Michael Jordan is widely viewed as the GOAT of the NBA, and that is because he dominated the league with the Chicago Bulls during his prime. He won two three-peats with the franchise and was clearly the best player in the league during those championship runs.
Charles Oakley was teammates with Michael Jordan for three seasons on the Chicago Bulls. However, Charles Oakley then traded to the Knicks in exchange for veteran center Bill Cartwright. The New York Knicks were one of the teams that lost to Michael Jordan multiple times in the postseason.
In his recent book, Charles Oakley recently stated that “Jordan stopped a lot of guys from winning a ring”, and added that “a lot of teams” could have won championships if Michael Jordan wasn’t in the league. Oakley also listed some examples of players that were stopped by Michael Jordan, such as Charles Barkley and John Stockton. Jon Greenberg of The Athletic relayed Oakley’s words.
In 1995, when Jordan returned to the league and gave the Knicks that famous double-nickel performance at Madison Square Garden, it shook up the Knicks as Oakley wrote in his new book, “The Last Enforcer”: “It was a stunning finish to a wild night that I think left some of the guys a little rattled in the locker room. Jordan was back, and maybe some guys felt we would never beat him.”
“Jordan stopped a lot of guys from winning a ring,” Oakley said. “I know he stopped the Knicks. He made (Charles) Barkley go west. Karl Malone, John Stockton, Portland. I mean, a lot of teams probably could’ve won a ring if Michael Jordan wasn’t in NBA. But he was there and you had to go through him and it wasn’t easy.”
Michael Jordan once claimed that winning “had a price” during an interview during The Last Dance documentary. His form of leadership was harsh, but through challenging his teammates, he made them better and they followed his lead. It is clear that his high standards for his teammates had a good effect, as the team won six championships under his leadership.
Winning has a price. And leadership has a price. So I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn’t want to be challenged. And I earned that right because my teammates came after me. They didn’t endure all the things that I endured. Once you joined the team, you lived at a certain standard that I played the game and I wasn’t going to take anything less.
There is no question that Michael Jordan gave no opportunity for other teams to win championships during his prime. The Houston Rockets managed to win championships in 1994 and 1995, but none of those rings came against Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was so great that he prevented multiple top-tier superstars of that era from winning rings.
Michael Jordan will forever be remembered as the GOAT of basketball by many people. While some will mention players like LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as his rivals for the GOAT title, there is no doubt that many will point to Michael Jordan’s dominance during his era and say that there is only one GOAT.
