stop action 90 times per quarter. They couldn't put it in a commmercial for you to see 90 times a day.

    and Wilt DID CHANGE RULES . . that made it harder on him . . . but jordan . . rules changed to benefit him.

    [i.e. flagrant fouls. . . not to mention the B.s. that he was never called for]


    Rocket River
     
  3. RocketsPimp

    RocketsPimp Contributing Member

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    Ettiquite or not, this nor did the other topic on MJ belong in this section. C'mon guys Clutch and Co. set up these different sections so people could read and reply to topics that interest them. While I understand MJ has been and always will be a hot topic when it comes to the NBA, but he was never a Rocket and I don't believe this belongs here.

    Sorry if that sounds rude, but I am just sick of all this MJ vs. Wilt crap. They are two totally different players from two totally different eras...so it is TOTALLY impossible to compare the two!!

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    Self-appointed Topic Police for 1/3/2000.




    [This message has been edited by RocketsPimp (edited January 03, 2000).]
     
  4. Pole

    Pole Houston Rockets--Tilman Fertitta's latest mess.

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    have room for a deputy?
     
  5. Lynus302

    Lynus302 Contributing Member

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    Okay guys, now I don't mean to be rude, but this IS the BBS Hangout section where we may discuss anything we choose, from Wilt and MJ to a "Big Ass Gordita."

    Personally, I rather enjoy watching people try to defend MJ as "The Greatest," because I sure as hell don't think that he is.

    [​IMG]

    Whoops...just read the next post...my bad.

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    Self-Appointed Spokesman for the CC BBS Posters Union
    302

    [This message has been edited by Lynus302 (edited January 04, 2000).]

    [This message has been edited by Lynus302 (edited January 05, 2000).]
     
  6. finalsY2K

    finalsY2K Member

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    The 2 posts to which you are replying were put up when this thread was still in the Rockets BBS.
     

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