Was Michael Jordan overrated?

Question

i believe he was overrated. You had many great players before him who dominated the game like magic johnson, oscar robertston, and wilt chamberlain. Yet jordan was the product of great advertising and also he took alot more shots than these guys with the exception of wilt chamberlain. He also played in a weak era unlike the era of the 80's and the era today where they are constantly teams like mavs, spurs, suns, heat, and pistons that can win every year.

Answer 1

What do you mean weak era...I think he played in an era where defense rules were not changed to enable better scoring..like no handchecks etc.maybe the early 80s were great..but now..I mean you do have great teams..but please..The Chicago bulls wouldve won..they wouldnt have dominated maybe...but they wouldve won..cos they had a great team..that somehow just worked it out..Maybe he was over advertised...but overrated...no way...i guess you were just fed up of the bulls winning..n todays scene where you have a coupla teams that can challenge for the championship seems to appeal to you.. I just love good basketball..n the bulls were a very good example of it...unlike todays great centers being the cornerstone of a dynasty...you had god given talent of an individual and pure heart willing a team to victory over some young and more talented teams...thank you...

Answer 2

I agree but I go even further in saying that it is impossible to call anybody the greatest ever to play the game considering there will never be a way to truely tell. People try to say Jordan did it by himself but you look at the teams he won Championships on and they had good players on them. Jordan before he got the pieces that brought him championships was what Kobe is right now a good player on a bad team. Jordan never played up against Baylor and Played Dr J when he was ready to retire and then Kobe who could be better then Jordan was played Jordan when he hadnt come into his own yet and when he had a chance to prove himself when Jordan came back he was washed up. Jordan is more then Overrated he was just in the right place at the right time the only reason he is believe to be the best of all time is cause he showed us all a few things we never saw before but today we see things he did everyday from the likes of Kobe, Carter, T-mac, Wade, Melo, and Lebron they all have the hang time that he had and can dunk the way he did and all have shown off their share of circus shots and fade aways that made him famous but because he was the first to do it people call him the best but not everyone saw Baylor in the 60's doing the Jordan dunks and shots because TV wasnt watched as much and they didnt even air games live or televise them all back then. Dr. J played in the ABA for most of his prime and Magic had a Team that he made better he could have done all the tricks to and did but he was a team player who made the people around him better it was Jordan who had his team make him better. People also over look Russel and Michan and West and Bird and a host of great players but seem to say Jordan is the best he was just the most seen and now that others do what he did and are overlooked just because he did it first. I guess because he stuck his tongue out that makes him special too.

Answer 3

I don't think Jordan was overrated. Yes some have called him the greatest player ever and I don't believe that is true but he definitely is up there in the top 20 ever and possibly the top 10. I believe that Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird were better and of course you have West, Johnson and Dr. Jay. But no doubt Michael was an incredible player. By the way Chamberlain, Bird and Johnson were all just as famous as Jordan during their time, but they didn't have the technology they had during Jordans time and different methods of advertising were used. Also, though Jordan did play during a weak era still stats don't lie and just watching the man shows he was a great player.

Answer 4

Some over-rate him, still likely he is the best player ever, there are at least three others who have to be considered. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Wilt Chamberlin. Old-timers seem to prefer Bill Russel but I did not see enough of him, Oscar Robinson had great numbers. Kobe has the talent but manages to lag well behind Jordan somehow. Lebron or D-Wade may compete one day. I would rather not be pressed to pick just one, I prefer to talk about the best post player (C or PF), best wing (SF or SG) and best point guard. With all the championships won by MJ, and Magic as well as Kareem it would be difficult to choose others who did not win big as theyn have the best numbers, MVP, NBA first team, and stats all backed up by championships. Bird and West deserve some attention as well. I would like to say that the league was by no means weak when Jordan won his championships. Lakers, Sacremento, Pacers, Orlalando, Utah the Nicks and others all had good years. Olajuwon, Drexler, Barkley, Ewing, David Robinson, Gary Payton, Tim Hardaway, Shaq and many others were in their prime or close to it.

Answer 5

This is the second time that I saw this question and Jordan played and played well in the 80's. If you recall the pistons won 2 championships in the 80's and were a dominate team in the east during that decade.

Mj was a dominate player that elevated the game to another level on and off the court. At one point here in Chicago MJ had comercials for coke, mcdonalds, chevy, Jordans, Nike, Gatorade, Golf Balls, NBa, and Nbc The man single handedly brought people to the game that didn't even enjoy basketball.
Think about MJ made it fashionable for people to shave their heads. (No one else has or will have a environmental effect through a sport).
He was dominate in an era where people played defense and he wasn't one of the tallest guys in the league (like WIlt). Magic played in the same time frame. And the players were more athletic in Jordan's time than in Robertsons time. MJ is and for ever will be viewed as the best player of all time.

Answer 6

No he is not overrated.

And the league was not weak, there were more all-star, Hall-of-Fame players playing in that area then at any time in league history. Stockton, Ewing, Molone, Robinson, Bird, Johnson, Barkley, O'Neal, Mourning, Iverson, Thomes, Miller, are just a few players that played during those years. As for teams you had the Piston, Knicks, Heat, Majic, Lakers, Sonics, Trail Blazers, Suns, 76ers, Pacers, Cav's, Jazz are the teams that the Bulls had to go throught to win there 6 titles in 8 years.

Answer 7

I'm sure many people will disagree with me, but I believe he was overrated. Now before you jump to conclusions about whether or not I know anything about basketball - let me make my point.

Was Jordan a great dunker? Yes. Was he clutch? Yes. Did he win lots of championships? Yes. Stats great? Yes.

But lets focus on this - take a look at the "huge" games he had. He'd score 30-40 a game, but often times, he'd shoot 30-40 times a game.

I think he was an awesome player and perhaps in the top 2-3 players ever to play the game. I'm not sure I agree though that he's the best player ever (as some suggest "by far").

In that regard, he's overrated.

Answer 8

Jordan wasn't necessarily overrated but he was given a lot more hype than maybe he deserved. Connie Hawkins and Julius Erving had done what Jordan did long before Jordan came along.

Jordan just happen to have the behemoth known as Nike behind him. Nike and especially the Nike Air Jordan line did more to enhance Jordan's career than anything he ever achieved on the court.

Even today kids who never seen Jordan play know about Air Jordan shoes. Just goes to show what advertising does.

Answer 9

No he wasn't, he killed my Knicks time and time again. Jordan did shoot a lot, but his career shooting % was .497. That is awesome for the type of player he was. I used to hate him, but I hated him because he was great and killed my teams, but knew he was awesome, and what I was seeing I may never see again.

To those saying Nike hyped him more....Tiger woods made over 80 million in endorsements last year. You see him everywhere. While he is not considered the greatest ever yet, 20 years from now might be. The sponsers do help you get seen more, but his and Micheal's game back it all up. Nike hyped him, and he performed. He took Dr. J's game to a new level.

Answer 10

There is always going to be great players before you that just comes with the territory. So mj is not overrated, he was an awesome player and always will be one in the sports books. next will be like at kobe or lebron when they have retired and there will be young players trying to live up to that legacy just like lebron and kobe are trying to do now, livivng up to mj legacy.