» John Salley: Michael Jordan Isn’t The Greatest Basketball Player Ever Barstool Sports: Philly

John Salley: Michael Jordan Isn’t The Greatest Basketball Player Ever

I personally believe Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever. But I’m in my 20′s. I’m not 40, or 60, or 80 years old. I didn’t get to see Oscar Robinson, Earl Monroe, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, etc in their primes. I got to see Jordan. And quite possibly was the perfect age to be brainwashed by Nike and Gatorade into believing whatever it is that wanted me to believe. Jordan was dominant as hell while I was growing up, but without all the commercialism and media would I still think he was as good as I do today?

Don’t freak out: the topic can’t be seen as blasphemy. It’s okay to discuss whether or not he was in fact the greatest player. But I have a feeling I know where this vote is going to go regardless.

Does John Salley have a point in questioning whether MJ was the greatest?
Vote 1 for John Salley Should STFU With His Career 7 points /4.5 rebounds and 10 for He Has A Point.

(322 votes, average: 3.91 out of 10)

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By maurice posted August 15th, 2012 at 3:05 PM

Top 2 Comments

27 comments Sort by Popularity Sort by Date

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by natkingcole on August 15, 2012 at 3:07 pm
bitter ass john salley just hurt that jordan ended the pistons run before they could really get started
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by ttfindley on August 15, 2012 at 3:08 pm
No problem with people thinking MJ is the greatest, its the people who act like he never missed a game winner or lost a game or had a TO etc.
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by bjoe23 on August 15, 2012 at 3:10 pm
its not even debateable
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by natkingcole on August 15, 2012 at 3:13 pm
MJ didnt lose 3 games in a row from 1990 to 1998
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by tomcaronsgoatee on August 15, 2012 at 3:16 pm
bjoe "its not even debatable". did you see bill russell play? you're probably some zitfaced junior at swathmore
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by pedrofartinez on August 15, 2012 at 3:19 pm
how come Spider uses the handcheck argument to discredit Jordans defense, but doesnt say a peep in terms of it mitigating Jordans offense
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by natkingcole on August 15, 2012 at 3:23 pm
@tomcaron bill russell was the ultimate winner, but if MJ was playing back in that era he would've averaged 60 points a game
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by tdewitt12 on August 15, 2012 at 3:24 pm
John Salley clearly has a whole lot of butt hurt
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by Will I am Not on August 15, 2012 at 3:31 pm
FUCK SALLEY, he aint shit
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by bjoe23 on August 15, 2012 at 3:36 pm
@tomcaron bill russel played against 6'7 unathletic pud white stiffs his whole career u fucking slapstick ....and if u did indeed see him play ur prob 65yrs old + and should get off of barstool u old squid
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by TeamOne on August 15, 2012 at 3:43 pm
If you look at it from the standpoint of "if they played today", I think Jordan is one of the few all time greats that you can confidently argue would put up as good of if not better stats. Many all time greats benefited from the fact that they were a lot bigger compared to their contemporaries at their position(or a combo of bigger while still being pretty fast ie. Magic). Nowadays most of those size mismatches are less significant.
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by natkingcole on August 15, 2012 at 3:56 pm
@teamone a 6'9 PG with the best court vision of all time would be a special player in any era, dont try to discount magic. the game really changed after the ABA/NBA merger (the modern era), anything prior to that doesnt really resemble modern basketball. almost every post-merger player who was great would still be a great player in todays league
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by tonyteabags on August 15, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Bill Russell wouldnt make a d-League roster in 2012
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by TeamOne on August 15, 2012 at 3:59 pm
and it isn't all about commercialism, Jordan put up the best stats while he was in the league, won 6 straight championships (skipped 2 seasons that they wouldve won also), and still has some of the greatest stats of all time Jordan retired when he was 29 and 34. When jordan came back at 39! he was shooting 45% a game and putting up 20-6-4-1.5 steals
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by TeamOne on August 15, 2012 at 4:02 pm
@natkingcole i think Magic is the only other person you can really argue the same with, but still there are 6'8" guards in the league now that are faster than magic ever way
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by pharr02 on August 15, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Salley has been nowhere to be found since that pathetic Best Damn Sports Show Period left the air. He went the Skip Bayless route to say something super outrageous just so people know he still exists. Salley has a few more rings thanks to Michael - he should shut his fucking mouth.
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by langdon1975 on August 15, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Kareem,Wilt, Magic, MJ...take your pick and I'm fine with it. Kareem is so underrated, his career peak is crazy long and that's before charter flights and all the pampering guys today get. MIchael is by far the most consistent playoff performer I have ever seen. In his prime (the first 3-peat), those Finals statistics are pretty much unreal. Averaging more than ten assists per game vs Magic, killing Clyde with threes, shooting down the high scoring Suns with 40+ppg. I know what MJ never had in his career: a shitty postseason. Even when they sucked he pushed the Pistons to the brink pretty much by himself. Best postseason player of my time and it isn't even close.
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by fapdaddy on August 15, 2012 at 4:25 pm
john salley needs to take a fucking LAP...salty jig. jordans the GOAT fuck outta here that says anything different
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by langdon1975 on August 15, 2012 at 5:24 pm
@TeamOne, you know there were 6ft8 SG and SF players then as well? Do you see many 6ft9 PGs running on the court? I don't think so. Magic plays PG, so he'd be guarded by the PG most of the time. Yeah, he sucked defensively, like he could guard KJ or Tim Hardaway, but he made it up in the other end.
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by pharr02 on August 15, 2012 at 5:25 pm
@pharr02 - great point. I read most of your comments and find them all to be interesting and intellegent.
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by chillbro swaggins on August 15, 2012 at 5:46 pm
He didn't even have him in his top five though. Guy's a complete assclown with no credibility. That said, I think there can be some serious consideration given to some players that came before Jordan.
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by erose on August 15, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Are John Salley and Leon from Curb the same person? Guarantee they have never been in the same room at the same time. Prove me I'm wrong.
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by meowmixmeow on August 15, 2012 at 9:25 pm
you can't say Salley is totally wrong. But if you're being realistic he can't say Jordan is the best ever. Like if you asked a Jets player to say who the best qb in the NFL is I guarantee you not 1 will say Tom Brady. Is this because he isn't? No, he very well may be, but none of them would admit as much. This guy just spent his career attempting to lock down (and occasionally succeeding) Jordan. Jordan is the reason Salley's team didn't get further in the playoffs for years. He might think MJ is the best deep down, but no way is he saying it, and that's understandable.
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by trenchwarfare on August 15, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Larry Bird is the greatest all-around player who ever played.
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by TheCheat on August 15, 2012 at 10:41 pm
No debating. MJ is best ever. EVER! EVER!!
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by knowall on August 15, 2012 at 11:54 pm
someone tell salley to shut his pie hole...you throw names like thomas and mchale ahead of jordan and you lose all credibility..
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by EZBreezey2222 on August 16, 2012 at 10:59 am
@natkingcole - you cant play that game. obviously if you time traveled the Jordan of the 90s into the 60s he would kill it. but its a flawed arguement (as is comparing any 2 eras of any sport) because the Jordan of the 90s wouldnt have been the Jordan of the 90s if he was born in 1940s America. Just like Russel wouldnt be the same player he was if he was born in the 70s or 80s. Im sure Ray Lewis would record a sack on every single snap if he played football in the 1930s but he wouldnt be the physical monster he is today if he was born at the same time the titanic sank
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