Why Michael Jordan is the Best Athlete Ever

Ah yes, the greatest athlete of all-time. It is a tricky debate that comes up every few years, and now that Tiger Woods is dominating again in golf, everyone wants to know where he stands. But is he really a great athlete, and can he stand up to the all-time greats who competed in more physically demanding sports?

Personally, I would say no. More on that later. My choice, and this is saying something coming from a die-hard Detroit fan who hates all things Chicago, is Michael Jordan. Over the years, my hate for him has transformed into respect for his accomplishments and the way he dominated basketball for so long.

Now that I’ve given you my choice, I will delve deeper into the question of what it takes to be considered the greatest athlete of all-time.

First, the preface: an athlete has to be someone who engages in a rigorous sport of which conditioning and skills such as speed, strength, and endurance are a factor. When I think of an athlete, I definitely do not picture any of the following: bowler, dart thrower, cup stacker (thanks for nothing, ESPN!), competitive eater, and finally, golfer. No offense to those activities but they are not played by athletes. Go ahead and look up the definition and you’ll see what I mean.

Second, the premise: the greatest athlete of all-time is someone who dominated his or her sport and remained at the top for a long period of time while making the impossible seem routine. Now, let me tell you why some other popular figures are not the greatest of all-time.

Babe Ruth is arguably the greatest baseball player of all-time (and most of the people who argue against him will lose that argument, especially considering his pitching prowess), but he is out of the discussion because of his lack of physical conditioning. That’s not to say a baseball player can’t ascend to the throne, but there has to be reason to believe that he could be a great player in other sports. If Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr. had set the home run record and stole a bunch of bases while displaying all-around athletic prowess, for example, I would be much more willing to listen to an argument for them. It all goes back to that portrait of an athlete we have in our heads.

Tiger Woods certainly fits that portrait, and he has dominated golf like no one else. And since the omnipresent opinion-slingers of today’s high-profile sports forums have run out of superlatives to describe Tiger, they’ve taken to debating his place in history among great athletes on almost a daily basis. Most agree with my statement that golfers are not athletes, but a select few refute that notion, pointing to Tiger’s rock-hard physique and willingness to undergo military Special Forces training as proof that he is indeed an athlete.

Make no mistake about it, Woods is athletic and fit enough to partake in several other sports. But whether or not he could actually excel in them is anyone’s guess because golf doesn’t require him to use these talents. Still don’t agree? Switch Tiger Woods’ list of golf accomplishments with Phil Mickelson’s, and imagine Phil as the recipient of all this praise. Could we dare speak Phil Mickelson’s name and the word “athlete” in the same sentence without laughing aloud? Would anyone argue that shooting a great round of golf is an athletic achievement if Phil were on top? I rest my case.

So that narrows it down to two, unless I’m missing someone in ancient times; perhaps a brave fellow who fought off three lions in one day in the Coliseum or someone who ran through the entire Oregon Trail like a marathon. The final two are Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali, each icons of their sport, each absolutely dominant for the vast majority of their careers. Here we go. Air Jordan vs. the baddest man ever to stalk the earth. Let’s break it down by category.

In terms of overall athleticism (speed, agility, power in Ali’s case, jumping in Jordan’s), it’s pretty much a wash. Both began their careers as arguably the top pure athletes in their sports and then made successful transitions later on as they mastered the mental side of their sports to remain on top. Who had the more successful career? That’s another difficult question.

Jordan won an NCAA title at North Carolina and six NBA titles over 15 seasons, despite retiring after his third for a year and then coming back. Ali went 56-5 in his career with 37 knockouts and fought for 19 years. From the time Ali turned pro, it took him four years (until 1964 when he defeated Sonny Liston) to become Heavyweight Champion.

Jordan took six years to win his first championship but was First-Team All-NBA in his third season until his retirement, not counting the Washington years. Pretty remarkable, considering basketball is a team game and it’s doubtful any one player could have led the ragtag Bulls past the powerful Pistons, Celtics, and Lakers of the 1980’s, much like it would have been exceedingly difficult for Ali to have beaten the top heavyweights of his era when he first burst onto the boxing scene.

Finally, let’s look at overall success. Jordan captured six championships and stayed on top from then on for the most part. He came back for the last 17 games of the 1994-1995 season but his Bulls lost in the Eastern Conference Finals despite Jordan’s 31.5 points a game. From then on, the Bulls had another three-peat, and Jordan also came back with the Washington Wizards at the age of 38 and still scored 22.9 and 20.0 points a game in his final two seasons.

Ali held the Heavyweight Title from 1964 until 1971, when he lost to Joe Frazier in an epic 15-round bout at the age of 29.

So basically, both Jordan and Ali had one hiccup while they were still in their primes, if you consider Jordan’s early struggles as similar to Ali’s quest to work his way up the ladder to become heavyweight champion and factor in the weakness of Jordan’s supporting cast.

Ali would reclaim his belt against George Foreman in 1974 and then lose it again to Leon Spinks in 1978 at the age of 36. But I won’t hold it against Ali because when Jordan was 36, he was probably out on the golf course betting countless thousands of dollars and spending the rest of his time in the casinos. As you can see, the parallels between the careers of Jordan and Ali are striking. So why have I given the slight nod to Jordan? It’s tough to quantify, let alone explain, but I’ll try.

When I watched Jordan play, I simply got the sense that he was head and shoulders above everyone else, despite being only 6-foot-6 in a game dominated by giants. It was almost as if he was toying with the other players; always pacing himself and relying on his teammates until crunch time, during which he delivered like no one else. In terms of speed, body control, leaping ability, physical conditioning, and explosiveness, there wasn’t anyone better in his sport. And unlike Ali, he did it for 100+ games every year (counting the playoffs). He had to perform day after day under the bright lights, and he almost always came through.

Ali fought 56 times in 15 years (using just his statistics in his prime, not his final four years when he fought sparingly) for an average of 3.7 bouts per year. That would be high for many modern boxers, but it’s still not the same as performing on a consistent basis like Jordan and other athletes do. I give him credit for recovering from getting hit and I’m sure he trained like a madman year-round, but it’s just not the same.

I’m not saying he couldn’t perform and compete for long seasons like Jordan did, but because he didn’t, I have to give the slight edge to Jordan. Hey, when you’re talking about two virtually flawless athletes, sometimes it’s the little things that count, and that’s what makes it such a timeless debate. Please don’t take it personally.