The Five Biggest Misconceptions in NBA History

(Photo by: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

1. That Michael Jordan Is the Greatest Player of All Time

I am in the minority that believes that MJ is NOT the best player ever. While Jordan was a legend, brilliant at both ends of the court, and won six titles, I don't believe he is the best basketball player of all time.

First off, I think his legacy was greatly enhanced by the weakness of the era as he would've never won six rings had it not been for the fact that there wasn't another great team in the 90's besides his Bulls. 

Second, he never really made his teammates better, even though the media and all of his lovers will make it seem like he did. Jordan's best teammates during his run with the Bulls were Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman.

Pippen's two best seasons came in the two seasons when Jordan retired in the mid-'90s. In the 1993-94 season (the first year after MJ retired), Pippen finished third in the MVP voting, averaging 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block while shooting 49 percent from the field. 

The year after Jordan retired was when Grant made his only All-Star appearance, as he averaged career highs in points (15.1), rebounds (11), and assists (3.4). Armstrong's two best seasons also occurred in the two seasons that Jordan retired. 

And while Rodman had very good seasons with Jordan and the Bulls during their second three-peat, he never improved at all by playing with MJ. Finally, Kukoc's best season came in the 1998-99 season, which was the season after Jordan's second retirement.

So, the perception that Jordan made his teammates better is false, as most of his best teammates played better without him than with him.

Third, Jordan was a terrible teammate. Jordan punched teammates Steve Kerr and Will Perdue during practice and he ran coach Doug Collins out because he was upset that Collins was trying to instill a more team-oriented system, rather than too much one-on-one play by Jordan.

However, the most obvious thing to show how bad of a teammate MJ was is to see how he treated Kwame Brown when he was with the Wizards.

Jordan was still a very good player, but he was past his prime and he was in a situation where he could lead a young and rebuilding Wizards team with a talented, first overall pick in Brown. 

However, instead of supporting and trying to lift up Brown's spirits after some struggles that were going to happen as he was coming out of high school, Jordan called Brown "a flaming faggot," and he used several other derogatory words towards him, which obviously destroyed Brown's confidence, as he idolized Jordan.

This shows that even after his prime, MJ only cared about himself and his attitude towards Kwame is a major reason why Kwame became a bust: he has never been a confident player because he couldn't handle all of Jordan's insults and the pressure of a franchise on him. 

Finally, the last reason why MJ isn't the best player ever is how successful the 1993-94 Bulls were without him. The Bulls didn't replace MJ with a great player as Pete Meyers (who the hell is that?) started at shooting guard for him, yet they were still able to win 55 games, just two less than the year before with MJ.

The team was better defensively than the year before, even though they lost one of the best defenders in Jordan and would've at least advanced to the East Finals had it not been for the worst call in NBA history. 

It was Game Five of the East semifinals between the Bulls and Knicks with the series tied at two. The Bulls were up by one in New York with just seven seconds left and Hubert Davis missed a long two with his foot on the line with two seconds left.

But the ref called Pippen on a shooting foul for contact after the shot was released, which was never called then like it is now. Davis made the two free throws, the Knicks won the game and the series in seven games.

Had the Bulls won the series, which they would've if it wasn't for the call, they would've most likely defeated the Pacers in the next round, who they were 3-1 against in the regular season and matched up very well with.

Overall, Jordan was a great player, but not the greatest of all time. He didn't make his teammates better, he dominated an extremely weak era, he was a terrible teammate and the Bulls were still very successful without him after he retired. 

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