Of Mike and Men
I was born in 1996, and it wasn’t until 2012 until I heard a single bad thing about Michael Jordan. Far below the age of being able to remember either of the two of his titles that came when I was alive, I can’t even remember ever watching Michael Jordan play the game of basketball in real time. People can’t resist telling me how I missed out: “No doubt, he was the greatest!”
So I’ve heard.
It might be hard for some people to wrap their head around, but many sports fans who graduated college this year aren’t old enough to remember watching MJ play in real time. To hundreds of millions of people, Michael Jordan is actual legend. If The United States is Ancient Greece, he is our Hercules: our undisputed champion, a hero transcending sport and becoming synonymous with greatness, a modern beacon of America’s unconquerable strength. Championships and Nike turned Michael Jordan from a basketball player into living folklore; he isn’t a man anymore, he’s an idea.
Michael Jordan, his brand, and the Michael Jordan idea has managed to stay perpetually cool and classy for 30 years in a society that chews up and spits out fads and fashions faster than it takes to buckle a snapback. In 2015, Jordan Brand shoe sales rose 17% to $2.5 billion.
In an age when people have become more civilized and less violent than ever before in human history, instead of worshipping our greatest warriors, we begin to immortalize our greatest athletes. Michael was lucky enough to be the best player in the world in a time period when someone could market themselves to billions of people through television, but could maintain privacy and sweep things under the rug without worrying about the all-seeing internet mercilessly exposing every little mistake.
It always makes me angry when I see people near my age advocating for the greatness of Michael Jordan. Millions of fans routinely come to the defense of a man who they never witnessed play a minute of meaningful basketball in real time. Usually, these defenses come as criticisms of LeBron James. They’ll say things like “Jordan never would have left Chicago to win a title” or “Michael never would have lost a Finals, he wanted to win too bad” or “Jordan always had the ball in his hands at the end of games.” It’s become common practice for people who never saw him play, to defend Michael Jordan because it’s cool.
I’m not here to criticize MJ. I can admit that he is most likely the best basketball player ever. His 6 titles, 5 MVP’s, 10 scoring titles (the list goes on, you know the stats) make it hard to argue that he doesn’t belong at the top of the list. But Bill Russell has 11 titles, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar not only has as many titles as M.J., but is also the all-time leader in points scored. We use championships as a litmus test for greatness, but insist “it was a different time” when Russell and Kareem won theirs, somehow making them less valuable.
In Game 6, LeBron James had his second consecutive 41 point game to save his team from elimination in the NBA Finals. He currently leads all players (on both teams) in the Finals in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He brought his team back from a 3–1 deficit and is on the cusp of beating the team that broke Michael Jordan’s team’s record for most wins in a regular season. He is, without a doubt, the best player in the world and has been for 7 years. During his career, the only real slip-up he’s had is televising his decision to sign with a different team.
Now, LeBron has his faults; he’s passive-aggressive, lacking of a killer-instinct, and 2–4 in NBA Finals with a real chance to lose his fifth on Sunday. He has arguably too much control over his team’s front office decisions.
But LeBron James is the greatest player of OUR generation, and yet despite his greatness he’s always compared to the idea of Michael Jordan, a literal living legend whose rare air we routinely refuse to let James occupy. LeBron deserves better. I don’t think enough people will ever be comfortable calling them equals, but already James deserves much more credit than he’s been given, and if Cleveland wins Sunday the conversation will get interesting.
For over a decade LeBron James has been making a case that he is the best player ever, but he’s not making it against a player; he’s making it against an idea. Against an untouchable entity whose legacy is as American as apple pie, and to attempt to knock that legacy down a notch would be akin to flying a Soviet flag in New York in 1960.
I never watched Michael Jordan play. I could be completely wrong, and at the end of their careers there could be absolutely no doubt that he’s leaps and bounds ahead of LeBron James in every category. But I don’t think that’s the case. Michael may be the best ever, but LeBron belongs right up there with him. Maybe not right next to, but very, very close.
Many of you reading this are also part of the generation that doesn’t have memories of watching Michael in real time. If you’re one of those people, I encourage you to refrain from championing for Michael Jordan, and cheer for LeBron. For many of you, he’s best player you’ve ever seen.
