By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
I was nine when Michael Jordan drained the winning
shot in the 1982 national championship game, 12 when the first Air Jordan shoes
were released, 14 when he claimed the NBA’s dunk title, 15 when he won his
first NBA MVP award and 18 when he won his first NBA Championship. During this period I attempted his dunks on
Nerf rims, imitated (poorly) his jump shots on any available court and admired
his confidence and ferocity (neither of which I was capable of duplicating) - and
I wasn’t even a fan of Jordan’s or the Chicago Bulls.
This is all to say that I witnessed, at very
impressionable ages, Jordan’s rise from unknown North Carolina guard who played
in the shadows of Sam Perkins and James Worthy, to basketball’s Greatest of All
Time (GOAT) and the most consequential athlete of my generation.
With those admissions and declarations, I’ve found the
periodic suggestions of LeBron James challenging Jordan for the NBA’s throne
quite irritating. But with James’s most
recent playoff run, again with a cobbled together band of nondescript session
performers, another Jordan vs. James debate has started.
A resume review should end the conversation
quickly. Here’s the scoreboard, with
Jordan’s count first, followed by James’s.
Championships: six to three. NBA
MVP awards: five to four. NBA Finals MVP
awards: six to three. NBA All-Defensive
First Team: nine to five.
Let’s go deeper.
Jordan’s 6-0 in the NBA Finals.
James is 3-5. What’s more, James
has often shown indications of competitive anxiety at the biggest moments of
the biggest games. Jordan had not one
discernible trace of fear on the court – ever.
You want to give James extra credit for more Finals appearances? Fine…but then acknowledge that he has feasted
on a pathetic Eastern Conference for his entire career. Meanwhile Jordan had to overcome the Bad Boy
Pistons, Patrick Ewing’s Knicks and Shaquille O’Neal’s Magic, among
others. And then there’s this: if you had
to win one game and had to choose between peak Jordan or any version of James,
Jordan would be the majority’s choice.
Debate.
Over.
Well…sorta.
There are other data points. If
the criteria was expanded beyond basketball accomplishments, James surges. Jordan wasn’t a great husband, was
notoriously ruthless to his teammates and, for all his fame and potential
influence, chose not to engage socially or politically. On the other hand, James is, by all accounts,
a solid husband and father, a good teammate and has shown a willingness, despite
rude admonishments to “shut up and dribble”, to engage on social causes.
This isn’t an argument
for James over Jordan. James just isn’t
of Jordan’s basketball ilk at this point.
I’m fortunate that’s the case because I’m resistant to even consider
ranking James over Jordan. The truth is the
gap is closing and narrower than I’m ready to admit.
Why the reluctance? If wrapped in Wonder Woman’s truth lasso, I’d
offer this response: I’m biased. A
cognitive corruption has stolen my objective analytical ability. As a basketball player, I value Jordan more
than James. It’s not that I dislike
James – quite the contrary…I’ve defended him many times in this column over the
years – it is simply that Jordan is the icon of my youth. He made an impression on me at very
impressionable ages. I don’t want his
standard of greatness to be challenged; I want James to leave my adolescence
alone.
This bias is likely
shared with other Jordan supporters of my vintage; similarly, more youthful
basketball fans may be inclined to argue for James. Bias can be based on just about
anything. It creeps into your mind,
clouds your judgement and skews reality.
We are all capable of it, and it’s habit-forming. When debating such things as basketball’s
best, it’s benign; in life, biases can be misleading and fundamentally wrong. The trick then, is to be more conscious of
their formation and, most importantly, to consistently identify that important line
between silly debates and things that really matter.
To that end, I’ll prepare
myself for an objective Jordan vs. James discussion. But not yet.
Jordan’s still the GOAT - for now.
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