Recently, former NBA player John Salley went on ESPN’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd radio show. During the conversation, Salley mentioned that in his opinion, Michael Jordan was NOT one of the top five players in NBA history. He rattled off a a list of guys he was more impressed by that included Magic, Bird, Kareem, Olajuwon and McHale. He finished by saying his former teammate in Detroit, Isiah Thomas, was the best player he had ever played with (Salley & Jordan were teammates in Chicago for one year).
John Salley speaks from a place of knowledge on this subject. He played with many Hall of Fame caliber teammates including Thomas, Joe Dumars, Adrian Dantley, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Jordan (and Robert Horry, who I believe should be in the Hall of Fame, but that’s a conversation for another day). He also played for Chuck Daly and Phil Jackson. With that said, he seems to come off a little disingenuous in this discussion. While it is conceivable that he truly believes what he said, it appears he is simply sticking up for his teammate of six years (who hated Jordan). The bitter Pistons/Bulls rivalry from the late ’80s is probably not that long ago in his mind. But it does raise an interesting point:
Why does everyone automatically assume Jordan is the best basketball player ever, and then just close the book like it can’t even be up for discussion?
While I believe he is the best, I don’t believe it can’t ever be debated. Some guys won more rings, others scored more points and still others were better defenders than His Airness (Seriously, check out this guy’s resume´!) MJ’s combination of those factors and others has him atop the lists of most fans, but we should be allowed to question whether or not Jordan was in fact the GOAT.