A lot of people don't realize that, he partied and gambled like a rock star, and still does. If he played today with today's media, they'd rip him to shreds.
I hate when off the field interferes with peoples judgement on the field... Lawrence Taylor, Brett Favre, Tiger, Jordan, Pete Rose (questionable)...
Its a character thing...he is just like all the rest of us, human. We should not put him on a pedestal as a person, just a player.
Yes i agree with that. But we shouldn't care about their private life. What happens between consenting adults does not concern us.
Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. He came in to a league that was fading from the glory days of bird/magic battles. A lot of other greats were nearing the end of their careers and enter MJ. Like some have mentioned, he dominated in his sport unlike any other player in my opinion. His ability to beat a team surpasses tiger woods in his prime or any other sports figure in my opinion for their respective sport. He transcended basketball and was more of a social icon through the mid '80's and '90's. The thing that sets him apart from Lebron James is this. Yes Jordan had some talent backing his championships (pippen, rodman, Kerr to name a few). Other than that the supporting cast was mid level role players. Without Jordan the bulls bring home 0 championships, pippen doesn't make it into the 50 g.o.a.t. And the mid level role players as supporting cast are nobodies! Jordan was so good at making everyone around him seem better which is in my opinion why they were untouchable for the six ships. Lebron on the other hand, couldn't get done in Cleveland what Jordan did in Chicago. Yes he had a finals appearance in Cleveland but never won anything. So, he heads to southbeach with a guy who already brought a ring to his city (Dwade) and gets Chris bosh in on the game. There's three definite hall of famers in the starting 5. Does it take away from James's accolades, no. He's an incredible basketball player and likely the best player in this generation (him or durant). But, the point is that Jordan got it done with a minimal supporting cast and Lebron has Dwade, bosh, and some other very talented role players. As far as greatest athlete of all time, that's too ridiculous of a conundrum to even try to wrap my brains around. There are some incredible athletes in this world who can run, jump, hit, throw, lift, etc etc etc and some can probably do those thing better than MJ could. However, even if he's not the greatest "athlete" ever. He was dominant in a way no one else ever was or has been since in his sport. He was an icon on and off the court. There can only be one MJ, and although there are those that like to compare others to him. The fact that Jordan is still the measuring stick that today's greats get compared to makes him the greatest.
A few more to consider: Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and a classy young man who walked away from the NFL... Barry Sanders who was absolutely amazing to watch. I loved watching Michael play basketball though... what I liked most is how he always seemed to make those around him better.
The most incredible athlete I have ever seen was Bo Jackson hands down...the things he could do almost didn't seem human
I guess it all depends on what your classification for Greatest Athlete is. Mine is defined by dominating the competition and winning at the highest level. Bo Jackson was absolutely amazing, but he never won anything. Same w. Barry Sanders. To be the greatest, you have to be able to elevate to the highest level and win there and do it for an extended amount of time.
It's really impossible to say who's the greatest athlete of all time with so many different sports and how they've evolved over time. That being said, if all the greatest athletes ever were together in one stadium for some sort of competition, there's no way in hell I'd bet against Jordan. Hands down the greatest competitor of all time. His will to win was off the charts.
Whatever "IT" is, jordan had it. He was a fierce competitor and you knew if he was in the game, he was going to find a way to win. He elevated his team mates to compete that way as well. He was a team first competitor, that meant he would be the guy when the situations dictated but he would also make a role player the guy when needed. I doubt the 72-10 season from 95/96 will ever be broken. The flu game showed his competitive nature like no other. I watched that game and it was an inspiring performance. Even if some don't believe he was sick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIzrYcgfOH4&feature=youtube_gdata_player sent from my samsung note 2
A basketball player as ALOT more influence on the success of their team than most other sports do. A RB cannot carry their team to a championship by themself no matter how good they are....same thing in baseball A also think there is difference between talking about the greatest "player" ever and the greatest "athlete" ever If anyone has never watched the 30 for 30 ESPN did on Bo Jackson I suggest you watch it....the stories people tell about him going all the way back to his childhood are amazing
I've seen it, and like I said he was phenomenal. He had amazing athletic ability, but you can't be considered the greatest "anything" of all time if you have such a short sample size. Maybe he's the best "could have been" but he's not the best. Jordan proved it over his entire career. Bo Jackson didn't revolutionize his sports like MJ did with basketball. There weren't millions of kids growing up say I want to be like Bo, they said I want to be like Mike.
I'd like to see Jordan, Bo Jackson or most any other athlete mentioned try to race any Olympic swimmer. Not taking anything away from any of them but swimming competitively may be as tough as it gets. The title "Greatest Athlete Ever" has to consider the difficulty of the sport. That's why along with Phelps, Bo and Thorpe are on the top of my list, they could do more than just one thing... I might toss in Deion Sanders too.
That's right... all things have to be considered. Phelps will tell you that he was no good at other sports. Neither is my son who swims. He tried to play basketball one year... well let's not go there.
