Jordan: The best player ever?

McKrackin and Cbad...both excellent insight.

cdub....Kobe's 81 is still 19 shy of Wilt's 100. And I don't see Kobe handing out 20+ assists, rebounds or blocks all of which Wilt did. Imagine how hard it would be to block 25 shots.

As for MJ scoring 63 in the garden, I remember that game. Would have been more impressive had he won but in reality they were swept in that series.

My top 6 all time:

1. Michael Jordan

2. Bill Russell

3. Wilt Chamberlain

4. Oscar Robertson

5. Larry Bird

6. Magic Johnson

"never has just one, done so much, for so many, with such little support,"
Scottie Pippen is on NBA.COM's best 50, is that no support?  Not just two all stars but two top 50 of all time?

"Wilt is top 10, at best."
You should really watch some video before you say that.

"yes he is the best player ever because he was the best player on the court and the way he acted off the court just showed how much of a gentleman he was "
I guess that proves it...

"Kobe's 81 is still 19 shy of Wilt's 100. "
Consider also Wilt didn't even finish the game, they pulled him with a minute left.

Lastly, I keep hearing people talk about there being less teams when WIlt played, and in their minds this dimishes his stats, but wouldn't less teams mean the talentn is more concentrated? As opposed to when it was thinned out with expansion?

It is a fun argument but it all depends on your criteria.

If you are going for all out most talented 1 on 1 player then it is probably MJ.  If you are talking about the most unstoppable then guys like Wilt (dominated) or Kareem (leading scorer of all time) have to be included.  If you want the guy who made everyone else better then Magic.  Bird  might have been the guy with the best killer instinct and the talent to back it up.  Plus, can't leave out guys like the Big O (averaged a triple double in a season) or Bill Russell (all he did was win 11 rings).

It's fun to listen to everyone's takes but any of those players can be called the best ever.  And with guys like LeBron and Kobe playing now they will probably join that discussion in another 10yrs or so.

My favs (in no particular order)

Magic, Wilt, Kareem, MJ, Bill Russell, Bird.

This is how I know you don't know what you are talking about.

Bird was 35 in 1992 by season's end.  Jordan at 35 won league MVP and Finals MVP.  You are now trying to distort information when Jordan was 40.  Let's see if Bird could average 20 ppg at 40 years old.  Also Jordan still ended up shooting a better fg% than Bird.

You say Jordan's best statistical year was 1987 because that was his highest PPG, however you couldn't be more wrong.  Jordan didn't win MVP that year because the league stopped giving MVP to guys if their team didn't win 50 games.  Jordan's PER that year was 29.8 which was great and all, but from 1988-1991 his PER was 31.1+ that means those were his better years statistically.  Also he shot over 53% those years.  It had nothing to do with Magic or Bird. 

You said The Celtics feared the Lakers because of Magic, well that's not true either.  Because they beat the Lakers in 1984, and in 1985 when the Lakers won, Kareem was the MVP.  Magic got it in 1987 but it is kinda easy to win when 2 of the top 5 all time best players are on the same team and then you still have the luxury of having another top 20 all time player on the team in Worthy.  It's interesting that Kareem Magic and Worthy all won finals MVP's.  Even Cedric Maxwell took a Finals MVP from Bird.  With Jordan no one would be able to take a finals MVP from him as he played in the strongest era ever.  You know why?  Because in 1990's their were 17 guys who were named in the top 50 all time.

Here it goes....

JORDAN won with less.  Because of  this, its hard to say he wasnt  the of  best of all-time or as some would say this generation..I agree, Magic-Kareem-Bird are good arguments, but those teams were loaded with players,chicago wasnt..If not for that i would say Magic, because he kept alot of all-star players happy...If you think about that for a moment, thats hard to do..I know jordan had pippen,great duo,but after that it was all about solid role players. Kareem, its a shame we dont say his name,because he was unstoppable at his positon..Skyhook=38,387pts,enough said! Bird, he just did everything good and somethings GREAT. Other special mentions, oscar robertson,jerry west,karl malone,offcourse wilt & russell....