Michael Jordan immediately shut down Magic Johnson and Larry Bird disrespect after NBA achievements

Members of the media constantly compare current generation players with Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan to ascertain how good he is.

Michael Jordan immediately shut down Magic Johnson and Larry Bird disrespect after NBA achievements

Michael Jordan once refused to be compared to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird

In today’s day and age, most of the members in the media tend to revisit one subject. That is to compare current players to those from the past. One of the most common points of interest is how some of the elite players match up to a certain Michael Jordan.

The media have been comparing almost every superstar since Jordan retired from the game. Be it Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Dwyane Wade, or any other superstar, the comparisons have always centered on how they have fared against Jordan.

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Currently, they are busy comparing LeBron James to His Airness. Be it statistics, other individual accolades, titles, impact on the team as well as on opponents, every aspect is compared. But Jordan himself did not appreciate this when a reporter once asked him if he had surpassed Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

No. I think, that’s something that I really can’t say can be established. Each one of us play in a different era. With different teams, different levels of success. To compare all of them, and say one is better than the next, it’s an unfair justice to the art, or to the artist.

Michael Jordan said

This was His Airness speaking after winning seventy games in the 1995-96 season. The reporter was trying to figure out if Michael Jordan felt he was superior to Johnson and Bird after setting a new record for wins in a single season.

Jordan added that it was unfair to compare himself to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and others. He specified that everyone was successful in their era. Diminishing one while trying to uplift the other was not the best way to help grow basketball.

Comparisons in the modern era

The media members covering the NBA do not go by this logic. They compare current players to those from the past. They compare the state of the game with that of past eras. All of that is used to start narratives and bring up debates.

The idea is to conjure a reference point that they can compare with. For instance, the LeBron James vs Michael Jordan GOAT debate has engulfed sports media for the past decade or so. Now, some have turned their attention to Anthony Edwards and others.

That is because Edwards pointed out that current players are more skilled than past greats. This seemed to have hit a nerve and soon after, those veteran media members and former players came out to admonish him.

But others have started to join the Minnesota Timberwolves star to speak up about the evolution of player skill. That support amongst their peers is great, as the community is standing up against veteran media members. However, that does not mean those media members will stop talking.

Why do veteran media members ignore Michael Jordan’s words?

Veteran media members who seemingly belittle every current player are also the same people who consider Michael Jordan to be the greatest basketball player of all time. But they are also ignoring what the Chicago Bulls legend said two decades ago.

Most of them must have been covering the game at the time. Therefore, they might have come across those very words from the 6-time champion‘s mouth. However, they have ignored his plea to stop comparing with past greats, as they have to ensure ratings keep going up.

Comparisons with Jordan help to keep viewership ratings up. Without steady top-of-the-line numbers, those media members will struggle to justify their role as sports analysts. The most recent example was when Skip Bayless left FS1 after he could not sustain Undisputed’s past viewership ratings.

This means they will keep berating current-gen stars every time they compare one to past greats. That is how they keep their jobs. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver does not appreciate this happening in his league. He pointed out that this does not happen as often in other sports.