The debate is growing and will continue to evolve as new NBA players define themselves and are absorbed by fans. However, despite the rapid introduction of several great players in the past two decades, a certain person still enters our thoughts when we talk about who is/was the greatest of all time. A discussion on such a topic could not even be understood without the mention of who, in my opinion, is the best basketball player of all time. Of course I’m talking about Michael Jordan.

Statistics were compared, numbers added, crunched, and thrown into various equations with the expectation of a solid answer. never happens. It seems that only your interpretation and your intuition could give you the answer. Some of today’s players get into the equation for the simple fact of putting the numbers, having rings and dazzling the audience. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are the closest candidates to even be compared to MJ in my opinion. Kobe has won the battle of many important statistics, including championships. LeBron is well on his way to building his reputation beyond any doubt. But if we take a moment to acknowledge that everyone has great and meaningful stats and then focus on the dynamics of the game, then perhaps we can see things more clearly.

I am very impressed by the way that Michael Jordan was not only able to understand the game of basketball, how he saw the court in any given setting, but how it affected people while playing the game. Michael was able to create a response in his teammates. He understood his abilities, his mindset, his weaknesses and his vision, and he was able to lead his team to numerous victories like a true champion would. The Bulls of the 90s were not the best team of the time from a statistical point of view, nor from a player-to-player evaluation point of view. However, the energy and dynamics of that team were unparalleled. This can be attributed to the energy that Michael exuded.

Michael Jordan was not interested in points, attention, comparisons or anything like that. If it were, he wouldn’t have let anything distract him from the game when he decided to pursue his baseball career. He just felt that he had achieved what he had set out to achieve with the game. He came back from his love for the game and maybe just to see if he still had that special and strange ability to control the pace of the game. He surely did and withdrew with remaining steam. Too many of these players today are focused on beating their stats and outshining them instead of using their obvious talents to improve their game, win championships, and improve the quality of their teams and the overall game.

MJ is in a league of his own when it comes to passion, respect, and effectiveness in the game of basketball. For this reason I and many others around the world crown Michael Jordan the greatest of all time.