MICHAEL JORDAN ASKING FOR HELP 🧵

MJ fans like to argue that MJ never asked Krause or the Bulls for help—he just quietly played with whomever they gave him.

It’s FAR from the truth.

He BEGGED for help, often through the media.

Krause’s quote here is a lie.

Take a look.

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MYTH #1: MJ NEVER ASKED KRAUSE FOR HELP

Well…MJ met with Krause at the very least in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Was this this just Jordan’s opportunity to say “good job, I love what you’re doing?”

We’re one tweet in, and ALREADY it’s clear it’s a fake, made up narrative.

1996 SEATTLE “SUPER SCHIZOPHRENICS”🧵

The 96 Sonics are considered a great team because they were an MJ Finals opponent.

Except…they were actually big head cases, which everyone knew at the time.

They were at a “mental disadvantage.”

Here’s WHY they always failed.

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The core of the 96 team was:

Payton (91)
Kemp (90)
McMillan (87)
Perkins (93)
Schrempf (95)
Hawkins (96)

Coached by Karl (93)

They won 55+ games for 6 STRAIGHT seasons. Best team in the West by SRS in 93-96, 2nd in both 97 & 98.

But only:
2 CF’s
1 Finals
0 titles

WTF? How?

KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR: CHOKE ARTIST 🧵

A lot of people put Kareem over Lebron because they view Lebron as a choke artist prior to age 27 (2011).

So let’s take a look at Kareem up to 27, shall we? What could be hidden?

Note: Kareem’s name change was prior to the 1972 season.
In 1970, at age 23, Kareem put up lots of stats, but lost 4-1 to the Knicks in the WCF.

The series swung in gm 2, when Bucks lost a lead in the last 5 min, and Kareem missed TWO FTAs with 52 seconds left, down 1.

Choke.

He couldn’t even defend a limping Reed (28/12).

JORDAN’S 1990s EASTERN CONFERENCE: THE WEAK EAST. 🧵

MJ fans swear that MJ didn’t play in a weak conference in his era.

It’s wrong.

MJ‘s East had no other elite teams, had fewer All NBA players, and was weaker than the West almost every year.

Let’s blow up a narrative.

1/ In the 90s, only FOUR East teams had 55+ wins and BOTH a top 10 offense and defense (excl. CHI):

91 BOS, 4/10
97 ATL, 8/3
98 IND, 4/5
98 MIA, 10/4

BOS—old
ATL—28th in assists
IND—27th in rebounding

NONE had a 1st team All NBA player

Only TWO 20 PPG scorers—20.3 and 20.1

WEAK

MAGIC JOHNSON: WHERE’S THE SCRUTINY? 🧵

Magic has several soul crushing chokes on his resume, and he escapes scrutiny—even by Curry fans.

Wilbon recently said it’s “GARBAGE” to put Lebron above Magic all-time.

Well…take a look.

This is LONG. Take your time…

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Magic went to Michigan State after a good high school career (1 state title, though not National POY—vs Lebron’s 3 titles and 2 NPOY).

Note that even Jud Heathcote said Magic was “not a tremendously dominant player.”

For instance, he only scored 16 in that state title game.

WHY OLD HEADS CAN’T LET GO OF MICHAEL JORDAN 🧵

Older NBA fans often refuse to revisit whether MJ is the GOAT.

Expansion? 🤷‍♂️
Quality of Opponents? 🤷‍♂️

Why is this?

Psychological factors—it’s deeper than basketball.

By the way, they HATE hearing about this.

Take a look.

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For old head MJ fans, it’s not a basketball debate—it’s a fight over their identity.

Whether they were a child, teenager or a young adult in MJ’s heyday…they likely formed an attachment that could ONLY happen at that age.

It’s science.

Here’s why they’re so toxic...

PLAYING 82 GAMES LESS OFTEN:
TODAY’S NBA IS HARDER ON NBA PLAYERS 🧵

Old heads complain that players today are “weak,” and not as “tough” as the 80-90s guys, because they don’t play 82 games as much.

Except…it’s physically HARDER to play in the NBA today.

Take a look.

1/ First, players are using A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF THEIR ATHLETICISM today.

P3, a sports science group that has worked with NBA and MLB teams, says that players are using 90% of their athleticism today, versus 70% only 15 years ago.

Imagine versus 40 years ago!

MJ: SHOT CHARTS IN 1989 VS THE PISTONS 🧵

At age 26, Jordan gets excused for giving away a winnable series versus a hadn’t-won-anything-yet, 6+ SRS Detroit team.

In games 4-6, MJ STOPPED SHOOTING. He froze.

It’s worse than Lebron in 2011.

Look at these charts...

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Game 1, a Chicago win by 6 in Detroit.

Jordan scored 32.

Except…it was on 29 shots. He was 10-29.

In the 2nd half, he made ZERO shots outside the paint. He had 2 FGs in the 4th.

Does this shot chart look like a GOAT?

He also had 4 fouls and 2 TOV in the 4th.

MJ IN A GAME 7: This is Your GOAT?!? 🧵

MJ lost to the Pistons in gm 7 in 1990, squandering a title.

The Pistons won the game with a spurt in the 2nd quarter, going from 25-27 to up 48-31.

Surely MJ was INCREDIBLE and the issue was everyone else, right?

Take a look. First, let’s talk about the 4 points that the Bulls scored in that 8 minutes.

Surely MJ was aggressive, scoring all the points and just missing shots?

Oh wait. He scored 0 pts.

Oh, and he took only 2 shots.

Over 8 minutes.

MJ, everyone. Left it to Ed Nealy and Craig Hodges.

MJ CHOKING IN A GAME 7🧵

MJ lost game 7 to the Pistons in 1990.

His teammates get all the blame, but…MJ choked.

He had a poor 1st half against a guy with a groin pull.

And then stat padded.

Take a look.
MJ scored 10 pts in the 1st half of game 7.

With 8 min left in the 2nd quarter, Detroit turned a deficit into a 15 pt lead at the half.

In those 8 minutes:
MJ scored NO points
He only shot the ball TWICE
Outscored by Ed Nealy and Will Perdue

Hello? MJ? Mr 34 PPG?
😳

MICHAEL WILBON: WHAT HE THOUGHT OF MJ’S FINALS COMPETITION 🧵

Old heads trust @RealMikeWilbon, right?

He can’t even get through a PTI episode without mentioning MJ.

So, when he was a writer for the WA Post in the 90s, he thought MJ’s competition was GREAT, right?

Take a look.

Here Wilbon compares the 1991 Lakers to the Bulls prior to the Finals:

Cartwright > Divac
Paxson > Scott
Pippen > Worthy
Grant = Perkins
Worthy: “gimpy…doesn’t rebound”

So EVERY Bulls player was equal or better?

Isn’t that easy to beat?

Winning THIS makes you the GOAT?

2011: LEBRON’S MINUTES 🧵

Lebron played insane late playoff minutes in 2011.

9 of his last 12 games he had over 45 MP

8 of last 10 games, he had no rest in the 2nd half

He missed SIX 2nd half minutes in the last 15 games….combined

This was definitely a factor. One of many.


The late minutes were huge. Since 1984:

Nobody played more 2nd halves without rest in playoffs

He’s at the top of list for most combined 45 MP games in CF and Finals (wings are 0-4, MJ got to play TWO)

40th in cumulative PO MP. Nobody with fewer games on the list.

A warrior.

2011 HEAT:
BETTER WHEN LEBRON SCORED LESS 🧵

People assume Miami was best when Lebron scored the most.

That assumption isn’t true. In fact, it’s the OPPOSITE.

The 2011 Heat’s best win percentages came when:

Lebron was the #3 scorer
He took 15 shots or less

Take a look.

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The Heat were 22-2 when Lebron took 15 shots or less. A 75 win-rate equivalent. It was 30% of their games. Common.

When he had 8+ assists: 36-11
When he scored less than 18: 7-0

When Lebron deferred more, he was playing INTO the Heat’s best strategy.

Miami writers knew it.

MICHAEL JORDAN: WHEN DID HE BECOME THE GOAT? 🧵

MJ fans love to say you have to win 6 titles to be the GOAT.

It’s a bad argument, for obvious reasons, and it’s NEVER been the criteria before.

What’s funny is MJ started getting referred to as the “GOAT” in…1989.

Want proof?

Prior to the 89 playoffs, most of the commentary on Jordan was that he may have had the best talent ever, but he wasn’t the best player yet.

Notice how, here in January, 1989, Roy Johnson actually calls out Jordan for being a bad teammate.

“Certainly not the best teammate.”

MICHAEL JORDAN: STAT PADDING KING 🧵

MJ fans love to argue that Jordan didn’t care about stats, and that he didn’t stat pad.

It’s a BIG lie.

Nobody ever cared more about their stats. MJ was the Greatest Ever at Stat Padding. GOAT!

Take a look. It’s a long one!



MJ cared about his stats RIGHT AWAY.

Per his Chicago scorekeeper, MJ checked his stats “every time” he reported in, starting in his “first week.”

MJ wanted to be sure he was the focus in the newspaper the next day.

This seems awfully early to be worried about stats, no?

🤔

FAKE 90’S NARRATIVES EXPOSED 🧵

Sports Illustrated had an article in March 1997 about the Bulls Superteam and the rest of the NBA.

This article was littered with commentary about how GREAT the league was, right?

Nope.

Did MJ fans not read this in 97?

Some comments…



Here’s a reference to how there were no teams that could compete with the Superteam Bulls.

The commentary?

The Bulls were the same year over year, but the rest of the competition got WORSE.

Wait, wait…wasn’t this the greatest era EVER?

1990 GENERAL MANAGER SURVEY 🧵
They surveyed NBA General Managers in the NBA in late 1990, Michael Jordan’s 6th season.

I’m sure the great MJ did really well on this, right? These are the main talent evaluators!

Let’s look. 22 GMs voted.

1) IF YOU COULD ADD ANY PLAYER TO YOUR ROSTER, WHO WOULD YOU ADD?

I mean, everyone knew MJ was the greatest. He’d be #1 here in a landslide. No question. GOAT!!!

Except…
He wasn’t first.
And he wasn’t second.

He finished THIRD.

13%. 3 out of 22.

WTF?!?

Are GMs casuals?

MJ FINALS OPPONENTS CHOKING IN THE 4TH 🧵

People argue MJ “found a way to win.” Actually, his opponents found ways to LOSE.

These teams all choked when it mattered most. Stopped scoring. Always.

Here are the 4th QTRs for opponents in the last games of MJ’s Finals (+ 2 more). 1991 LAKERS
Game 5

With 4 minutes to go, the Lakers led 93-90.

While Paxson was downing 5 straight shots (not MJ), the Lakers had FOUR straight possessions with 0 points.

The Lakers had only 21 points in the 4th quarter (106 PPG during the season).

Here’s the first choke. 🤷‍♂️

LEBRON’S 2004 BRONZE🧵

The criticism of “LeBronze” for the 2004 Olympics is DUMB.

D-U-M-B.

1) Lebron didn’t play. He played 3 MINUTES in the semifinal loss.
2) Overall, he shot 19-32, 65% TS%
3) Brown was criticized for NOT playing him. Stern even called Brown over it

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The commentary at the time was all positive about his play, and positive about his WANTING to play.

His enthusiasm and energy wasn’t rewarded by Brown, who always hated young players.

Keep in mind that 7 of the original 9 players selected in July 2003 didn’t bother to show up.

LEBRON EXPECTATIONS: 39 YEAR OLDS IN PLAYOFFS 🧵

Lebron is going to be called a failure at some point in the playoffs for not playing at a “GOAT level.”

When, you know, he’s 39.

So how did other greats do at age 39 in the playoffs?

Here are some of the top players, ever. Kareem, 1986
Kareem averaged 31 MPG, and had an 18 GameScore.
26/6/3.

This was the BEST of everyone at age 39.

But…the 86 Lakers MISSED the Finals.

Why? Because Hakeem/Sampson WORE DOWN Kareem, on the boards, and on defense.

Playing a 39 year old center was an issue.

#OTD, 3/26/87
The Bulls lost to the 21-49 Nets, by 2.

MJ scored 40, but was 100% to blame:

NO FG’S in the last 7:30…shut down by RESERVE McKenna
Missed 2 FTAs with 1:05 left
AIR BALLED a buzzer beater
Had McKenna score 15 pts off him in 20 min (5-6 from 3, Nets record)

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The team blamed its defense.

Note that the Nets beat writer called out that McKenna went off because MJ was “cheating” off his man and leaving McKenna alone to shoot 3s.

Nets HC: “Michael can’t poach as much.”

Jordan was less effective defending 3 pt shooters? 🤔

Also…