Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, as he imposed his dominance on the NBA on his way to winning 6 championships, a record 6 Finals MVPs, and 5 MVP awards. While he is remembered for his incredible scoring prowess that saw him win a record 10 scoring titles, a somewhat lesser known fact is how durable Jordan was throughout his career with the Bulls.
He played 13 seasons in total with the team, and if we exclude the 1985-86 campaign where he suffered a broken foot, Jordan only missed 7 games in 12 seasons with the Bulls. That is remarkable considering how much more physical the game was during the 1980s as well as 1990s, and Jordan also had to deal with those Bad Boy Pistons. He played all 82 games as a rookie in 1984-85, and while he broke his foot the following season, as mentioned earlier, that did little to bog him down the rest of the way.
Michael Jordan’s Seasons:
1986-87: 82 games
1987-88: 82 games
1988-89: 81 games
1989-90: 82 games
1990-91: 82 games
1991-92: 80 games
1992-93: 78 games
1994-95: 17 games
1995-96: 82 games
1996-97: 82 games
1997-98: 82 games
It is crazy how durable he was, and Jordan ended up playing all 82 games in 8 seasons during his time in Chicago. For those who wonder about the 1994-95 season, that was when Jordan made his first comeback from retirement, and he ended up playing what was left of that regular season. The fact that he played all 82 games in his 3 full seasons after that comeback is remarkable, as he was in his mid-30s by then.
Even more astonishing is the fact that after he made his second comeback from retirement in 2001, Jordan went on to play all 82 games in 2002-03 for the Wizards, and we are talking about a 40-year-old man here. MJ truly seems like a superhuman when you look back at all that he has accomplished on the court, and it’s no surprise that when you consider all of it, that he is considered the GOAT. Zach LaVine, who recently signed an extension with the Bulls, echoed that sentiment when he was asked about who would win between Ja Morant and Jordan, as he called MJ the best of all time.
