RE: The Boston Celtics Mailing List Digest V5 #193

[D Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

On Fri, 29 May 1998, Sampath, Venkatesh wrote:

> As I said in one of my earlier letters, if the Bulls win against the
> Pacers, so be it. But I sure as hell don't expect them to steamroll the
> Jazz. In fact, I expect to see the opposite happening and I will be
> rooting for the Jazz all the way. I don't buy this "MJ is God concept,"
> any more than I buy the fact that he is the "greatest basketball player
> of all time." Bullshit. He's one of the all-time greats, right up there
> with Chamberlain, Russell, etc. and that's it. 

I agree - I'm surprised about how the mantra "Jordan is greatest of all
time" has been latched onto by so many.  NBC I can understand, but now a
bunch more have fallen into line for whatever reasons.

What has amazed me most about Jordan has been his remarkable durability
and stamina.  With the exception of his second season, which he missed
most of with a broken foot, he has had no major injuries.  For a player
who relies on his athleticism so much, he shows an amazing amount of
energy in the fourth quarter, night in and night out.

If choosing a player at his peak, there are several people I'd take over
Jordan.  But if you factor in durability, it's more evenly matched,
and I could see why someone might go with Michael.

Still, he makes a lot of poor decisions and counts on his athleticism to
bail him out.  He takes a lot of gambles on defense, and does the dreaded
"leaves his feet" on offense.  He looks kinda silly driving into a crowd
on offense, jumping up, hanging, and then awkwardly turning and pitching
it out to Kerr or Kukoc or whoever on the perimeter.  It's not a turnover,
but it certainly hurts his case as best of all time.

Dan

P.S.  If you're blue in the face over NBC's fawning, check out the Usenet
newsgroup rec.sport.basketball.pro sometime and look for Judd Vance's
postings.  He intentionally misspells Jordan's name jordon and does
everything in his power (using shaky logic sometimes) to "prove" jordon is
nothing but a big ballhog.  It can really be a riot in small doses.