WHO WAS BETTER THAN JORDAN
If you think Michael Jordan is the best player ever, before you continue reading, quickly determine why you think he is the best ever. Championships? Points? Records? Multiple criteria? Whatever they are, quickly define them. I will now dismantle the myth that Jordan is the best ever using YOUR criteria. Remember, the purpose isn't to determine that player X is the best ever...only that Jordan is NOT the best.
Most dominating
Wilt Chamberlain (Regular Season Records 56, Number of scoring championships 7, Number of 50+ point games 119, Number of times led league in assists, fg%, minutes, and rebounds* 29)
Michael Jordan (Regular Season Records 4, Number of scoring championships 10, Number of 50+ point games 30, Number of times led league in assists, fg%, minutes, and rebounds* 0)
Who is the more dominating individual? (*Blocks and steals were not recorded until after Chamberlain retired)
Wilt Chamberlain � Chamberlain re-wrote the record books and dominated like no player before or since. His first year in the league, he set rebounding and scoring records that no OTHER player before or since has broken. In 1961-62, he AVERAGED 50.4 ppg. He won seven scoring titles, 11 rebounding titles, and led the league in minutes played 8 times. He averaged over 45 minutes per game every game of his career. In 1967-68 he led the league in assists � something Jordan has never came close to doing. Chamberlain holds the records for points scored in a season and a game (100), rebounds in a game (55), season, and career., as well as minutes played in a season (he averaged 48.5 min/game in 1961-62), and field goal percentage in a season (72.7%).
Detractors try to attribute this to height, yet they cannot explain why Abdul-Jabbar couldn�t equal these feats, despite being taller, and playing against Chamberlain for four seasons, or why players like Shawn Bradley, Rik Smits, Ralph Sampson, Gheorghe Muresan, Mark Eaton, or Dikembe Mutombo have never challenged these feats. Furthermore, to use height as an excuse is to say that Jordan needs handicaps to look good. Why not spot him 2 strokes per hole if you golf with him?
In addition to re-writing the record books, Chamberlain re-wrote the rule books, as the league passed many rules to try to limit his dominance. Jordan, on the other hand, has been the beneficiary of rules passed to ENHANCE his scoring (hand checks, defined zones, 3-point shot, flagrant fouls).
Jordan-supporters know that Jordan�s feats cannot match up to Chamberlains. They point to their career scoring averages, yet cannot explain why Chamberlain has 119 games with 50+ points, to Jordan�s 30. Furthermore, while they chalk up Chamberlain's rebounding dominance to his height advantage, they cannot explain why he led the league in assists, and Jordan could not.
This leads Jordan-supporters inevitably come to the conclusion that Jordan is better because he has more championships. However, by doing so, is to say that you don't believe the criteria (which is why you clicked here). See how easy this is? No matter what your standard is, you invariably come to the conclusion that Michael Jordan is not the greatest player ever.
