His Airness Michael Jordan

[Guiness]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLv2F33snCE

[Guiness]

MJ one on one with Ahmad Rashad

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK0-7X9yESs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlKGauBkECU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-iKdZ4EWOU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnqqO_Ogn1s

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFoUSKtlTZs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD7RrRmGHvw

[Guiness]

You can make all the excuses you want but as far as I am concerned, you put that thread to try and win an argument against Bird but your anti-Bird arguments got stuffed convincingly. Anyway, since this is a Jordan thread and it doesn't in any way imply that it is a Jordan appreciation thread, I will balance the views and give quotes from former NBA players.

 

See what i mean? Excuses? Look if you don't have anything concrete called "Proof" then you should stop posting "crazy talk". it makes one weak because they have nothing else to say or have no proof, so they resort to saying," oh its an excuse," blah blah blah. like i said this is the last time im going to reply to "crazy talk". Give me evidence that proves your accusation, if not, then stop confabulating

Edited February 8, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

Crazy talk? It is called deduction, hahnz. You should have put that Larry-Magic thread way, way before our debate.

 

Deduction is not 100% accurate thats why you need evidence. It can also mean crazy talk, like conspiracy theory or paranoia. also more commonly known as:

 

Apophenia is the human tendency to perceive meaningful patterns within random data.

 

Keyword in this meaning being random.

 

Like i said, if you have no concrete evidence and instead rely on deduction. Then its Apophenia

Edited February 8, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgj1VtvrbQ

[Guiness]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UruofXufVuo

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6og_pOVi2w

Edited February 8, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9QPMy__xKQ

[Guiness]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc6k9LTTJa8

[Guiness]

5-on-5: Debating the all-time greats

 

Who are the greatest players in NBA history? Where does Steph Curry rank? Our ESPN panel has created the All-Time #NBArank Top 100. (The Top 10 will be revealed on Tuesday and Wednesday.) Now it's time for a few NBA players and coaches to share their thoughts in this special edition of 5-on-5.

Who's your top 5 of all time?

Doc Rivers (former All-Star guard and current Clippers GM/coach): I always start with Magic [Johnson] and Michael [Jordan], and then it gets murky from there. For me, I go next to Bill Russell. I don't think a player can win that many titles and not be in there.

I'm going to put Oscar Robertson fourth. The guy averaged triple-doubles, and also because people have no idea about the social s--- that he had to go through to be a basketball player. And he was still a great. My fifth -- and I go back and forth on this from Larry Bird to LeBron [James] to Tim Duncan -- but I'm going with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

 

Jason Kidd (former All-Star guard and current Bucks coach): Magic, Michael, Oscar, LeBron, and I would have to put in Shaq. They had on the Lakers TV the other night, the Lakers playing New Jersey (in the 2002 NBA Finals) and we are playing f---ing really good in Game 4 and there was nothing we could do with Shaq. Nothing.

 

Walt Frazier (Hall of Fame guard and current Knicks commentator): [Wilt] Chamberlain, Russell, Robertson, put Jordan in there, Kareem. If they played today, they would be greater than they were when we played. Chamberlain would average 60-70 points today. He averaged 50 back then, when you could maul people and beat them up. What would he do today?

 

Brett Brown (current coach of the 76ers): It ends up like, "Do you really love steak or do you really love lobster?" There's a lot of good food out there. You'd have to go with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird and, I'll go with one of our own, Julius Erving.

 

Chris Bosh (current Heat power forward): No. 1? I have to say Jordan. No. 2 is Kareem. No. 3 is Magic. Uh, shoot, man. I'd probably go Bill Russell No. 4. Man, this is so hard. LeBron's close but he's still got some work to do. I mean, we're talking about guys who played 20 years in the league and their work is done. LeBron's still writing it, which is scary.

I probably have to say Timmy [Duncan], because he redefined his game so many times. He's done everything. He's won the championship as the young guy and the old guy. That really counts. That's my list. But I'm partial to big men.

 

 

 

- They each give different players comprising their Top 5 but the one player they put there is Michael Jordan

Edited February 10, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

5-on-5: Can LeBron catch MJ?

The All-Time #NBArank has concluded with Michael Jordan landing in the top spot. Our experts weigh in on all things Jordan, including their favorite MJ moments and whether LeBron James will ever surpass His Airness.

 

1. Rank your top three Jordan moments.

 

J.A. Adande, ESPN.com:

1. The glare he gave the media in the midst of scoring 55 points in Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals. It was as if he had conquered everyone on the court, and he felt the need to take on us as well.

 

2. How wobbly he looked while walking into the arena for Game 5 of the 1997 Finals, the Flu Game. He sure didn't look like he had 38 points in him.

 

3. Going downstairs at old Chicago Stadium before a game in the 1993 Eastern Conference finals and hearing Jordan chirping, to no one in particular, "Three-peat! Three-peat!"

 

Chris Broussard, ESPN The Magazine:

 

1. I was an eighth-grader lying in bed sick with the flu, watching the 1982 NCAA championship game between Georgetown and North Carolina. With 17 seconds left, freshman Michael Jordan attempted a game-winning jump shot. As soon as MJ released the shot, I remember saying to myself, "This guy is going to be great!" Make or miss, I was sold on Jordan at that moment because he had the guts to take the game-winner with All-American upperclassmen James Worthy and Sam Perkins on his team. Of course he hit the shot.

 

2. MJ's game-winning, playoff series-clinching jump shot against Cleveland in 1989. As a Clevelander, part of me was rooting for the Cavs, but as an MJ fan and a basketball fan, part of me wanted Jordan to keep playing. Tremendous game. Tremendous shot.

 

3. I could say the game-winning, Finals-clinching shot against Utah, but I'll go with Game 1 of the 1992 Finals against Portland. MJ hits six 3-pointers, scores 35 first-half points, and gives us all a shoulder shrug for the ages.

 

Amin Elhassan, ESPN Insider:

 

1. Shot over Bryon Russell to win his sixth title. Lost in the annals of history is that MJ was having an awful shooting game but basically willed the Bulls to a win with a steal on one end and a game-winning J.

 

2. The 63-point playoff game vs. the Celtics in 1986. Gave us the Larry Bird "God disguised as Michael Jordan" quote.

 

3. For some reason, I'll never forget Washington Wizards MJ blocking Ron Mercer by just snatching the ball midair with two hands.

 

Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider:

 

1. The shot over Russell to win the 1998 NBA Finals. Come on, what else?

 

2. Passing to Steve Kerr for the winning shot of the 1997 NBA Finals.

 

3. The Flu Game.

 

Marc Stein, ESPN.com:

 

1. Jordan's 63-point playoff game in Boston Garden, because this child of the '80s simply couldn't process how someone could do that to those Celtics.

 

2. Jordan's flu game in Utah in 1997, because that was the first NBA Finals that I got to cover in my fourth season covering this league.

 

3. Jordan's final All-Star Game in Atlanta in 2003, because that was my first All-Star Game working for ESPN.

2. What is the most underrated aspect of Jordan's career?

Adande: HIs ability to describe his greatness. It's not easy to formulate the proper responses when constantly asked how great you are, yet Jordan managed to find the narrow path of providing proper perspective without wallowing in arrogance.

 

Broussard: His fundamentals. Most people think about MJ's otherworldly athleticism, tremendous one-on-one ability, and unmatched competitiveness. Practically an entire generation of players became one-on-one and iso guys -- and an entire generation of scouts and talent evaluators became obsessed with "athleticism'' -- because of Jordan's greatness in those areas.

But what most don't realize, or focus on, is the fact that it was Jordan's ability to combine his great athleticism with terrific fundamentals and an understanding of the game that made him the greatest ever.

 

Elhassan: Subjugation to the system. He inadvertently ushered in the glorification of Hero Ball due to his penchant for late-game heroics, but at his most dominant and successful, MJ played within the system and sacrificed volume numbers for greater team success.

 

Pelton: It's hard to find much that hasn't been given credit by this point, but I'll say his passing. I've always been curious what might

have happened had Jordan stayed at point guard, where he averaged eight assists per game in 1988-89, Doug Collins' last year as head coach.

 

Stein: Underrated? Not a word we often associate with His Airness. If I reach I suppose I would look at all those points he scored in his peak years without the benefit of prolific 3-point shooting. You have to believe that, were MJ playing now, he'd find a way to transform himself into a consistent 40-percenter from deep, but he didn't make much use of the long ball until after his dalliance with baseball.

 

Which reminds me: The more underrated aspect of his career is really the fact he was able to play Double-A baseball off the street. Hitting. 202 and playing in 127 games for the Birmingham Barons with no baseball experience as an adult is still way tougher than it sounds.

3. Describe the gap between Jordan and the other greats in NBA history.

Adande: There's no way to quantify the gap because there's no objective measure that explains Jordan at No. 1. (You could say he's the all-time leader in PER, but that would mean you believe Neil Johnston ranks ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson). My criterion is simply: If I needed to win a playoff game, Jordan would be my first pick.

 

Broussard: I agree that MJ is the GOAT, but it's certainly arguable that runner-up Abdul-Jabbar, who finished far behind MJ, fourth place Johnson, or fifth place Wilt Chamberlain could claim that spot. Kareem had the most unstoppable shot in history, won a record six MVPs, averaged 23 points a game as a 38-year-old and played a key role on a championship team at age 41.

 

Magic was perhaps the only player in history who could have been an All-Star at all five positions (when the game still had great big men), and Wilt's individual statistics are beyond belief. But MJ changed conventional wisdom. Before him, the general belief was that you couldn't build a dynasty around a shooting guard; nor could a guy lead the league in scoring and (consistently) win titles. MJ did both.

 

Elhassan: I think because of the era MJ came up in, the gap is more pronounced then it probably actually is. The marketing push for the NBA in the late '80s and '90s and the rise of sneaker culture made Jordan a household name across the globe, and that adds a considerable amount of shine to his legacy. But players like Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Johnson and Chamberlain all had their own dominant histories, with feats that Jordan didn't accomplish. I'm not a fan of comparing across eras for this reason: greatness is greatness.

 

Pelton: I don't think it's enormous in terms of total value, but there's no single player who can match Jordan in every aspect: peak value, longevity, playoff impact and iconic moments. That's what separates Jordan from everyone else in league history.

 

Stein: Remember how I said I'm a child of the '80s? As such, Magic and Larry are my standard-bearers, even though Bird obviously didn't have the longevity -- due to injury -- to assemble a top-five resume. The gap has always been extremely modest on this scorecard. I don't have Magic miles behind MJ ... and I'm not apologizing for that.

 

I'd also argue that Bill Russell has to be in the top five (ahead of both LeBron and Wilt for me) because of all the winning he's done. In any case I think it's no secret that I've never been a Jordan Lords Above All guy. The fact he never had a consistent rival team or player that he had to grapple with and get past, like Magic did with Bird or Russell did with Wilt, has always cost him a point or two with me.

 

4. True or False: LeBron James has a chance to surpass Jordan as the greatest of all time.

Adande: False. It's impossible, because even if LeBron wins five more championships he won't be able to erase his four NBA Finals losses. LeBron would have been better off competing directly against Jordan, because trying to battle the legend of Jordan is impossible -- especially because Jordan's 6-0 Finals record can never be tarnished.

 

Broussard: False. LeBron is deserving of top-five status, but he's not and never will be, as good as MJ.

 

Elhassan: False. That ship has sailed for LeBron, barring a highly unlikely run of championships to end his career.

 

Pelton: I'd say it's still in the realm of possibility, but James has to start winning more championships in a hurry. Jordan's advantage in titles at this point makes it too easy to dismiss how James may ultimately blow by his career totals by playing much longer.

 

Stein: Don't see it. Not sure there's enough time left in LeBron's career to win enough titles to make people forget A) He's 2-4 in the

NBA Finals so far or That Jordan was 6-0 on the game's grandest stage. Leading the Cavs to an upset in the 2016 Finals and ending the Cleveland Curse -- if they could somehow dethrone mighty Golden State -- would certainly help in terms of changing the narrative.

 

But I'm afraid not much nuance is applied to these debates. Which is why you rarely hear the part about LeBron's teams being favored in only one of the four trips to the Finals (2011 versus Dallas) that he lost.

5. Sum up Michael Jordan in 23 words.

Adande: His tongue wagged, his eyes seared with competitive fire, he soared through the air and took the rest of us along in flight.

 

Broussard: Impeccably skilled, incredibly athletic, incomparably competitive, graceful. His statue sums him up: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be.''

 

Elhassan: Greatest shooting guard ever. The blueprint for the modern player. Sociopath-level competitor. The Godfather of sports marketing. Work in progress basketball executive.

 

Pelton: The single greatest player in NBA history, but also the greatest narrative arc -- perfectly timed for the world to embrace a basketball star.

 

Stein: So transcendant that my 12-year-old, born months AFTER MJ's last game, studies Jordan's shoe history like it's his future college major.

Edited February 11, 2016 by hahnz

[Guiness]

I don't call opinions of sports journalists who have covered athletes for years useless. I take what they say to heart because they have been doing it for a long time and have been reporting and interacting with players and executives around the league. These guys know what their talking about. Amin El-Hassan was a front office executive for the Suns before. Well known journalists such as J.A. Adande who knows basketball in an out. Marc Stein and Kevin Pelton long time ESPN reporters who have inside track and breaks reports everyday. Not to mention Chris Broussard another guy like Adande who has been reporting since then. I'll take these guys' credentials over "some other guy's" opinion.

[Guiness]

I will take cold, hard facts over other sports writers' opinions. Jordan is overrated as the greatest of all time. No one could be more happier than Jordan when Bird retired because Bird owned Jordan, a fact that Jordan homers refuse to accept.

 

Are you calling these sports journalists, Jordan homers? How do you know they're Jordan Homers because they placed MJ in front of everybody else including your Larry Bird? Mind you, these journalists covered athletes for years in their respected cities including Boston. One of these people you call a homer, happens to be Jackie Macmullan. Do you even know who Jackie Macmullan is? Well let me tell because i don't think you even know her. She is a columnist and editor for the Boston Globe and covered Larry Bird's career in Boston among other athletes and is a fixture in the Boston Sports Media. She also collaborated with Larry Bird on his autobiography Bird Watching: on Playing and Coaching the Game I Love and also Before the Game was Ours writing the story of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. She is part of the group who selected the top 100 players for ESPN. If there is anyone more bias as a journalist for Bird its her because she covers Boston Sports.

 

I'm sure they took all the arguments and facts about all the players they selected which included your arguments into account I'm sure. and they came up with this deliberation.

 

Besides the fact that these journalists were up close and personal with the athletes when they interviewed them before, during and after a game and saw how they played live. So there's really no one more knowledgeable than these columnists.

 

You can disagree all you want and make your arguments, but I will take the opinions of these respected individuals than some opinion of some pepple. who probably never saw these players play in the flesh, and probably only saw them on TV.

 

That's what i think and i'm sticking to it.

[Guiness]

Your open to your own opinion. You have your opinion and some have theirs. You have your own "facts" and "truths" and they have theirs.

 

The only difference between them and people like you is they have years of experience covering athletes. their games and getting to interact with them and getting to the nitty gritty of their personal lives as during their playing careers with their teams.

 

Such disrespect calling well reputable journalists with an insult like that. tsk tsk. tsk. Sad.

 

That's why there are fans and there are people who people who actually know the game.

[Guiness]

23 stats for No. 23, Michael Jordan

 

So you thought you knew everything there is to know about the No. 1 player in the #NBArank, Michael Jordan.

Not so fast.

In honor of No. 23, here are 23 things you might not know about the greatest of all time.

 

1) Going strictly by seeding, Jordan was never upset in the playoffs. Against teams seeded the same or lower, Jordan's teams had a perfect 24-0 series record.

 

2) In the 11 seasons he played at least 20 games with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan finished in the top 5 of MVP voting 10 times. The exception? His rookie season when he finished sixth.

 

3) On Dec. 29, 2001, Jordan scored 51 points, becoming the oldest player in NBA history to score 50 points (age 38). Two days later, he scored 45 points which remains the most any player has ever scored on New Year’s Eve, regardless of age.

 

4) Over an 11-game stretch in the spring of 1989, Jordan had 10 triple-doubles. Not once over the other 1,061 games of his career did he record back-to-back triple-doubles.

 

5) Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only players in NBA history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

 

6) Jordan was named first-team All-Defense nine times. That’s tied with Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett for the most first-team All-Defense selections in NBA history.

7) Jordan played in 35 NBA Finals games. He was his team’s outright leading scorer in 32 of them with Scottie Pippen (twice) and Toni Kukoc (once) the only others to lead the Bulls in scoring.

 

8) Jordan is the only player to win an NBA title, NCAA title and multiple Olympic gold medals.

 

9) In the 1993 NBA Finals, Jordan scored 38.4 percent of the Bulls' total points. That’s the largest percentage of team points any player has been responsible for in a single NBA Finals.

 

10) Jordan had four straight 40-point games during the 1993 NBA Finals. No other player in league history has scored 40 or more points in more than two consecutive Finals games.

 

11) Jordan is the only player to lead the NBA in both points per game and steals per game in the same season three separate times. Allen Iverson is the only other player to do it even once since steals became official in the 1973-74 season.

 

12) Jordan wore No. 12 for one game. On Feb. 14, 1990 Jordan scored 49 points wearing No. 12 on a loss to the Magic. The only player in NBA history to score more points in a single game while wearing No. 12 is Hall of Famer George Yardley.

13) Jordan’s salary in 1995-96 was $3.85 million which ranked 25th in the NBA that season. Players with higher salaries that season included Benoit Benjamin, Brian Shaw, Danny Ferry and Dale Davis.

 

14) For his career, Jordan was 9-of-18 shooting in the playoffs on potential game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 24 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. He was a perfect 3-of-3 on such shots in games when his team faced elimination and 4-of-7 when his team had an opportunity to clinch.

 

15) By the end of his tenure with the Bulls, Jordan had developed into the game’s best mid-range scorer. His final two seasons in Chicago, Jordan made 997 mid-range shots, over 250 more than any other player.

 

16) In his final season with the Wizards, Jordan dunked 21 times. In his final season with the Lakers this season, Kobe Bryant has dunked four times.

 

17) There were five seasons in which Jordan led the NBA in both Player Efficiency Rating and usage percentage. All other players in NBA history have combined to do it four times, with no other player doing it more than once.

18) Jordan averaged 11.4 assists per game in the 1991 NBA Finals and led the Bulls outright in assists in all five games. The only player to win Finals MVP while averaging more assists per game in the Finals is Magic Johnson in 1987.

 

19) Jordan shot 49.7 percent from the floor for his career. He had 10 seasons in which he shot better than 47 percent from the floor, something Bryant has not done a single time. Bryant would need to make his next 2,496 shots in order to catch Jordan in career field-goal percentage.

20) Jordan's shot over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals was a 17-footer from the top of the key. During the regular season in 1997-98, Jordan shot 33 percent on shots from 16 to 18 feet at the top of the key which was below the league average of 37 percent. He missed 22 shots from that spot in the regular season which trailed only Horace Grant and Rik Smits.

 

21) On Nov. 6, 1990, Jordan had 33 points and 12 assists in a two-point loss to Larry Bird’s Celtics. It was the Bulls' third straight loss. It was also the last time that Jordan lost three straight games in a single season as a member of the Bulls. He played exactly 500 more regular-season games with Chicago.

 

22) Jordan’s title teams did not blow leads. In the six seasons they won the title, they were 42-0 in the playoffs and 210-5 in the regular season when leading by 10 or more entering the fourth quarter.

 

23) Including the regular season and playoffs, Jordan had five 60-point games. However, his teams were just 2-3 in those games. Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players with multiple 60-point games in losses. His final 60-point game came in January 1993 against the Magic, who beat the Bulls thanks to 29 points and 24 rebounds by rookie Shaquille O’Neal. Steve Kerr played 2 minutes off the bench for Orlando.

[totoygwapo]

Ang layo na ng mga sagot mo tapos paulit ulit nalang yung balat sibuyas... This is a case of lame excuse "palusot" because I exposed you...

And for your facts, "Nitpicking at it's finest."

Oh by the way, i never said MJ can beat Larry on the post... That's a great small forward, going against a smaller great shooting guard, kung naglalaro ka, alam mo sino mas may lamang sa post, baka lang...

And you are again nitpicking the earlier eras...

Parang di Kobe/LBJ/Wade/Curry/Shaq di naman ganun kagaling nung earlier years nila...

 

Yung numbers na pinakita ng ESPN and SI di mo matanggap pero itong sa link mo ay facts... hahahaha

 

 

 

It is now apparent that you don't understand your own post. What is your next lame excuse?

 

Nood ka BTV ngayun, andun sila Bird/Jordan/Magic...

 

O ETO ANG COLD HARD FACTS MO TO TRUMP A MILLION OPINIONS... hahahaha

Wag kana mahiya piliin mo na yung lamang si Larry Bird.

 

Michael Jordan:

Honors

Five-time MVP (1987-88, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1995-96, 1997-98), six-time Finals MVP, 14-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, nine-time All-D selection, 10-time NBA scoring champion, defensive player of the year (1987-88), rookie of the year (1984-85), Hall of Fame

Championships
Six (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)

Career stats
30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, .497 FG%

BIRD

Honors

Three-time MVP (1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86), two-time Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA selection, three-time All-D selection, Rookie of the Year (1979-80), Hall of Fame

Championships
3 (1981, 1984, 1986)

Career stats
24.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.3 APG, .496 FG%