Colin Cowherd’s Michael Jordan critique is a child’s argument against the GOAT

Mar 19, 2023

I’m sorry, what did he just say?

The argument over who is the GOAT of the NBA has been an argument that will probably never die, unless people start making the same type of argument broadcaster Colin Cowherd just made.

“So, he tried baseball. He failed. He tried ownership, he was awful. He tried the Wizards, it bombed.”

Cowherd added, “Everybody understand, take out Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson — this whole Michael Jordan mythology is sort of just that.”

Hear that everyone? Teammates. Michael Jordan would never have won 6 titles without having teammates. Oh, and a coach.

And of course, conflating his basketball career with his attempt at a baseball career and  franchise owner would only make sense if he also argued that bringing Pippen and Jackson on the road in the minor leagues, or having them sit on the board of the Charlotte Hornets, would have positively altered Jordan’s trajectory in both cases.

First, let’s all be honest here about what makes a championship team in the NBA – having more than one good player. And a competent coach doesn’t hurt. Larry Bird didn’t win without Robert Parish. Magic Johnson never won without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. KC Jones and Pat Riley were no slouches either.

With the emphatic way in which Cowherd expressed his eureka moment, you’d think he just discovered plutonium.

Plus, the analogy has to work the other way, so you could easily say that Pippen and Jackson couldn’t win without Jordan. They tried, but were eliminated by the New York Knicks when Jordan was totally failing at baseball.

And that concludes the worst argument ever made against Michael Jordan’s greatness. Take a bow, Cowherd, you’ve earned it.

Contributing Writers

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