16 Straight Mins Of Michael Jordan Facts That Will Convince You He's The Undisputed 🐐

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[superquad]

The most impressive fact to me is that some people even think this topic is remotely debatable on any level. Awesome video, man :)

[jakobchristensen]

The fact that while Michael Jordan didn't play a single second for the Miami Heat, the franchise still retired his No. 23 jersey in April of 2003 as a sign of respect to him and his achievements. MJ was the first player ever to have his jersey retired with a team he never played for.

... which is also why LeBron couldn't wear number 23 while playing for Miami.

[ijamorris]

Missing only 7 games in 12 seasons with the bulls during a physical era is astonishing. Especially compared to today's divas that want to load management and play no more than 60.

[moneygangrepp]

I was a witness to this man's greatness. Nobody comes close to what he did on the basketball court. NOBODY.

[stevenlaux]

Besides all his accolades my favorite part about Jordan was his willingness to play as many games as possible, knowing fans came out to see him play. Players dont have that mentality anymore and its sad because if it wasnt for the fans there wouldn't be a league.

[yourfriendlyneighbourhoodvue]

I am really glad he mentioned those Wizards years because the media and casuals love to call it trash years when they weren't, that era was the toughest defensive era, it was expected for players to shoot below 50%, the fact that 38 year old Jordan was still able to hold his own against Prime A.I, Kobe, Vince Carter and T-Mac says a lot about his greatness.

[alogmoreno]

The most impressive thing about MJ is that no matter how deliberate Lebron's fans are at taking him down, not once you heard him say anything. That tells you how secure he is with his place in the basketball world.

[christophercox]

I saw an older Jordan as a wizard play Philadelphia. Iverson had famously crossed Jordan many years prior. At one point both teams got out of the way and let Jordan (on defense) isolate against Iverson. Jordan completely shut Iverson down. The crowd went nuts.

[kristatos]

I think one of the most impressive facts is that he played several games sick, injured, in pain, and he still played those games better than most other stars on their best day...heart is something he never lacked of...

[SystemAdministrator]

Best Stats, but that's not what makes him so AMAZING to watch
He paved the way for so many
Everyone wears his number on their jersey and collects his shoes
Michael Jordan is an ICON
The Entire world knows who he is
The most Famous basketball to ever exist for a REASON

[gabrieljude]

Jordan never had to resort to flopping in order to gain an advantage. That's all you need to say because all of Jordan's accolades overshadow anyone else.

[raistlinmajere]

Most impressive fact is that he he never declared himself to be the goat. He even praised the legends that came before him. He truly is the greatest of all time.

[bigdog]

Basketball Reference has a stat called Game Score which measures a player's individual contribution on the court in any particular game. It rewards points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks and penalizes missed shots, turnovers and fouls. It's designed to look like points scored (20 is good, 30 is great, 40 is elite). What's great about this stat is that we can eliminate the whole "he had better teammates/tougher opposition" argument. If someone is the best player on the floor and loses, you can't blame him, and if he's not the best player on the floor and wins, it doesn't help his GOAT case. By average Game Score, here are the leaders in every playoff series Jordan has played in.

1985 First Round (Milwaukee): Jordan 24.6, Moncrief 23.2
1986 First Round (Boston): Jordan 30.6, McHale 25.8
1987 First Round (Boston): Jordan 26.9, Bird 26.7
1988 First Round (Cleveland): Jordan 34.0, Price 19.6
1988 EC Semis (Detroit): Jordan 20.4, Thomas 16.8
1989 First Round (Cleveland): Jordan 30.9, Nance 17.3
1989 EC Semis (New York): Jordan 31.8, Ewing 18.0
1989 EC Finals (Detroit): Jordan 21.4, Thomas 15.3
1990 First Round (Milwaukee): Jordan 28.2, Pippen 22.4, Robertson 17.2
1990 EC Semis (Philadelphia): Jordan 35.5, Barkley 21.9
1990 EC Finals (Detroit): Jordan 24.8, Thomas 16.2
1991 First Round (New York): Jordan 26.1, Pippen 17.7, Grant 10.9, Armstrong 10.8, Ewing 8.9
1991 EC Semis (Philadelphia): Jordan 27.2, Barkley 24.2
1991 EC Finals (Detroit): Jordan 26.3, Pippen 20.2, Johnson 17.0
1991 NBA Finals (Los Angeles): Jordan 29.4, Johnson 20.0
1992 First Round (Miami): Jordan 38.4, Pippen 24.5, Seikaly 15.9
1992 EC Semis (New York): Jordan 20.7, Ewing 15.9
1992 EC Finals (Cleveland): Jordan 22.7, Pippen 17.4, Nance 16.1
1992 NBA Finals (Portland): Jordan 25.8, Drexler 18.4
1993 First Round (Atlanta): Jordan 26.7, Wilkins 18.0
1993 EC Semis (Cleveland): Jordan 23.3, Nance 15.3
1993 EC Finals (New York): Jordan 24.4, Ewing 20.7
1993 NBA Finals (Phoenix): Jordan 29.6, Barkley 23.4
1995 First Round (Charlotte): Jordan 23.2, Mourning 18.9
1995 EC Semis (Orlando): Jordan 21.6, O'Neal 20.4
1996 First Round (Miami): Pippen 22.7, Jordan 22.3, Kukoc 10.3, Harper 10.0, Hardaway 9.3
1996 EC Semis (New York): Jordan 24.3, Ewing 15.0
1996 EC Finals (Orlando): Jordan 23.9, O'Neal 21.0
1996 NBA Finals (Seattle): Kemp 18.9, Jordan 18.5
1997 First Round (Washington): Jordan 28.0, Murray 15.7
1997 EC Semis (Atlanta): Jordan 20.9, Pippen 16.4, Blaylock 15.7
1997 EC Finals (Miami): Jordan 18.7, Hardaway 11.6
1997 NBA Finals (Utah): Jordan 23.4, Malone 16.8
1998 First Round (New Jersey): Jordan 25.7, Pippen 16.2, Douglas 14.5
1998 EC Semis (Charlotte): Jordan 20.7, Pippen 16.9, Rice 13.6
1998 EC Finals (Indiana): Jordan 22.4, Pippen 13.0, Kukoc 12.6, Miller 11.6
1998 NBA Finals (Utah): Jordan 21.5, Malone 18.5

Out of 37 total playoff series, MJ was the best player on the floor in 35 of them. And even the two where he wasn't are within a very small margin of error, didn't hurt his team (they won both) and are very easily explained. The 1996 first round series vs Miami was a sweep, all three games were blowouts, and Jordan only played 34.3 minutes per game. The 1996 NBA Finals vs. Seattle saw Jordan have a very rare bad game in game 4 where his Game Score was 9.8. This dragged his average down beneath Shawn Kemp's. But, the Bulls entered game 4 with a 3-0 series lead, which means that if you have to have a bad game, that's the time to do it, you can hardly call it a choke job.

To be fair, LeBron was also the best player on the court far more often than not in his playoff history, but the number of times where he wasn't is far greater than 2, and many of those occasions, it wasn't that close. Not even picking on LeBron, check out any other player since 1984 (when this stat was first available, can't comment on Russell or Wilt), and you will not find anybody who was as consistently dominant in the playoffs, win or lose. This (among many other reasons) is why MJ is the GOAT.

EDIT: Here is how Jordan compares to others who come up in GOAT discussions, along with a couple of relative new players who potentially could. (Note: Bird and Magic's numbers are incomplete, they start in 1984, when the stat is first available). The first number is how many series the player had the highest GS by more than 1 point, the second is how many times he had the highest GS, but it was by less than a point, the third is when he trailed the GS leader by less than a point, and the fourth is when he trailed the leader by more than a point.

Michael Jordan: 34-1-2-0
Larry Bird: 11-1-2-9
Magic Johnson: 11-5-3-11
Hakeem Olajuwon: 18-1-1-8
Shaquille O'Neal: 19-1-1-23
Kobe Bryant: 10-4-2-27
Tim Duncan: 14-3-3-28
LeBron James: 38-0-7-8
Steph Curry: 9-1-1-17
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 10-0-0-5
Nikola Jokic: 5-1-1-5

This shows two things. One, I'm not picking on LeBron, this stat actually solidifies his case as the number 2 player of all time. But, still, the gulf between MJ and the rest of the field is level.

[JJG]

The most impressive thing to me is the 10 straight scoring titles, and at the same time, being defensive player of the year. He dominated the entire league on both ends of the floor

[briangaddes]

This man, in my opinion, is without a shadow of a doubt the best and most gifted player I’ve ever seen touch a basketball. I watched him from the time he started until the time he finalized retiring. He molded me as an athelete and he made me work harder to better my skills. There has never been another basketball player or athelete in general to motivate me more than this man. He’s just a once in a lifetime type of individual. As long as i breathe air I believe there will never be anyone to surpass his greatness. His hunger to get better and better those around him will never be matched and I’m just blessed that I got to witness him and the things he did on a basketball court. I find the comparisons comical and they used to irritate and anger me lol but I guess it comes with the territory and it’s just part of competition. I just know you can’t compare him to anyone…..AT ALL! Some people are just in their own category and he will forever stand alone in the one he created. The number #23 on any jersey in any sport always comes back to Mike’s name…..name another player who has that impact 🤔 He is The Goat and his legend will live forever💪🏾💯

[victorgutierrez]

The most impressive fact from MJ is that at 20 years from his last game we are still talking about his greatness and trying to find someone that can compare to him. If in 2043 we are still having this well you know !

[Reignwonton]

Chuck said it best: "If you were bigger than him, he was faster than you, if you were faster than him, he was stronger than you." he was built to be a threat across the board!
Couple that with the mindset and the proper* fundamentals, and here you have the standard of true greatness.

[sentokigames]

The most impressive fact is that he's still the GOAT after all these years with weaker soft NBA play and that he still holds highest average scoring specially in today's NBA.

[ilandmanevr]

He wins Defensive Player of the Year and is the Scoring Champion in the same season. That is getting it on both ends. His career stats are awe inspiring. A true sight to behold. The number of 80+ games played in his career is amazing as well. If there was such a thing as load management, he would have had a longer career as well.

[technolinguist]

There was always a chill in the stadium when they announced: "....And now 6 6 guard 198 lbs from North Carolina..." Most times you never heard Michael Jordan's name amongst the noise. G.O.A.T. No doubt!