Legendary Michael Jordan is not the greatest of all time

A 2020 ESPN poll found that 73% of NBA fans believe Michael Jordan is the superior player overall to LeBron James.

The Chicago Bulls legend swept all 17 questions comparing him to James by metrics both on and off the court. Seventy-four percent of respondents to this poll mentioned that he was more spectacular to watch play. This is a ridiculous statement. Nobody has watched Jordan play a live game in 20 years, and nobody is watching full games of Jordan on YouTube, as those videos rarely reach 50,000 views. Many people who claim MJ is the GOAT have never even seen him play a game of basketball in their life. Why is it that millions of people who have not watched Michael Jordan play basketball in the last 20 years think he’s the GOAT?

The answer is obvious: marketing. As a baby, you were told by ESPN that Jordan was the GOAT. ESPN and the NBA media machine have promoted lies. You were told Jordan ran a 4.38 40-yard dash and had a 48-inch vertical; however, there is no evidence of him doing either of these things. These fables exist to sell you Jordan shoes. Believing the hype around Jordan is disrespectful to the work that modern NBA players have put in to get better at the game of basketball. Jordan didn’t make his high school team; the projected second pick of the 2023 NBA draft, Scoot Henderson was playing against NBA talent in the G-league at 17 years old.

It’s time to let go of the myth of Michael Jordan. Jordan dunked from the free throw line and Zach Lavine just did a 360 dunk from the free throw line. Darius Garland just shot 45% from three at 30+ feet and finishes layups Jordan could only dream of finishing. Modern NBA players are far more skilled and versatile than the players before them. The next generation of players like Bryce James and Cameron Boozer will be better than Garland, James and LaVine because the sport of basketball is still evolving.

It’s time to let go of Jordan. We would cook him; every player in the NBA today would cook him. If the best basketball games that were ever played happened in 1996, then what is the point of playing the game today? The notion that Jordan will always be the GOAT takes away from the current players and their achievements. These players deserve documentaries, not Jordan.