Michael Jordan EXPOSED for inflated stats in iconic DPOY award questioning legendary career

Michael Jordan's 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award is part of his GOAT resume.

Michael Jordan EXPOSED for inflated stats in iconic DPOY award questioning legendary career

Michael Jordan's DOPY award, which gives him an edge over LeBron James, comes under question

The Michael Jordan vs LeBron James debate has spanned discussions for more than a decade. The Chicago Bulls legend’s fans suggest there is no comparison on who the GOAT is. They feel Jordan has won more championships and most importantly, the Defensive Player of the Year award, which the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has not been able to match. But now, an interesting revelation has come forward questioning the truth.

Yahoo Sportswriter Tom Haberstroh published an article after some thorough research on his part. He went back to watch some of the 1988 Chicago Bulls games from the season Jordan was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award.

We watch 5 tapes. And so, at the end of those 5 games, there were 23 steals in the box score in those 5 games for Michael Jordan. And by watching the game independently, the scorekeeper and I, we saw 8 steals. 8 steals for Michael Jordan in those 5 games. 1.6 per game and that is 15 fewer than the box score said he had.
Tom Haberstroh wrote

Haberstroh referenced Michael Jordan‘s game against the then New Jersey Nets on 29th January 1988 in which he recorded 10 steals.

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He mentioned that it is clear that Jordan had six, but the other four could have been accrued to other players. Back in the day, scorekeepers used their own understanding when allotting steals.

The five games he mentioned that he watched diligently had similar anomalies. Haberstroh revealed that former NBA stat keeper Alex Rucker had mentioned to him about inflated home game stats. As he found out, the differences in home stats from those days is enough to discredit Jordan of his DPOY award.

Tom Haberstroh suggests LeBron James is chasing Michael Jordan’s ‘ghost’ award

After going through countless tapes to confirm his notions, Tom Haberstroh came to the conclusion that Michael Jordan’s Defensive Player of the Year award winning season had inflated stats. Therefore, he summed up LeBron James‘ case:

James is still chasing that ghost, and all the underlying statistics that were registered without modern-day safeguards.
Tom Haberstroh said

He essentially suggested that if the modern-day auditing methods were available back then, Michael Jordan would not have won the DPOY award—the same way LeBron James has not won the award despite getting voted five times.

This revelation could stir up the pot in the GOAT debate. After all, James played in an era where they recorded everything with scientific perfection. The inflated stats on the other hand will probably help LeBron James’ fans in arguing that Jordan did not deserve certain awards in his GOAT case.

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