Michael Jordan hasn’t played basketball for almost 18 years. But still to this day, he is considered one the greatest player of all time. Jordan took some time to get to the championship level. But after eight years of missing out on the NBA Finals, Jordan ascended to the league and became the most dominant superstar in the NBA.
Jordan was the dominant superstar in the NBA during the 1990s. Out of the 10 NBA championships in the decade, Jordan and the Bulls won 6 of those titles in 6 Finals, and Jordan wasn’t in the league for three out of the four championships that they didn’t win. One criticism against Jordan is that he faced great teams during his championship series, whereas his GOAT rival LeBron James has had to face several superteams. For so many fans and players, Jordan is the best to ever do it. But not to one former NBA superstar.
In an interview, Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish spoke about Michael Jordan. He believes that Jordan is the best player of his generation. But Parish fails to see how Jordan can be given the status of the GOAT when he didn’t beat a strong contender.
Parish brought up how Jordan got swept by his Celtics with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. And it took Jordan several attempts against the Pistons to get past them. And even then, it was when the Pistons had gotten older before he could defeat them. And when Jordan won his first championship, he faced a Lakers team that was just past its prime.
“Now, don’t get me wrong now. Michael was great in his era. But the greatest o f all time?…Michael didn’t beat great teams, in my opinion. Now think about this: When Larry (Bird), Kevin (McHale), And myself were in our heyday, he couldn’t beat us. He couldn’t get past the Pistons until Joe Dumars and Isiah (Thomas) got old. He couldn’t beat the Lakers in their prime. When he beat Phoenix, they only had one Hall of Famer.”
While Parish has respect for Michael Jordan, he doesn’t think that he is the greatest player of all time. When he was asked who he thinks is the GOAT, Parish gave three answers – Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Jordan may have some of the NBA’s most unbreakable records to his name, but Parish doesn’t think he did enough to solidify himself as the greatest to ever play this game.
