Is Michael Jordan really the GOAT?

[I promised some playoff stuff today, but I decided this would be more fun.]

How often is it questioned that Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all-time?  Never.  Well, that is what I created this blog to do.  To question.  I love Michael Jordan.  He is the greatest scorer in the history of the NBA, but I am going to attempt to argue that he is not the best player.  Who do I have that can beat him for the prestigious position of GOAT?  Magic Johnson.

**Note - If this argument doesn't interest you, skip to the bottom, where I write about A.C. Green, a true man of God.

Let the argument begin.  I will start by looking at the championships.  MJ finished with 6 to Magic's 5.  First of all, championships are not the only argument for how great a player is.  This is why Derek Fisher isn't a better point guard than John Stockton, and Robert Horry isn't a better forward than Karl Malone, among plenty of other examples in all of sports that I won't bore you with.  Second of all, Michael Jordan played 14 seasons while Magic Johnson played 12 seasons.  I have taken away fractional seasons from each player (Magic returned for 32 games after his retirement for HIV and retired before the playoffs, and Michael played the end of a season and his Bulls were eliminated in the playoffs).  Magic had a championship rate of 41.6% (5/12) while Michael had a championship rate of 42.8% (6/14).  The two are virtually the same.  Definitely not enough to split the two.

One absolutely awesome attribute about Magic Johnson was his size.  Magic was 6-9 and 255 lbs at point guard!  This enabled him to play ANY position on the floor.  Current Clippers PF Blake Griffin is 6-10 and 251 lbs.  Magic Johnson was the size of a power forward at the point guard position!  Wait, I said power forward... you want proof that he could play the center position?  Look no further than Magic's rookie year with the Lakers.  He had helped lead his team to the 1980 Finals.  In Game 5, Lakers Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sprained his ankle.  He was able to finish the game, but it became so swollen after the game that he did not even make the trip to Philadelphia for Game 6.  When the roster for Game 6 was released, it had none other than Magic Johnson at Center.  He started the game there and would play some of the game at all 5 positions.  He finished the game with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists.  He was awarded the Finals MVP for his unbelievable performance.

Now let's move to MVPs.  I can very quickly point out that MVPs don't equate much to how great a player is.  Almost everyone would agree that Kobe Bryant is a better overall player than Steve Nash.  Yet Kobe Bryant only has 1 MVP to Nash's 2.  This is simply because media hype heavily equates to the MVP award.  Nash won his two MVPs when he was the hot new thing in Phoenix.  In Nash's 1st MVP season, he put up 15.5 PPG, 11.5 APG, and 3.3 RPG.  Pretty decent stats.  This last season he put up an almost identical 14.7 PPG, 11.4 APG, and 3.5 RPG.  Not only was he not even mentioned for MVP, the guy did not even make the All-Star game.  In 2005, when Nash won his 2nd MVP, Kobe Bryant averaged 35.4 PPG, 4.5 APG, and 5.3 RPG.  That is one of the greatest statistical seasons of all-time, yet Nash was awarded his second consecutive MVP.  Michael Jordan finished with 5 MVPs to Magic's 3, but for the reasons I have stated in the Bryant-Nash case, I would like to look at the actual stats.

First, let's remember the ratio that was used with championships.  Jordan won the MVP in 35.7% of the seasons he played.  Magic won the MVP in 25% of the seasons he played.  Magic is one MVP away from having almost the same ratio.  I would nominate him for MVP in the 1981-82 and 82-83 seasons when he almost averaged a triple double (18.6 PPG, 9.5 APG, and 9.6 RPG and 16.8 PPG, 10.5 APG, and 8.6 RPG, respectively).  Steve Nash's first MVP season doesn't even come close to the season Magic had.  Magic was not even named 1st-team NBA that year.  A lot of this had to do with his youth, it being only his 3rd year in the NBA.  Moses Malone won the MVP both of these years, and he was not nearly as well rounded, only averaging 1.3 and 1.8 assists, respectively.

Finally, let's get to the actual statistics.  Nobody could score like Michael.  He is the best ever at putting the ball in the hoop in a 1-on-1 situation.  The guy averaged over 30 points a game for his whole career.  BUT best scorer does not equal best player.  So let's look at the numbers.  Michael Jordan, during his career, averaged 30.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 6.2 RPG.  Magic Johnson averaged 19.5 PPG, 11.2 APG, and 7.2 RPG.  Let's start with rebounds.  Magic Johnson averaged a full rebound per game better than Michael Jordan at the PG position (theoretically the smallest position on the floor).  Magic Johnson also had a career shooting percentage of 52.0%, while Michael Jordan shot 49.7% for his career.  Now obviously the points and assists are too different to compare, so let's use a ratio to convert assists to points.  1 assist = 2 points.  Every time a player gets an assist, he is involved in 2 points (at least) for his team.  I am not counting 3s into this equation because there are obviously some assists that are not too difficult.  So with the conversion, the PPGPAM (points per game plus assists-multiplied) and RPG now look like this:

• Earvin "Magic" Johnson: 41.9 PPGPAM and 7.2 RPG
• Michael Jordan: 40.7 PPGPAM and 6.2 RPG

Magic Johnson was unbelievably valuable to his team!  There is a reason the Lakers won the title his rookie season in 1980.  They had not won since 1972, and more importantly, they had not won since 1975, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar began playing with the Lakers.  Hopefully, this has encouraged you to consider Magic Johnson at least in the conversation for GOAT.

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Finally, let's add a little Christianity to this post:  Let's talk about former Lakers Forward/Center A.C. Green.

A.C. Green accomplished something that has never been topped in the NBA.  He played in 1,192 straight basketball games.  This is not his greatest accomplishment as an NBA basketball player.  A.C. Green did something that is sadly unbelievably rare in the NBA, professional sports, and America in general.  He waited until marriage.  A.C. Green entered the NBA as a virgin and retired from the NBA as a virgin.  On April 20th of 2002, as a virgin, A.C. Green married his wife Veronique.  Today he travels the country promoting abstinence until marriage with his organization, the A.C. Green Youth Foundation.

As somebody who has read Magic Johnson's autobiography, My Life, I can definitely say that A.C. Green's fight for abstinence was not easy.  Magic writes about girls waiting in the lobby of hotel lobbies in every city, having sex with multiple women at once, and more.  There is obviously a reason that Magic contracted HIV, forcing him to retire from the NBA.

A.C. Green was a member of this same "Showtime" Lakers team.  Sadly, many girls would do anything to sleep with him.  He did not have the support of a community that shared his moral viewpoints.  He spent every day with players who would taunt him about his virginity.  He spent every day around women who would beg him to give it up.  A.C. Green's teammates and so-called "friends" would send naked girls to his room at the team hotels.  A.C. would simply toss them a t-shirt and quote scripture, hoping to convince them to change there ways as he stood firm in his.

A.C.'s website can be found HERE.