Was Michael Jordan overrated at basketball?

No doubt jordan is a great player however I think they were couple players who were better than him who did not get credit. 1. Magic Johnson he layed 5 less regular seasons than jordan due to early retirement yet he won 5 rings and went to 9 championship. He lost those 4 champs to isaih pistons, dr. j 76ers, and bird celtics. When jordan won 6 rings, magic already retired, and bird and isaih left the game which resulted in their teams being dismantled. 2. I feel that oscar robertson was better than jordan. He averaged a triple double 5 times in the regular season, something that jordan never did even in a playoff series. 3. Wilt chamberlain could be argued as better than jordan, however he did not had a great team around him. Averaging over 20 rebounds a game for his career, averaging 30 points a game, and averaging 50 points in a season, and scoring 100 points in a game. Jordan was also a product of great advertising and an nba league that made calls in his favor.

Was Michael Jordan overrated at basketball?nba live 2006

yes michael jordan is overated,, the easter bunny and santa claus are much better,,but thats only if tinker bell splashes them with fairy dust,,,are you retarded,,have you ever seen jordaan play,, let me guess you think d-wade or kobe are the best players in the leauge which would make you in about the 4th grade

Was Michael Jordan overrated at basketball?nba gear ,nba teams

nope, he wasn't
nope.. he really is good.. the best basketball player there is... what you said about wilt being better than jordan is a joke.. wilt don't even know how to shoot A ball. . He's just good at the low post you know... the magic johnson, no doubt he's one of the best players but not better than jordan... Jordan knows how to steAL a ball, dunk the ball, shoot three, perform a clutch play, buzzer beaters, fancy passes and impossible shots.. . There is no one better than Jordan, and about WIlt, it's just stats you know, .. you CAN'T JUDGE A PLAYERS ABILITY THROUGH HIS STATS.. WATCH THE PLAYER HOW HE PLAYS AND YOU WILL KNOW HOW GREAT HE IS...
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...

If the NBA had 1/8 the heart today that it did from the time Magic and Bird hit the scene until the time Mike stopped being the Mike we all know and love it might be worth watching.

It's "easy" to sit back now that a guy is retired and too old to light up guys for 35 six or seven consecutive nights in a row and talk crazy.

That's all saying that Jordan is "overrated" is "CRAZY TALK".

People that put Jordan and Overrated in the same sentence are a complete mystery to me. There was no one around like Jordan in the 1950's, 60's, 70's or 80's.

No one even came close!

Do you honestly think Oscar Robertson would have averaged a triple double in the 80's? Who has done it since? NO ONE. What do you think Jordan would have done in Oscar's era?

Everything you see small forwards and shooting guards do now can be directly linked to Julius Erving, then Connie Hawkins and guys like Oscar Robertson before Connie.

Jordan was THE ONE with the determination, skill and will to bring together so many facets of what other great shooting guards and small forwards had done before him.

There is literally no aspect of what a small forward or shooting guard should do that Jordan did not excel at. He is in the conversation when you talk about: the best scorer, best defender (on and off the ball), best penetrator, best perimeter shooter (inside three points), best ball handler or best passer.

You cannot discuss the greatest shooting guards or basketball players to ever play the game without making a strong case that Jordan is that player. Ultimately though "best" can be subjective.

Let's hear from Magic Johnson. Magic, what do you have to say?

"When it comes to basketball, there's Michael Jordan and there's EVERYONE ELSE."

Thank you for your HONESTY Magic.

Peace out,

Basketball Cop
no
no but ppl think mj was good when he stared but they dont noe that he wasnt good in his rookie years he didnt even play he was good when he was around his late 20s but mj is still 1 of the best ever played but i dont think he is the best ...points n rebound etc... is wilt chambelain but it was long ago so not many ppl noe him just like mj after like years n years ppl gonna 4get him so some still member...
Jordan haters say he is overrated. However, i come to his defense. With due respect to those stats you have presented, MJ's stats show his greatness as a player. He has won everything there is to win (except the all-star game 3 point shoot-out where he finished dead last one time!...that's a fact for you, guys!). ROY, MVP, Olympic Golds, Finals MVPs, Scoring Championship, Steals leader, Defensive player of the Year. He has everything in his trophy case. It's a tribute to him that he is well-loved and respected in the game.

Had he kept on playing basketball and not switch to baseball, he could've challenged Kareem's all-time scoring leader mark.

Jordan has the highest average all-time both in the regular season and playoffs (30ppg and 33ppg). He owns the all-star books, too.

Everybody would have wanted Michael Jordan in his team (except the 1985 Portland T'blazers). He is a leader and a winner through and through!

Watching MJ play is like watching poetry in motion. During his time, nobody wants to be matched up with him as he will take it as a personal challenge to totally embarrass you in a game on both sides of the court and more often than not, he was successful. His being a media favorite is a testament that he is really a likable fellow. He's an advertiser's dream endorser.

He's got charisma. He drew fans wherever he went. If he wasn't good or just a splash in the pan, the fans would've gone away. Those who saw Michael Jordan play and cannot accept the fact that he was great during his prime are lying. Facts don't lie. Michael's greatness gets under their skin. How they wished Michael played for their home team...
Oh Joy another Jordan is overrated question . . . . it makes you wonder where is that a-Wolf guy who used to do this.

*cuts and paste*

Lets not harp too much on Jordan's "will to win". Remember, Russell's "will to win" carried his team to 11 championship rings on 12 Finals appearance in 13 years. Bill have an 11-0 record when it comes to do or die games. The guy has never lost a Game 7, with or without home court advantage.

Back in the '62 season, Russell took himself out for 4 games and the Celtics lost 4 straight games even with Red Auerbach, Cousy, Sharman, the Joneses, Ramsey and other HoF's.

Back in '69, Russell took himself out for 5 games because of an injury and the Celtics lost 5 straight even with HoF's Sam Jones, Havlicek, Satch Sanders, and Bailey Howell.

The instances that i mentioned are the two worst losing streaks of the Russell-era Celtics. The latter is the worst losing streak of the Celtics since Red Auerbach took over the helm.

When Russell retired after the '69 season, the Celtics went down from 48 wins to 34 even with HoF's such as Havlicek, Sanders and Howell. A huge 14 game drop (when Jordan "retired" in '94 the Bulls went "down" from 57 wins to 55. A pitiful 2 game drop.). And the modest 48 wins that the Celtics garnered during the '69 season is the lowest number of wins that the Celts have during the Russell -era and occured only because Russell spent a lot of time in the injured list and/or recovering.

Lets not even start making "What if" scenarios saying that Jordan could also win 8 straight games if he hadnt retired for 2 years because Russell wouldve won 13 rings in 13 years in more credible "what if" scenarios.

Back in '58, the reigning MVP, Russell injured his ankle in the Finals series, and the rest of the Celtics, Red Auerbach, Cousy, Sharman, the Joneses, Ramsey etc. could not contain HoF's Bob Petit, Cliff Hagan, Ed Macauley and the rest of the Hawks from winning the championship.

Back in '67, Russell and the Celtics lost Wilt and the 76ers in the eastern Conference Finals because Russell is still a rookie player coach. If Red Auerbach was coaching the celtics back then and Russell could concentrate on his duties as a center, they wouldve beaten that ballyhooed 76ers team. In 12 games during the 66-67 regular season, they beat Philly 7 times. At any rate, the Celtics beat the same 76ers team in the playoffs the year before and after (with Russell leading the Celtics with a come from behind playoff victory after being down 3-1).

Unlike Jordan's UNC, or Kareem' UCLA, or Wilt's KU or Magic's Michigan, or Bird's Indiana, Russell came from an unknown school, the University of san Francisco, with an insignificant basketball program. The USF team that Russell played with was described as a "playground pick-up team" since USF could not scout nationally or compete with other NCAA schools with its limited athletic budget for talent, the school was forced to play local boys only. 12 of USF's 15 players were from the Bay Area and only one was out of state. USF is so insignificant that Russell and hiscollegeteammates dont even have a gymnasium to practice. Despite of this handicap, Russ carried his unknown school to a 55 game winning streak, often playing on the road (USF' homecourt, iirc was Kezar or the Cow Palace which is are publicly owned by the city), and back to back NCAA championships and he won that last championship in style, going undefeated even with the "Russell rules", newly instituted NCAA rules that were designed to limit his effectiveness, in place and without the help of KC Jones, his future Celtic teammate, who was ineligible to play.

The point im making here is that YES Russell was a perfect fit for the Celtics, with its plethora of Hall of Fame shooters and defenders complementing his rebounding and defense but at the same time Russell succeed, and DOMINATE in less than ideal basketball situations. This is what true greatness is all about. Ask MJ how many NCAA championships he has won without his upperclassman James Worthy.

Lets not forget that stats tell an incomplete picture of the player's contributiuon. They only measure the quantity NOT THE QUALITY of the player actions. Also, conventional stats fail to acknowledge valuable team contributions like help defense, picks etc. And besides, Russell's less than stellar scoring output is due to the fact that Red Auerbach put him in a defensive and rebounding role on the team. In college, Russ averaged somewhere around 20 pts. and 20rebs. As a Celtic, Russ averaged only THIRTEEN field goal attempts as the team 3rd scoring option.

Lets not forget that the reason why a player would pile up stats is to WIN and Russ did a lot of winning(11 for 13, hey thats one hell of a stat!).

Still, Russ have some pretty good stats. 2nd in average mins played, 2nd in # of MVP's tied with Jordan), 2nd in career total and avg. rebs (but #1 in playoff avg.) Too bad blocks werent counted (im saying it now, if blocks were counted, Wilt wouldve been number one NOT Russell. If its a stat, expect wilt Chamberlain to own that stat).

Going back to the question, YES, Jordan was over hyped by the media which lead a lot of people to OVERRRATE his greatness. He is GREAT yes but he's not the greatest.

Bill Russell: 5 MVP's, 11 rings

Kareem: 6MVP's, 6 rings

Jordan: 5MVP's, 6 rings

I usually put Russ and Kareem over Jordan (especially if we count theircollegecareers) but i could accept Jordan snagging 2nd place in lieau of Jabbar in certain circumstances but MJ beating a guy who won 5MVP's and 11 rings in 13 (more like 12.5) playing years, NOT A CHANCE.
have you ever seen michael jordan play???

he has 5 guys guarding him and he still scores. dont tell me he doesnt pass he gets 8 dimes a game. if you watch bird, magic, and jordan play on the same court you say jordan is better than the other two by a long mile. thats all i gots to say.
G.O.A.T. overrated?
THe problem with your conclusion is that it is based on stats. Statistics do not tell how good players are across the board. You have to watch them play and judge from that. Oscar was phenominal for his time, but he is nowhere near as good as MJ. If you watch both of them play, you see a huge difference in athletic ability and even skill level. The same goes for Wilt. Statistically, he is the most dominant player ever. But if you watch one of his old games, and then watch a game of Olajuwon or Shaq, you see a big difference. People that say that Shaq is just big should watch some of Wilt's games.

As far as MJ goes, I think he is very UNDERrated. If you watch some old Bulls games, especailly from 90-93, they were really not a great team. They really struggled when Jordan was out of the game, even Pippen. He wasn't just a scorer, he made everybody else better.

Don't go by stats people. Watch these guys play before you judge.
MJ was the BEST I've seen and still is!! No one has came close to measuring up to the way MJ played!! I miss MJ!
what!!!???
Seriously are u crazy have you ever seen micheal jordan play! Because to ask this stupid *** question you would have too! he was still underated for how amazing he was on the court. think about it he played on the same team as scottie pippen and still dominated the floor. Also when the bulls won there three back to back to back titles in 1991-1993 they went through some pretty specatcular teams like MAGIC'S Lakers Clyde's Blazer's And Barkley's Sun's and also two years later brought another 3 titles (Because he wanted to play in th MLB or else he would have probably had 2 more titles and 8 back to back titles)back to chicago how many players in the history of the game have ever done that one micheal jordan and not to mention that he won 5 mvp's over his career 10 scoring titles i dont think that jordan could have gaurded himself if he wanted to.(Jordan who was also a good defender) so if anything he might have been underated because seriously how many players today have done half as much as ive mentioned if anything he was underrated
No, Michael Jordan is not overrated. Stats has to be judged in its context to compare Wilt Chamberlain's stats to Jordan's is a bit to simplistic. The talent pool for basketball lack the depth that it does during Jordan's era.

Jordan's greatness was not just his talent and highlight reel dunks. If it was just that then there would be others as good as him. What separates him from the rest are the attributes that I have just mentioned combine with an all around game - best scorer ever, great defensive player and a killer instinct that is unparalleled. I was a NY Knick fan back during Jordan's days and I could not tell you how many time he broke my heart in the playoffs. Every time I thought the Knicks had a chance, Jordan took over the game. Then if the verdict was still being decided during the last moments, he would always do something to win the game. Its not just game winning shots, its the passes and even the defensive plays (stripping Karl Malone of the ball when the Jazz was about to win one of the games in the Finals). I can't think of a player in team sports with the total package that Jordan possesses. Therefore he deserve all of the praise he has gotten.
Well... Bill Russell has 10 rings (i think), so does that make him the greatest? well... Jordan no doubt is up there top 3 but im not sure quite number one. The reason why he is put as number 1 is because he brought the NBA to a whole new level, because of him there is a stronger fan base. They thought basketball would die without MJ, but it didnt. MJ made the NBA more popular and spread to Europe. MJ is NOT overrated, though... some of his fans are just because he makes shoes... and those fans bug me. Jordan did it all and is arguably the best all around player of all time.
personally i think that he is a good player just a little overrated cuz everyone went over the top since he was the "new thing" no one was ever like him...kno what i mean??? so he was a little but he is/was a great player
He wasnt overrated(maybe a little hyped) but Jordan had his game fixed. He had his style %26amp; scores. He would keep up with both and turn outto be a great player atthe end of every NBA game, so he was not overrated and deserved all MVP titles and awards.
NO WAY!!!...He was great......... basketball hasn't been the same since he retired
Jordan cannot be overrated he won 6 championships with nobodies on his team and if someone says scottie pippen isnt a nobody see wat he did without jordan
Jordan is the single greatest player to ever grace the court..he turned dunking into an art and he will always be remembered for his skill on da court...I like dr.j better though but i never really was a fan of jordan cuz...KNICKS ALL THE WAY SON WALT FRAZIER=PWNAGE
WHAT!!! O.V.E.R.R.A.T.E.D.?????M....J....?I dont know?
No way was he overrated. You completely wasted your time writing all of that out.
Michael Jordan is not overrated! MICHAEL JORDAN IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE BEST PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!
You've made a point, but I don't think M Air J is overrated, but just Magic and Bird etc. are underrated. They weren't back in the day, but people are slowly forgetting about them sadly.
No, actually Jordan is one of the few players in history who was actually BETTER than his hype. In the modern league, every star player is overrated for more than he is actually worth because the NBA has turned into a profit-first business.