How can their possibly be an arguement in favor of anybody but mj being the greatest ever?

Question

not larry,not wilt,not russel,not shaq,not anybody as able to still be an all star into their forties. mj has 2retirements if he had never retired it would be conceivable to think hed at least have 10 rings.

Answer 1

not only that, i think jordan set a record for the nba as the only 40 year old player to score more than 40 points here is a highlight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TkvX356c...

so there's really no doubt he is the greatest of all-time...

Answer 2

People seem to forget the past and focus on who hot right now.

On another website I go to a lot of people were saying Kobe is the greatest of all time. This was before the NBA Finals, after the Finals half of them changed their mind, lol.    

Answer 3

how? because they are too young. Im most certain that all these people will be about 15 and idolise kobe as they grow up, never saw jordan actually play. People who have seen both jordan and kobe know jordan was a better player. And in time it will all repeat with lebron.

Id say Kobe is about 75% as good as Jordan as an all round player.

Answer 4

i find it hilarious how bandwagon Laker fans say Kobe is better than MJ. most of them are either ignorant or grade school kids who never saw MJ play during his prime. comparing Kobe to MJ is like comparing a Pickup Truck to a Lamborghini.

Kobe = a cheap version of Scottie Pippen.

Answer 5

Such a WEAK argument for Jordan's claim as the "Greatest". Psst, most players have the good sense to retire and stay retired before they even reach forty.

Anyway, Wilt when he was already FIFTY turned down an offer from the New Jersey Nets to play for them.

Russell when he was in his late forties and serving as a coach for the Supersonics was still capable of shuttingdown the entire team in practice scrimmages.

Jordan inserted himself in the Wizard's lineup as a publicity stunt, not to mention his lone AllStar appearance as a Wizard in 2003 was made possible only because Vince Carter was forced out of his spot in the AllStar roster. Jordan did not earn his AllStar appearance. More telling is the fact that Jordan never lead the Wizards to the Playoffs.



And let us not start making "what-if" assumptions about Jordan's number of rings because he would still LOSE BADLY against Bill Russell. Russell would have won not just 11 but 13 rings in a 13 year career.

If Bill Russell wasnt injured in the 1958 Final Series against the St.Louis Hawks, the Celts would have won the championship.

If Bill Russell wasnt a rookie coach back in 1967 or if Red Auerbach remained as the Celtic coach in '67 and Russell was able to focus his mind and energy on playing, the Celtics would have beaten Philadelphia. The Russell-coached Celtics beat the same Philadelphia team the next year.

A little side by side comparison between Russell and Jordan. Remember half of the awards and stats in Jordan's time DONT EXIST during Russell's time.

*cuts and paste*

To clear some things about Jordan's accomplishment as comprehensively provided by a certain Jordan jocker:

6 NBA Titles: (Pathetic, Russell has 11)

6 NBA Finals MVPs: (Finals MVP were only given during Russell's last year and was given as a consolation prize to the brave but heavily injured Jerry West. This marks as the first and only time that the Finals MVP was given to a player from the losing team. The award came with a Dodge pickup and, annoyingly for West, was colored Celtic green. Had Finals MVP been given much earlier, Russ would have won more. In fact, Jerry West (and his coach/general manager Fred Schaus) who lost 6 Finals encounter with Russ consider him as their most dangerous opponent, thats not counting the 4 Finals trip in which Russ left Bob Petit and the Hawks dazed and confused.)

6 NBA Finals Appearances: (Pathetic, Russell has 12)

He's 6-0 (UNDEFEATED) in the NBA Finals. He also never been in a game 7 in the NBA Finals (that shows DOMINANCE). But Russell, he have a LOSS and several game 7's in the NBA Finals (meaning Jordan was more unstoppable).

-Unstoppable my as$. Again youre missing the big picture. Jordan is NO POSITION to brag since he only made 6 trips to the Finals in his 15 year career (40% chance of going to the Finals, Russ is 91%). Russell is 11 for 12 in 13 years. Russ is a champion from his rookie year to his last. Whose more dominating again?

5 NBA MVPs: (Russell has 5 too and would have been more, if not his role as a player coach blur the impact of his two duties. Its hard to attribute the Celtic's success to Russell as the coach or Russell as the player)

1 NCAA Title (his shot sealed the deal): (Russell has 2, with a 55 game winning streak with an average winning margin of 15 during his senior years. No game winning shots needed. Unlike Jordan who is but a Robert Horry-role player on James Worthy's 1982 NCAA champion UNC team, Russell is the star and leader of his championship team.)

2 Olympic Gold Medals (84, 92): (Russell has only one in 1956. Pros were banned from playing the Olympics until iirc FIBA lifted it on 1989 w/c made it possible for the Dream Team, hence Jordan's 2nd gold medal. Had it been lifted earlier, Russell and countless other would have multiple Olympic Gold medals).

10 Scoring Titles: (Only 4 reb titles for Russ. but thats because he competed with Wilt, the best rebounder of all time. Not that stats are important to him. Read on.)

3 Steal Titles: (Steals and blocks were not officially counted in Russell's time. Russ would be #2 in blocks if it were officially counted, because Wilt again would be number one even if he has to roam the perimeter to do it. Its like a division of labor between the two men, Russ get all the rings, Wilt get all the numbers.)

1988 Defensive Player of the Year: (Russ is the 1969 DPoY, the first time the award was given; had it been awarded earlier, Russ would have won enough to fill a trophy case.)

1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year: (Russ is the 1968 SI Sportsman of the Year)

9X All-Defensive 1st Team Selections: (1x. The All-Defensive team EXIST only during Russ' last year. Had it existed earlier, he would have been there all through out his career.).

11X All-NBA Selections: (Only 4 times, since sportswriters were the ones voting the ALL-NBA selections in those days and they are more impressed with Wilt's statistical accomplishment but the MVP was voted by players and coaches who have more intimate knowledge of the game w/c explains why Russ has more MVP's than Wilt).

14X All-Star: (Russ has 12 in 13 years)

2 Slam Dunk Titles: (Exhibition awards are worthless. During his college days, Russell is ranked World #7 in high jump and its not even his main sport. Athleticism?).

1985 Rookie of the Year (Russell got beat out by his own teammate, so how was even the best player on his team?)

-Now here is a little trivia for you. Russ was TAKEN OUT of the running in every major award during his Rookie year. The techncality was he played only half the season because of his Olympic commitments. And to maintain his amateur status for the Olympics, he signed his contract with the celtics almost midseason in December. However, the ROY winner Tommy Heinsohn and the rest of the League, not just the Celtics knew that Russell is the true ROY. It was speculated that the NBA does not want to upset white fans by giving the ROY to a black man for 2 consecutive years - Maurice Stokes won it the year before -which is why they invented the "shallow technicality" to prevent Russ from winning.)

3X All-Star MVP: (Russ has one. Exhibition awards are worthless)

30.1 ppg career average (the record): (A shallow record. Wilt allowed his numbers to dip to putrid lows at the behest of his coaches who want him play a Russell-like role for his team, allowing Jordan to overtake it by a fraction. Russ is second to Wilt in career rebounding average with 22.5).

33.4 ppg career play-off average (the record): (Russ' 24.9 is the best career playoff rebounding average.).

The Chicago Bulls all-time ASSIST leader (well so much for him being a ball-hog): (Russ was once ranked #5 in assists. And he's a center. Russ is one of the best passing centers in League history but his many outlet passes that anchors the Celtic fastbreak offense as not counted as assists.)

41.0 ppg average in the 1993 NBA Finals (the Finals record): (29.5 rpg, in the 1959 Finals. THE FINALS RECORD).

6 Three pointers made in the 1st half of game 1 in the 1992 NBA: (Grabbed 40 rebs in the Playoffs. Second to Wilt Chamberlain's record of 41. Three pointers dont exist in Russ time.)

35 Points made in the first half of game 1 in the NBA Finals (the Finals record):(Russ holds the NBA regular season record for rebounds in one half with 32 and quarter with 19.)

Was named ESPN's Best ATHLETE of the 20th Century (EVER)

-When asked by critics as to what was ESPN's criteria in making that Best Athlete of the Century, they couldnt provide it. I seriously question why would a someone like Jordan would beat Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Jim Thorpe (the decathlon athlete), Babe Didrikson, Bill Russell (the greatest winner in any f*cking sport and the one who broke the coaching color barrier) on the greatest list except in endorsement money.

http://www.andersonsports.com/baseball/A...

http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/airjudden/j...

4 ESPY Awards: ESPN and ESPY awards dont exist during Russell's time. Russell has not been on speaking terms with ESPN for quite some time now due to the fact that an ESPN sportscaster made an erroneous comment on Russell's teammate Bob Cousy. IIRc he was the only one who declined an interview when ESPN had their Century's greatest segment.

866 Games scoring in double digits ( the Record): (Russ has the most consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds. I dont even think Russ has a single digit night in rebounds during his entire career.)

1984 Naismith College Player of the Year: (The award does not exist during Russell's time. Russ is the 1955 NCAA Most Outstanding Player. Something that James Worthy have but Jordan does not. Why? The award is like the MVP of the Final Four. Worthy received one because he lead the 1982 UNC to the championship. Jordan as UNC's star player in '83 and '84 couldnt lead the team to the Final Four.)

2,514 career steals (2nd most): (Had blocks and steals been officially recorded during Russell's time, he would have been near or at the top of the record list. Shot blocks were lobbied to be an official stat because of Russell.)

32,292 career points (3rd most): (21,620 career rebounds, the 2nd most).

5,987 career play-off points (the record): (Russell has 4,104 career playoff rebounds. The record.)

He is the all-time leader in All-Star game points (262 career all-star points) (the record): (Exhibition records are worthless. How about winning the 1956 Olympic basketball gold medal with a margin of victory of 53.5? Its an Olympic record. A winning margin higher than the 1992 Dream team or the 1960 Olympic "superstar team" of Jerry Lucas, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson etc.)

He has 8 seasons averaging 30+ ppg (the record): (Russ has 10 s

Answer 6

Robert Horry has a ton of rings haha but he leeched.

Soon enough though, don't be surprised if CP3 of LBJ become the next jordan.

Answer 7

Bill Russell - 11 rings as a player, 2 as a coach

jordan - 6 rings as a player, awful front office guy

What if's don't count or win championships.

Answer 8

It's a generational thing. It depends on which era of basketball left an impression on you.

Answer 9

he retired3 times he went to baseball golf then the wizards

but yea there is no argument of him being the best basketball player of the 2nd half of the 20th century but i dont know there is an argument about all time there were some beast guys from before the NBA was astablished like George Mikan, LeRoy Edwards, and Bobby McDermott back in the NBL days