In a guest appearance on the ‘Mark Jackson Show,’ former NBA guard Tim Hardaway Sr. made the case for Michael Jordan as the GOAT of NBA basketball. For Jackson, there’s one key stat that makes Jordan the best, right above Kobe Bryant who he has at “1B.”
“Michael Jordan is the GOAT no question, he’s been there six times and refused to lose six times,” said Jackson. “He played defense and didn’t take days off. To me 1A is MJ and 1B is Kobe.”
For his longevity and ridiculous list of accomplishments (4x champion, 4x MVP, 20x All-Star) LeBron James has changed the conversation around the GOAT debate and he has made it a real toss-up between himself and Michael Jordan. But in the eyes of Tim Hardaway Jr. and other NBA personnel, Michael will always be the best.
The Bulls legend averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game on 49.7% shooting. Over 15 years in the NBA, he was a 6x champion, 5x MVP, 10x scoring leader, and 14x All-Star. He’s fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 32,292 points scored.
On the court, there was nothing Michael couldn’t do. He’s one of the best mid-range shooters ever but was also elite around the rim and at the free-throw line where he shot 83.5% for his career. He led the Bulls to prosperity in the 90s and is remembered today as the face behind the greatest NBA basketball team ever assembled.
Perhaps Michael’s most impressive feat of all is being undefeated in the NBA Finals (6-0 for his career). Starting with his first Finals appearance in 1991, Michael led the Bulls to a convincing series victory (4-1) over Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The next year, Michael carried the Bulls to another series win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Jordan scored 33 points in the close-out game to go back-to-back for the first time in his career.
To close out the first three-peat, the Bulls beat Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in 6 games on a John Paxson game-winning 3-pointer that will forever be remembered in NBA history.
From 1991-1993, the NBA was completely dominated by Michael Jordan and the path to the NBA championship went through him and his superpowered Bulls squad. If not for Michael retiring in his prime to play baseball, they might have won even more championships together.
Instead, it wasn’t until after his return to the court that they won their next titles. 1996 began the second three-peat era for the Bulls, and it came in a 6-game series against the SuperSonics.
Finally, the Bulls’ last two titles came against John Stockton, Karl Malone, and the Utah Jazz. The Jazz were arguably the toughest challenge for Jordan and the Bulls but they still managed to win both series in six games.
The fact that Michael Jordan went 6-0 in the Finals is impressive enough on its own, but when you realize that he never even let a series get to 7 games, it makes the feat even more incredible. The guy just knows how and when to elevate his game and he never let his team lose their focus when there was a title on the line.
For that reason, and more, Michael is often cherished as the GOAT and some of his greatest feats have still not been replicated. At this point, no matter what else LeBron does, his 4-6 Finals record will always hold him back in comparison to Jordan.
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