In reality!...Michael Jordan is not the "Greatest"???

Question

Bill Russell. He has 11 championships to Jordan's 6. He has nearly TWICE the number of championships. Therefore, Bill Russell simply has to be better than Jordan. Let me repeat that - as impressive as Jordan's six titles are, it simply pales in comparison to Russell. To win 6 championships, it took Michael Jordan 14 years and Bill Russell only 7 years. Jordan played 15 seasons to Russell's 13, yet Russell has FIVE more championships than Jordan. Jordan and Magic Johnson COMBINED have as many rings as Bill Russell. Jordan and Magic defined "winning" for an entire generation! Yet, it takes both of them together to match the dominance of Bill Russell!

A Jordan fan cannot say that Jordan was a better individual player than Russell. After all, Russell AVERAGED over 22 rebounds per game. He is acknowledged by most to be the greatest defensive player in the history of the game, and to go along with that, he finished in the top 10 in the league in assists FOUR times (Jordan only did this once). He added 15 ppg to go along with this superior passing, rebounding, and defense.

Jason M..were you alive to watch BILL???.....or even MJ??......who cares?..
people who were'nt even alive to watch Bill..Oscar....even Magic and Larry say "MJ is the greatest"....... Bill Russell..a man who wins 14 major Basketball Championship's in 15 Years..has to be the Greatest Ever!......

Sly..I did mention it!....Bill Dominated Mj in every catagory EXCEPT!...scoring!...
and if scoring is all that matter's..then Wilt is hand's down the greatest ever!..

Scoring does'ny win championship's..DEFENSE does..Bill proved that!

Jawad..."players were weak"..?????..Huh?...Bill Russell played against the greatest NBA Athlete ever!..Wilt Chamberlain!!...he could Bench over 350lbs...and was a Track Star!.......and if you have'nt noticed..the USA has been getting our but kicked every year in the olympic's by "weak".
"jumpshooting "..players!....."Weak"..is the watered down 90's...with a bunch of "Weak"..Highschooler's......No Wonder MJ could never win in the 80's..

B stellar.....Bill also played in the league when there were 14 teams..guess what...HE won Championship's....

PS: When there is less teams...that means there is MORE talent per team!
plus you are playing teams more often and facing players who know your game!....It's actually tougher!.....
the 90's were watered down with all the expansion teams and highschoolers!

Helter Skelter....here's the problem with.."Jordan carried his team, with NO center and sorry Teamates"....

Jordan Joins the Bulls in 84'...Losing season!..I think they had like 34 wins!..
Next year..Losing season.....His third year..another Losing season!!!....they finally add Pippen and Horace grant and they Improve!..over the Next three years they add more players and finally win a championship!........

when MJ retires in 94'..the BULLS hardly even miss a beat!..they only drop 2 GAMES!!!!..and almost win another championship!.........and here's the real Kicker....they replace MJ's allworld offense and defense with a CBA journeymen!......His team was great without MJ!....when MJ joins teams they don't become winners..they remain Losers...In Chicago..and Washington!..
Missed the playoff's..TWICE!!

You said Rodman was Errattic?????..
He was one of the best defenders in the league...He was a defensive player of the year(Without Jordan)..He won championship's(without Jordan)..and he has said that "the 90's Bulls teams he was on would never beat the Piston's teams he was on"

Eddie Gorey - ...Those "People" who are whispering in your ear!..know nothing about Basketball!..Bill was a 6'9" freak of Nature!...his leaping ability and timing were off the chart's......and our Basketball players today are Losing every year in the Olympics to teams that learned How to play Basketball from old school players like Bill Russell...they Know how to play the game!..........wake up!

Answer 17 ....like always...good answer!

Dude!.......you know Basketball!.....great input!

Balla Boy...you know nothing..your a product of the media!.....Russell won with and WITHOUT great players!...

MJ never had a winning season without Scottie Pippen.......

and before Scottie arrived MJ played with......

George Gervin(HOFamer)
Charles Oakley
Orlando Woolridge(top 20 scorer in the league)
Sidney Green
Rod Higgins
John Paxson

Now scram!

Shawn g.....Typical answer from a typical MJ lover!....

MJ is not the greatest.....he was just hyped up the most!......Boring!

Answer 1

In reality, he's not the Greatest. He's among the best players of alltime, but there can be cases made for Bill Russell (11 NBA rings, 2 NCAA championships, 1 Olympic gold medal), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 NBA titles, 4 NCAA titles I believe, and he also won in college), Oscar Robertson (arguably the most complete player ever if you look at his statistical dominance), Wilt Chamberlain (the greatest offensive force in NBA history, and he had 56 individual NBA records when Jordan retired. Michael had only 4 individual NBA records. If stats is your criteria, Wilt is your man), Magic Johnson (led
Michigan State to an NCAA championship, won NBA Finals
MVP as a rookie, and helped lead the Lakers to a Game 6
NBA Finals victory in 1980 playing center, which was not his natural position. He only scored 42 points, had 15 points and
7 assists, filling in for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Let's not forget Larry Bird, who helped the Celtics win a title only two seasons after finishing out of the playoffs and a meagre
29 wins. In reality, Michael Jordan is among the greatest players of all-time, but let's be honest. He is a product of hype as much as anything else, from his commercial endorsements, and the promotion by the league itself. The fact is the younger fans today prefer style over substance. Bill Russell didn't care about his personal stats, because the only stat that meant only thing to him was winning. Michael wanted the ball, and was reluctant to share or pass the ball. He even
got called on it by Phil Jackson, who asked him who was open during one game in the 1991 NBA Playoffs I believe. Michael finally admitted "Pax was open." How is he a team player, when he average more shot attempts per game than virtually anyone else in NBA history? I think the only player that has a similar shots attempts per game is Elgin Baylor, if I'm not mistaken.
The difference is Wilt, in his later years, was willing to sacrifice his personal stats for his team's good. Look at the
1972 Lakers, which had Wilt, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and
Gail Goodrich. Elgin, unfortunately, never got his ring, because he had to retire because of injuries after playing only 9 games during that season. According to this URL, Baylor
had 20 171 FGA in 846 games.
http://basketball-reference.com/players/b/bayloel01.html
That is an average of 23.8 FGA per game. However, that was in the era of more shot attempts, and higher scoring games.
Michael Jordan, have averaged 22.9 FGA per game.
http://basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html
Wilt Chamberlain averaged 22.5 FGA per game, or 23497 FGA/1045 games.
http://basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html
Kobe Bryant, for the jordon jockers' benefit, averages
14760 FGA/784 G=18.8 FGA per game, which is 4 FGA per game than foolish jordon. If Kobe is a ballhog, foolish jordon is even a bigger one based on the evidence. 14760 FGA/
3561 assists= 4.1 Field Goal Attempts/assist Michael is 24537 FGA/5633 assists=4.4 FieldGoalAttempts/assist, proving once and for all, Michael is more selfish with the ball than Kobe is.
http://basketball-reference.com/players/b/bryanko01.html
balla boy, since you're a jordon jocker, I can understand why you would make those type of remarks. In jordon's early years, he had players like Quintin Dailey, George Gervin, and
Orlando Woolridge, so to say he had no offensive talent to work with is a blatant lie. Wilt dominates the NBA individual records like no other NBA player. Basketball, and other sports, team or individual are more than just about scoring.
To say Wilt was the only tall player back then is a lie as well, but since you're a jordon jocker, that's to be expected.
Nate Thurmond is 6 feet 11 inches.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/thurmond_summary.html
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 7 feet 2 inches.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/abduljabbar_summary.html
Willis Reed is 6 feet 10 inches.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/reed_summary.html
Bill Russell is 6 feet 10 inches.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/russell_summary.html
Bob Pettit is 6 feet 9 inches.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/pettit_summary.html
Ed Macauley is 6 feet 8 inches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Macauley
I don't know what your version of tall is, but to me, it is anyone who is above the average height for their gender.
If tall is the reason Wilt is so good, explain Manute Bol, Shawn Bradley, and Mark Eaton. None of these players are as skilled as Wilt was as a player, but they are taller, so your
tall theory has proven to be garbage. Why did Isiah Thomas and John Stockton have Hall of Fame careers despite their lack of height? Explain Steve Nash's brilliance.
Look at the top single season averages in NBA history, and you will see jordon's best season is sixth on the list. So by jordon jocker's criteria, Wilt is the best ever. Look at Most Points in a Season, Most Points (Rookie Season), Most Games,50 or more Points, Most Games, 40 or more Points,
and you will see Wilt dominates.
http://www.basketball.com/nba/records/NBAsnglLdrsScore.shtml

Answer 2

Ladies, Ladies, ladies.....and gentlemen--first of all, lets humble ourselves. Secondly, this argument began before you were here, and, will remain long after you are gone. I never saw Bill play except on the NBA channel, ABC, and ESPN Classic. I did see Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and "the Dream" Olajuwon play, though. By the way--for you Celtic fans out there, I also saw the hick from French Lick, aka, Larry Legend play. As far as the big men go, Olajuwon had unbelieveable footwork, timing and touch. This worked to his advantage on "O" and "D". Ask Shaq, Robinson, Duncan, Malone, Jordan, and the Knicks of the 90's about it. Magic could, and did DO it all. Enough said. Bird was a very good player and a great shooter. The guy knew every angle on the court. He could score over the top , duck down beneath you, shoot over the top corner of the backboard, shoot off of the backboard, inside, mid range, and of course--deep at will. THe Big Dipper, aka, Wilt the Stilt was a phenom, as was Oscar Robertson, so was Michael Jordan. Russell was also a phenom. There is an argument to be made for Russell, but, there is an equal argument to be made for a few others, starting with his Airness, MJ. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, their on crap and their own favorites. Opinions are like booty holes, everybody got one. Make yours count and get points on Yahoo ANSWERS.

Answer 3

Yeah he is one of the best... But he is playing as a center. Remember that for one thing every NBA Champions have their own great center... Boston had Russell and Parish. The Lakers had George Mikan, Chamberlain, Kareem and Shaq. Portland featured Bill Walton. Chicago? Will you call Will Perdue, Bill Cartwright, and Luc Longley great? Nah, don't think so. Also like everybody is arguing (especially the Laker fans) Russell had great back-up guys with him (Tommy Heihnson, K.C. Jones, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Frank Ramsey and Satch Sanders who I think are all Hall of Famers?). Jordan had Pippen, the erratic Rodman, Kerr, Longley, Brown (Super sub? hehehe), Harper, BJ Armstrong, john Paxson and Horace Grant. Don't think those guys would rank up against the Boston line-up (See the difference yet?) plus the game today is played in a different level of competition, no longer do we thrive with the running and gunning game of the yesteryears but Defense is the focal point. Jordan is tops here because he dominated the era where the defense is much harder (see the bad boys era Detroit) plus the fact that Jordan carried the team (with special help from Pip and the guys) by his lonesome makes him the best student of Basketball.
Additional:
Just to answer Alpha Wolf's allegations: Jordan and the Bulls beat Detroit in 1991 With it's same core: Rodman, Dumars, Thomas, Aguirre and Laimbeer. They beat them bad 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals with Jordan leading the way, Of course. Detroit wasn't the same after that and it was All Bulls dynasty afterwards.

Answer 4

this is not correct thinking. when russell played there were 8 teams in the nba total, then there were nine after expansion. some of the years Boston only had to play 2 playoff series to win the title and other years they had to play 3 series total because they didnt have the best record in the conference which meant a bye. so if Jordan had to only play seven other teams and play 2 playoff series i think things would be different as far as his number of titles. he probably would have won every year because if you think 1 player can make a difference now just think how much of a difference to the league 1 player would make when there are 8 teams total.

Answer 5

He was a defensive presence true and a good winner but he was in an entirely different generation where players were weak and relied on the jumper. Bill russel was one the first to make blocking a habit and he beat the other 99% of wjite players. Even the centers shot at least mid range a lot and many were small for todays standard. Mj had harder competition and dominated

Answer 6

Bo Jackson is by far the best athlete out of this group. He has been compared to Jim Thorpe, Josh Gibson, and other great athletes of the 20th century. If he would have chosen one sport, he would have been Deion's 2 Super Bowl rings came when he played with two really good teams. 49ers had Rice and Young. The Cowboys had Smith, Aikman, Irvin, and Moose. Deion was not the main reason the Braves won the World Series. It was their pitching. In baseball good pitching will win championships over good hitting. Brian Jordan was a great athlete in terms of his diverse abilities and being able to reach the highest performance levels in two different sports. All three of these men were phenoms but Bo Jackson was by far the best of the three.

Answer 7

Bill Russel had a better team than when jordan first started and Bill Russel was before jordan and jordan could shut down anyone if you dont believe me go to espnclassics.com and go to the all star game that jordan first played in and youll see that clyde drexler said that jordan was the hardest person ever to shoot over and to defend so jordan is an al around good player and better than Russell.
and also you dont know what your talking about cuz russell had an awesome team when at first with jordan he started with himself then pippen came after so get your facts straight you retard and next time look it up before you ask
and those who say chambelain is the best your wrong cuz back then they didnt have 3 second violation so he would just sit in the key and and dunk it cuz back then he was like the tallest player cuz no one was tall back then.

Answer 8

And Jordan dominates Russell in every single offensive category which you conveniently forgo to mention. And neither Jordan or Russell won the championships by themselves.

Answer 9

when the nba honors the 50 greatest ever... the nba said oscar robertson was on top of the list. when mj is winning title wid the bulls... my fave player then was charles barkley. but when you look at the bulls plays offense and defense at that time (i have some videos) you will just amazed oh how they execute their game. so i guess its teamwork that brings titles to jordan... and jordan receive all the recognition because his the main scorer for the team. his a scorer man. thats it! oh and he dunks pretty too... just like what vince carter said when you want to get recognize in the nba you just have to do it in dunks like dominique kemp and mj did (watch it nba entertainment home video Dunks vol 1). hola.

Answer 10

As far as I'm concerned the Celtics have had the best 2 players in history. Bill and Larry.

Larry never got all the credit he deserves, and I feel bad for him that these other players are reaping the benefits.

Answer 11

For me Bill Russell is the greatest in his time and Michael Jordan is the greatest in his time. Its very hard to compare two players in different eras. because theres is one thing which is very constant in this world. CHANGES.