“First $100 Million Player”: Charles Barkley Makes His Thoughts On Michael Jordan’s Value Crystal Clear

It’s hard to ever speak about the NBA without mentioning Michael Jordan. MJ wasn’t just a great basketball player, he was the standard. Every time His Airness stepped on the court, he brought this unshakable confidence and clutch performance that made winning look almost effortless. Even now, people still measure greatness by comparing an athlete to the six-time champion.

More importantly, Jordan got paid like the superstar he was. Between 1996 and 1998, he made $30 million each year with the Bulls, which was unheard of at that time. Jerry Reinsdorf once claimed that Jordan transformed the league’s image and grew its popularity into a global powerhouse. No other player in the league had that effect, nor were they making $30 million per year at the time. Most stars weren’t making half that. My, how times have changed.

Today’s NBA players make hand-over-fist more than in Jordan’s era. Draymond Green for example, who is a future Hall of Famer and defensive technician, earns $24 million a year as a role player. Is he as valuable as MJ on the court? Not nearly. But thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, NBA players are set to put more cheddar in their wallets than ever before.

This was a subject of conversation between Charles Barkley and Dan Patrick on the latest edition of the Dan Patrick Show. The NBA legend and the famed broadcaster were curious how much money MJ would be making in today’s NBA. It didn’t take long for Chuck to estimate.

“He’d be the first $100 million player,” said the 11-time All-Star. “We gonna have guys making 70,80,90 million in three to four years.” Chuck couldn’t let the convo go without getting a shot in at today’s era, and called them all lucky for being in the league at a point when it has a lot of money.

“Bless these guys as long as they appreciate how lucky they are and don’t think they’re making all that money cause they’re great players. They were just born at the right time,” he stated.

It’s not to say that Steph Curry or Jayson Tatum are not worth the large sums of money they make. It’s that it’s ludicrous that anyone should have gotten paid more than the game’s GOAT. We are already aware of how MJ would have done if he actually played in today’s game.

Jeff Van Gundy claimed that Jordan would have averaged 40 points per game in today’s NBA

It would not be unsafe to say that defense has taken a backseat in today’s NBA. The average box scores are significantly higher than they were back in the 90s, and the amount of free-throw shooting that takes place has also greatly increased.

So, how would Jordan have fared? Very well, according to Jeff Van Gundy, His Airness would have averaged 40 PPG.

“There is (absolutely) no question Michael Jordan would have led the league in scoring (in today’s time). He would’ve averaged 40 (points).”

As fun as it is to have the conversation, it cannot be assumed that Jordan would find instant success in today’s era. The modern NBA is based on shooting proficiency and a high volume of 3-pointers. MJ would still kill players in the mid-range, but could he keep up with Curry or a prime Klay Thompson when they are shooting at their best?

It just creates too many problems to suggest that Jordan would perform as well. There’s no question he would still be a Top 5 player in the league. But like Derrick Rose’s tragic injury, we’ll never know what could have been.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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