Michael Jordan is still widely regarded as the GOAT thanks to an incredible NBA career that saw him win six championships. While Jordan’s championships and the fact that he never lost in the NBA Finals are often pointed to as reasons for him being the greatest, Gilbert Arenas says he became the GOAT before all of that.
“When Jordan came in, what they seen was a whole different animal,” Arenas said on Podcast P. “You’re seeing something that is different, moves different, talks different, approaches the game different. Swag phenomenal. This is the best thing we’ve seen. I don’t give a fu** what he does. This is the best player we’ve ever seen. It was the eye test.”
Arenas says the 1987-88 season is what solidified Jordan as the GOAT in his eyes.
“(In) 87-88, he literally went from the wings, they took the wings off, he got the logo,” Arenas continued. “They gave him a logo in ’88. People don’t realize that he got the logo in ’88. They took the wings off and say you got Jordan. That is considered the greatest individual year anybody could have had. That’s when he became the best player ever.”
The logo Arenas was referring to is the Jumpman logo, which was first featured on Air Jordan III, which was released in 1988. The 42-year-old then added that everyone is now competing for the second spot
“There was no ring,” Gil continued. “Rings is just what they get to use now… It was just the way he did it. He carried what we have now, solo mission. It’s hard to beat solo mission with stats. LeBron (James) can win six rings right now but they’re not giving it to him. You’re not giving a dude who started this joint… So basically, everybody is fighting for second.”
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When you look back at it, an argument can be made that Jordan’s 1987-88 campaign was the greatest MVP season of all time. He averaged 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 53.5% from the field. He won the scoring title and was the league leader for steals as well.
For his efforts, Jordan became the first player ever to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. Also in that campaign, he won the Slam Dunk competition and was the All-Star Game MVP. Accomplishing all of that in one single season was frankly ridiculous and whether he became the GOAT after that or not, it certainly set him on his way.
Gilbert Arenas Had Another Hilarious Reason For Why Michael Jordan Is The GOAT
While Arenas was dead serious here, he had hilariously brought up another reason for why the Chicago Bulls icon is the greatest ever. Last year, Arenas said Jordan is the GOAT because he ran cocaine out of the NBA in the 1980s.
“Bron, I’m sorry, my guy, but I have to do it; Jordan is back the GOAT,” Arenas said. “This is why – you gotta be the GOAT if you ran cocaine out of the 80s. You was running circles around them that in the 90s that had to clean their s**t up. He was a clinic by himself. So I have to give it to Michael Jordan; he is back the GOAT for what he did for the ‘80s. He was whopping their a**.”
Well, stopping Jordan when you’re not on cocaine was hard enough, so imagine how much tougher it’d be if you were using it. Jokes aside, there are plenty of factors that work in his favor in these debates, and you can check out our 10 reasons why Jordan is the GOAT.
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