Michael Jordan turns 58 today. So what better way to honor the GOAT than to talk about his GOAT-ness...
In honor of the goat-iest goat, I have compiled perhaps my best argument for why Michael is the greatest ever.
And it all comes down to 1 season. Sure, you can talk about his 6 titles, 6 Finals MVP’s, 5 league MVP’s, his 10 scoring titles, the fact that he brought USA basketball back to prominence and dominance…but lets just look @ 1 season that sets the tone for his entire career.
This from HowWePlay.com: In the 1987-88 season, Michael Jordan led the league in scoring with 35 points a game, was named the defensive player of the year, and won MVP. The next highest scorer was Dominque Wilkins with 30 points a game. Jordan played all 82 games, so a 5-point differential 82 times comes up to a pretty wide margin. Jordan is a 9-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection, but this year he won Defensive Player of the Year. This is one of the 3 times Jordan led the league in steals. Jordan was the best player in the NBA on defense and by far the best player on offense. On top of all this, Jordan won the dunk contest this year too. Even crazier, this was only his 4th season in the NBA, and he missed almost all of his sophomore year with an injury. In the following 1988-89 season, Jordan averaged 32 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds a game.
If that does not illustrate how great MJ was, I don't know what will. The fact that he played in the era that he did, against some of the greatest players to ever play the game, and he demolished them ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR on a regular basis, en route to pitching a shutout in his finals career...he can't be touched. Case closed.
photo credit: getty images