JORDAN DIDN'T MAKE PEOPLE BETTER
To this, the answer is an emphatic "NO!"
I issued this challenge on Usenet: Name one player whose career was enhanced by Jordan. I never received a serious challenge. Let�s look at some of the candidates.
Scottie Pippen � The press love to sing long songs about Jordan made Pippen. However, their songs are missing a few verses. For example. Why did Pippen have his finest seasons without Jordan? In 1994, Pippen averaged 22 ppg, 8.7 rpg, and 5.6 apg. In 1995, Pippen became only the second player in history (Dave Cowens was the first) to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. How could he do this without Jordan to make him better?
Furthermore, when deciding to retire, Jordan said over and over that he would not play without Pippen. While recovering from foot "Why did [Scottie] Pippen have his finest seasons when Jordan was playing baseball?" In December of 1997, Pippen said that he was not going to play with the Bulls when he was fully recovered. Jordan said that if he had known this, he would not have come back. Why? If Jordan makes everyone so much better, why not fill in Scott Burrell into Pippen�s position (or Toni Kukoc, for that matter), and make another Pippen? Answer: Jordan didn�t make Pippen. Pippen made Pippen. Without Jordan, he is still the dominating defensive player, and he continues to be a complete player.
The typical Jordan fan will respond with "how many championships did Pippen win without Jordan?" The answer is zero. Likewise, how many championships did Jordan win without Pippen? Zero. Comparing these two players apart from each is very unfavorable for Jordan. Pippen had a better career record and a better post-season record than Jordan. Pippen's only losing season was his final year in the NBA, when he missed much of the season due to injury and was in a veteran leadership role for the young re-building Bulls. That was the only time in Pippen's career he had a losing record and the only time he missed the playoffs. Jordan played 5 seasons without Pippen. Out of those 5 seasons, he posted 5 losing records, missed the playoffs twice, and was 1-9 in the playoffs.
Think about it: Jordan never had a winning record apart from Pippen. Pippen played on many playoff teams in Portland and Houston without Jordan.
It makes you wonder who made who a better ball player, or at least who was the most valuable player to the win-loss column.
Dennis Rodman � Rodman had established himself LONG before playing with Jordan. His defensive reputation was made in Detroit, where he was voted the Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 91. His rebounding ability was established in Detroit, also, where he won the first of his seven consecutive rebounding titles (4 without Jordan), and his reputation as a winner was established in Detroit, where he won two titles � both times defeating Jordan�s Bulls.
Luc Longley - Luc Longley was bad before, during, and after his stint in Chicago. Even Jason Kidd couldn't make him legit." Luc Longley � Put simply, Longley was a bad player before he joined the Bulls. He was a bad player when he played with the Bulls, and he was a bad player after he left the Bulls. Nobody has questioned Jason Kidd�s ability to improve his teammates, and even he hasn�t been able to coax out respectable play from Longley. If eight points and 5 rebounds is what you want out of your center, then Longley is your man, but you don�t need Jordan to get this out of him.
John Paxson � This is the guy that most Jordan fans bring up. Paxson was on the perfect team in Chicago (perhaps the only team he could get significant minutes with), but his career blossomed because of Pippen, not Jordan. Jordan did not like playing point guard, and Phil Jackson didn�t like him playing point guard, because he thought that Jordan didn�t pass enough and turned the ball over too much, to be a full-time point guard. However, Jordan didn�t like point guards who were the classic "drive-and-dish" style points. He disliked playing with Sam Vincent and Steve Colter for this very reason. When Jordan came back in 1995, he had problems playing with B.J. Armstrong, who had taken to driving to the basket more frequently during Jordan�s absence. (And it might be noted that Armstrong, like Horace Grant, made the only all-star appearances the year they DIDN'T play with Jordan. This, in and of itself, is a powerful argument that Jordan does not make those around him better.)
Put simply, Jordan lacks the skills to play a classic point guard role and he doesn't like to play with point guards who play the classic point guard role. That means somebody else has to bring up the ball and be the point man. Guess who that was? When Phil Jackson took over as coach, he made Pippen a point forward, and this allowed Paxson to fill in as a spot-up shooter, since Paxson lacked the skills to play the point, and the defensive ability and height to play the shooting guard. If Pippen were not able to play the point from the forward position, Paxson could not have started. Why? Jordan would have had to have played the point -- in which case, Paxson lacked the size and defensive ability to be a shooting guard.
The Bulls would have had to play a classic point guard, and Paxson lacked those skills. That is why he couldn�t fit on any other team � and why he was cut from San Antonio before joining the Bulls. The only other team that Paxson could have fit on was a team who used the point forward. Milwaukee, used Paul Pressey as a point forward and Alvin Robertson as a shooting guard...and not surprisingly they had Craig Hodges in his pre-Bulls days, got significant minutes there, and Hodges was a similar type of player to Paxson. Paxson would have fit nicely in the mid-90s/Grant Hill Pistons teams, except he had already retired by then. (Pippen was a rare breed in that he was a forward who could handle point duties. That short list consists of Larry Bird, Paul Pressey, Grant Hill, and Pippen. In his book "Sacred Hoops", Jackson lauds Pippen for his ability to run the offense and figure out who is hot and cold and how many shots a player needs and how frequently to stay in his rhythm. These were things that Jordan could not do, because he only cared about his own shots.)
Because Pippen could play the point, that allowed Paxson to play alongside of Jordan, even though he lacked all point guard skills. This means that Jordan did not make Paxson a better player. Pippen did. If not for Pippen, Paxson couldn't have cracked the line-up.
Just incase you doubt me, and you think you know more than Phil Jackson, ask yourself: how come Chicago with Jordan was the only team at that time NOT to have a point guard? Think about it. When Jordan retired, B.J. Armstrong played a classic point guard role and made his only all-star appearance. When Jordan came back from retirement, the Bulls let Armstrong go in the expansion draft and replaced him with Ron Harper, another 2-guard. Who else teamed up with Jordan in the back court? Craig Hodges, Steve Kerr, Randy Brown, and Jud Buechler. None of these guys could be confused with a point guard.
Steve Kerr � See John Paxson. This is the exact same case. In 1993, the year before Jordan retired, Kerr was the 12th man on draft lottery-bound Orlando. The next year, he joined the Jordan-less Bulls and had his finest season ever. How could he do this if Jordan made him better?
Furthermore, Kerr had established himself as one the top 3 point shooter in history (percentage-wise) and set a record for best 3 point shooting percentage (from the long distance) in a season (1989-90). Considering this, and how he filled in for Mark Price when Price was injured in Cleveland, I ask: what did Jordan do differently for his career? Pippen made Kerr better, just like he made Paxson better.
Like Paxson, Kerr blossomed because of Pippen's ability to play the point, allowing the Bulls to play 2 non-point guards. That is why Kerr had his finest seasons in Chicago when Jordan was playing baseball; and like Paxson, Kerr got more minutes because of Pippen's ability to play the point role, since Kerr was not a true point guard.
Washington Wizards � If Jordan made those around him better, why couldn't he do this with Larry Hughes, Jerry Stackhouse, and ESPECIALLY Kwame Brown?
