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This past Friday Scottie Pippen wanted to clear some things up about the greatest player the NBA has ever seen. Following the Miami Heat’s victory over the Bulls in the playoffs, Pippen was on ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning radio show. Pippen said that "Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game." However, Jordan’s longtime teammate went on to say that “LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.” This statement was eaten up by some media, and Friday Pippen wanted to make one thing very clear. Pippen wanted to go on the record to say Michael Jordan is the best player in the history of the league. Honestly, this should go without saying. Jordan is the standard that all players are judged by, but comparing him to anyone is simply a mistake. Between shear statistics and hardware no one will ever match his accolades.
From a statistical standpoint Jordan simply did so well for so long. Jordan began Like Lebron, being named Rookie of the Year in 1985. Jordan is also a 5-time NBA MVP, a feat Lebron has reached just once so far. Jordan is also a 10-time All-NBA First Team member. Jordan has been named to the all-star team 14 times. In those games, he was able to be the MVP on three occasions. His offensive ability helped him add in a couple of Olympic Gold medals to what must be an impressive, and cluttered, mantle above his fireplace. Jordan did not stop at offense though and was crafty on the defensive end as well.
Jordan was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 and was named All-Defensive First Team 9 times. Lebron James has a patented defensive move in which he sprints the length of the court and blocks offenders shots by slapping the ball off the backboard just as it is attempting to be laid in. Jordan was a bit more under the radar and provided a more sneaky and stealth-like approach. His defensive move was stealing the ball from behind as players casually tried to bring it up court. From there he would turn around and start the other way being all alone to come up with jaw-dropping dunks for spectators. His defense coupled with the offensive tangibles made Michael an instant leader for the Bulls. Jordan took the role and led the team to be, perhaps, the best dynasty in all of sports history.
The number one reason Jordan trumps Bron-Bron is, first and foremost, because the dynasty. Jordan won six NBA championships with the Bulls. That accomplishment is impressive enough on its own, but even more impressive is the fact that the 6 combined championships came from 2 separate three-peats. Lebron is still searching for his first and who knows when, or if, this will happen. Jordan also did not have to leave Chicago to win the big game. Even if the Heat 3-peat twice, like the Bulls, Lebron will have done it after leaving a team he could not lead to a championship. Hopefully Pippen learned his lesson from these events as mixing it up in a Jordan comparison contest is never going to end up well. In the end Pippen Knows there is only one real NBA king. He comes in the form of a 6 foot 6 guard from North Carolina, Number 23, Michael Jordan.
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