Spittin’ Fire: Michael Jordan is not a teammate you want

By Chad Wynter in Features, Front page, NBA, Spittin' Fire on July 3, 2011 at 11:55 AM

Let us all take it in— Michael Jordan is overrated. Before you judge my words, read my thoughts.

In today’s age, especially in basketball, we seem to have problems calling people great unless they have a championship ring. Jordan had six National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship rings in 15 seasons but that’s not even comparable to Bill Russell’s 11 in 13 seasons. Earvin “Magic” Johnson played 12 years and advanced to nine championships and won five titles, but I digress.

When talking about Jordan’s six rings we seem to forget that his teammate Scottie Pippen also wears six rings, but how come we don’t give Pippen as much credit as we do Jordan? It kind of reminds me of the old TV show Inspector Gadget. Penny, Gadget’s niece, used to do all the dirty work but Gadget would get all the credit. Now answer this question: what was Jordan’s playoff record before Pippen? Chances are you don’t know. Well if I’m right and you don’t know, before Pippen, Jordan’s playoff record was 1-9 win-loss.

Phil Jackson, arguably the best coach of all time; Toni Kukoc, arguably the best European player in the league at the time; Dennis Rodman, the best rebounder of all time and Hall of Famer; and Steve Kerr, the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history, also all took part in Jordan’s success.

For those of you who are not convinced, according to Basketball-reference.com, when Jordan retired and the Bulls were led by Pippen they went from 57-25 to 55-27. Not that I’m making any comparison, but when Lebron James left the Cavaliers, they went from 61-21 to 19-63.

Now when Jordan entered the league he revolutionized the game. Jordan came into the league and brought a new dimension to his position. The NBA was a fundamental league before Jordan; they had big men and outside shooters who dominated the court. Before Jordan there were no ankle breaking crossovers. No one had ever guarded someone like Jordan and his superb quickness. If Iverson or Derrick Rose played in Jordan’s time, instead of Jordan we would be having this conversation about one of them.

No one would drive to the basket like Jordan and at that time there where rarely shooting guards well over 6-foot-0. Jordan was 6-foot-6. This could be a reason why Jordan was frequently fouled and with 23% (6,798) of his points coming from the free throw line.

Jordan also came in the league at the right time. Magic, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all finishing their careers. Jordan was the only real marketable player and became the face of the NBA. He didn’t have competition like we have now for stardom like Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, James, Wade and Rose

To prove that the NBA protected their star player, look at some of these quotes Jordan said about his teammates. Can you imagine if James, Kobe or any one in the NBA today said these things?

“You’re an idiot. You’ve screwed up every play we ever ran. You’re too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you.” – Michael to Horace Grant; TheLakersnation.com

“Five more years and I’m out of here. I’m marking these days on a calendar, like I’m in jail. I’m tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone.” – Bleacher Report

“We’re not winning because of talent. We’re just beating bad teams.” - Bleacher Report

Can you imagine this being said today? David Stern would be rich from the fines he would collect from players?

Jordan was a remarkable talent, no question, but hugely overrated. He was a great player but definitely not the greatest.

Spittin’ Fire is a sbFeature written and criticized by former NCAA athlete, Chad Wynter. It is published every Friday for his near-end of the week critical observation, focusing on the world of Basketball, football and soccer. Every week, check out what fire he ignites this time around.

Tags: Michael Jordan, NBA

11 Comments

steve says:

July 4, 2011 at 10:21 AM

@chris…whether jordan can beat kobe, lebron, magic, wilt or whoever in a 1 on 1 game is irrelevant…basketball’s a team game

@dennis…the bad boy pistons WAS an amazing supporting cast lol

@the article…jordan had an amazing cast, but lets not take anything away from what he did…just cuz u have an amazin cast, dont mean ur gonna win..REFER TO EXHIBIT A

EXHIBIT A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwkLOwXjJuo&feature=related

it takes a great player to lead any team to 2 dynasties, which is exactly what jordan did. He definitely made his teammates better too (refer to Exhibit B)…the regular season record for the bulls when pippen led the team may have not been that different from when jordan left, but if u take a closer look at the record for championships won when jordan left (not sure what it is) but pretty sure its 0 championships won.

Exhibit B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2BlOTeoZVE&feature=related

at the end of the day, lebron will smash all of Jordan’s records, bill russell will still have more rings…but what jordan did for the game, is essentially why he’s the G.O.A.T…people are still rockin jordan kicks today and will continue to rock em in the future!

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Mike M says:

July 4, 2011 at 12:14 PM

Agreed. What did he do in washington? Ya he was old but 40yr old Farve took Minni to easter finals in football. Age dont matter on the court a baller is a baller if age is an excuse you shouldnt be playing

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Taima says:

July 4, 2011 at 12:39 PM

AGREED.

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shaun says:

July 5, 2011 at 10:05 AM

I read the article very good points and well put together. To be honest I don’t think he’s overated. Are there players better than him? Yes. However he brought the game on a national level just like Tiger did for golf. He got people to watc…h basketball that didn’t even know anything about the sport. With that plus his accomplishment it makes him one of the greatest. Plus no one can take over a game like he does. You know if jordan was on your team you’re winning. If he didn’t take those years off he wouldve won rings. See More

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Richard says:

July 5, 2011 at 11:34 AM

Jordan was not overrated end of story!!

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Tommy says:

July 5, 2011 at 11:43 AM

If kobe wins 2 more rings, If Lebron wins 8, ask yourself this question. What will a player in todays game have to do in order to be better than Jordan. Nothing because Jordan has been built in our minds as the greatest. He dosent have the most rings, Dosent hold scoring titles or even the nick name Mr.Clutch. Jordan was great but had the media to back him up. We forget about his gambling problems, terrible attitude and 28 missed game winning shots, we for get bout his time in washington, we forget about him running away from basketball to go play baseball, we forget his 1-9 playoff record befoe pippen and 0 playoffs after pippen. Thats what the Media does show us highlights and keep telling us hes the greatest. But neglect to show his miss shots, turnovers, early playoff exits.

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Rob says:

July 6, 2011 at 12:21 AM

well i had the greatest written statement in history of blogging and it glitched on the send… smh

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Rob wishicouldapostedthefirstonebutthiswilldo says:

July 6, 2011 at 12:32 AM

something overlooked is that the only reason pippen came to lebrons aid was because he(lebron) had been denounced as being no more to the new big three as pippen had been in the jordan era. Pippen was mad that he was always overlooked… Yes Jordan played on the greatest TEAM in history and yes Pippen was necessary for jordan to win BUT he was still a role player for the team…ESPN recently did a special on jordan and the mentioned the fact that after he left for the minors the bulls still played very well. But they couldnt win the big one without him. Jordan was the key…Jordan was a skilled athlete. Lebron is an athlete with skills. Jordan had that spark that could ignite greatness in his whole team. Lebron’s still focused on finding greatness within himself. LeBron is a great basketball player but hes not the greatest. History will show how different they really are

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Pete says:

July 6, 2011 at 8:16 AM

Jordan wouldnt take a team like the cavs of 2008 to the finals or taken that team to the best record in the nba 2 years in a row.
@Rob When in that final game 7 Pippen sat on the bench because phil jackson asked kukoc to take the final shot and pippen felt disrespected. They lost by 1 or 2 points (cant remember yrs ago) so when they lost Jordan and Pippen were not on the court. So saying they lost because Jordan wasnt there is not really relevant.
Magic was the Best Player of All Time. Celtics vs Lakers best series of all times..Bulls won with no real dominant teams in the league Jordan even said so himself “We’re not winning because of talent. We’re just beating bad teams.”

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Nikki says:

July 6, 2011 at 8:24 AM

JORDAN WAS NOT THE GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME. JORDAN HOWEVER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER OF ALL TIME.

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Regan says:

July 6, 2011 at 9:58 AM

@Article

There are few players in the NBA history that combine skill and grace under pressure. Think of how many times Jordan has risen to the occasion to make tuff shots.

For Example:
1)The first time was as a North Carolina freshman against Georgetown. Tongue out, his 17-foot jumper with 15 seconds left gave the Tar Heels the 1982 NCAA championship.
2)There was Game 5 of the 1997 Finals when he had a stomach virus, Jordan crawled out of his sick bed to score 38 points, including the decisive three-pointer with 25 seconds left. And in his final contest, Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, with the Bulls down by three with 40 seconds left, he scored on a layup, stole the ball, and hit the winning jumper.

People will remember those shots 25 years from now.

Playing 11 full seasons, he led the league in scoring a record 10 times, and in 1986-87 became the only player besides Wilt Chamberlain to score more than 3,000 points in a season, getting 3,041. His 31.5 scoring average is the highest in NBA history and with 29,277 points he’s fourth all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chamberlain and Karl Malone.

He’s won the regular-season MVP five times and the Finals MVP six times. In 1991 and 1992, he became the only player to win back-to-back regular season and Finals MVP awards, and in 1993 he became the first to win the Finals MVP three consecutive years, an accomplishment he repeated from 1996-98.

Let’s not forget the millions he’s made for himself and for sponsors. He made millions from the Bulls and millions more from his role as pitchman for everything from Wheaties to Gatorade, from McDonald’s to Nike, with his Air Jordan sneakers expanding Nike’s growth.

Jordan is definitely not overrated!

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