What Made Michael Jordan the Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time?

What Made Michael Jordan the Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time?

ESPN will be playing the last two episodes tonight of their documentary – the Last Dance, and each one has been better than the last thus far. Well, we haven’t had any sports, so, anything new-sports-related just feels awesome! I’m a huge MJ fan, and my kids didn’t get a chance to see him play, so, watching this documentary with them on Sundays has almost been a way to relive those moments along with them. The documentary is very well done and helps to provide a lot of the drama-energy/excitement that we felt watching Michael Jordan during his prime. You also see Michael very much humanized and realize that all the success/fame has its price. At the height of his success, Michael was arguably better at his job/profession/sport than any other person.

So, what is it about Jordan that made him so great?

I would say the competitive fire, strong will, killer instinct, passion, drive, the ability to dream and transcend the sport becoming a global phenomenon. 

Was he a good teammate?

That is a tough question because he demanded so much out of himself as well as from his teammates. Some I’m sure some appreciated it, but others probably grew to hate him for it. He was definitely more concerned with winning than making people feel good.

In 1992, the Dream Team was assembled, and it was Mike’s coming out party. Everyone was in awe of Michael Jordan. There was never a player like this in professional sports. He got the headlines no matter what happened. Phil Jackson also made a huge impact on Michael’s success. Phil helped MJ to believe in his teammates.

Michael seemed to have it all, but as you can see throughout the documentary, it came with a heavy burden. Back in the day marketing released its Q-ratings, and Jordan was number one not only in the US, but also in Canada. Basketball had become a global phenomenon, and Jordan was the world’s favorite athlete. You could see though that he had been hardened by the spotlight and by the sudden loss of his father.

Sports tend to freeze people in time, and our heroes continue to be what we saw back then. Even when my dad and I went to see Jordan play for the Wizards back in the day, we still saw him as the greatest player ever. Jordan would have been in rare company had he went out without playing those final two seasons for the Washington Wizards.

All in all this documentary has been very inspiring on many levels. 

Have a great week, stay safe out there!