Ron Harper is back arguing with fans on social media about Michael Jordan. A post recently went viral on X which showed how Harper’s stats went down drastically when he became a teammate of Jordan’s and fans felt it showed the Chicago Bulls icon didn’t make his teammates better. Harper, though, had quite the straightforward explanation for his numbers going down.
“None of you trolls never played past the 6 grade and only know nothing when it comes to playing with the ball on a bad team and playing a role on winning teams..”
None of you trolls never played pass the 6 grades and only know nothing when it comes to playing with the ball on a bad team and playing a role on a winning teams..
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) August 19, 2024
Harper played for the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 1994 and they weren’t a great team during that time. They only made the playoffs twice in five seasons and were eliminated in the first round both times.
It’s common knowledge, that it’s easier to put up big numbers when you’re on those kinds of teams as opposed to title contenders. Harper then responded to the original post as well, telling the X user to look at his rings.
“Look at rings clown.”
Harper and Jordan won three titles in a row with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998 and he wanted that user to remember that. The 60-year-old then reiterated his original point about winning and losing teams.
“It’s called playing on a losing team against a winning team what do you value?”
Harper chose to sacrifice his scoring to become a defensive-oriented guard for a winning team like the Bulls as he knew that would lead to success, and it did. We applaud players who do that today and don’t exactly criticize the star player for their teammate’s numbers going down.
Also, if you want to argue that Jordan made his teammates worse, Harper might just be the worst example to pick to show that. Let me explain why.
Harper signed with the Bulls as a free agent in 1994 and Jordan wasn’t on the team at the time. He had retired for the first time in 1993 and only returned in March 1995. Harper had played 65 games in that 1994-95 season before Jordan arrived and only averaged 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.4 blocks in them.
Meanwhile, as a teammate of Jordan for just over three seasons, Harper averaged 7.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. Almost nothing changed when you compare the stats.
So, Harper’s numbers going down had nothing to do with Jordan, but with the fact he was on a great team and playing a different role. It was not his job to average 20 points per game on a nightly basis for the Bulls, as was the case with the Clippers. So, as I said earlier, Harper was the absolute worst example to use here.
Now on the topic of making teammates better, I don’t believe Jordan was amazing at it. I think he got better at it as his career went by, but you wouldn’t put him in the same breath as LeBron James, Magic Johnson, or John Stockon in that regard. There is no shame in that either, as he was primarily a scorer.
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