Is MJ Actually the GOAT?
With the recent release of the 'Last Dance' documentary centered around the '97-'98 Chicago Bulls, I began to wonder why do so many people consider Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time? Throughout his career, he has amassed an insane collection of awards: 5 MVPs, 6 Finals MVPs, 1 DPOY, 11x All-NBA, 9x All-Defense. Obviously these awards stand as a testament to the dominance he had on the NBA and build his case as the best. However, I decided to dive into the other half of the case, his statistics.
Individual statistics are a great way to compare a player's progression or regression across their career. It allows for the comparison of a player's performance from season to season. The graph to left currently displays Jordan's career averages. By using the dropdown under it, you are able to track how Jordan's stats change year to year.
Individual statistics also serve as the the primary comparison between different players. Although the game and rules of basketball are always changing, these stats still provide great insight in comparing players that played in the NBA. On the graph to the right, you can compare Michael Jordan's career stats to the likes of other all time greats. Larry Bird, one of the best shooters the game has ever seen who could do it all. Magic Johnson, the greatest passer of all time with an all around game few could rival. LeBron James, arguably the greatest athlete to play basketball whos passing ability and scoring ability both rank among the best all time. I chose these three because in my opinion, these three plus Jordan, are the only non-bigmen who rank in the top 10 all time.
Now obviously there are aspects of the game of basketball that also attribute to a player's greatness that do not show up in the stat sheets as well as the evolution of more modern, advanced analytics that are much more complicated to quantify. However, I still believe that these core statistics easily convey a players' skillset and overall impact in the game and can be used to form a conclusion on who is the greatest NBA player of all time. And that player is ...
