LeBron James and JJ Redick created quite the buzz in the NBA community with their recent hot take. Lending their voice to the “most influential player debate”, Redick and James gave their picks, on the ‘Mind The Game’ podcast. They crowned Stephen Curry and Allen Iverson as the frontrunners in the category. While both the picks have made a significant and long-lasting impact on the game, even Michael Jordan brought unprecedented attention to the game, not to mention, he changed the sneaker culture worldwide. One might wonder about his omission from the coveted list.
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Former Pheonix Suns guard Sebastian Telfair raised this while appearing on ‘Vlad TV’ for an interview, where he aired his opinion on LeBron’s picks for the debate. During his opening statements, the veteran guard gave Curry and Iverson their flowers, mentioning them to be truly worthy picks.
While Telfair did agree with James’s selection, for the veteran guard, Air Jordan seems to have done too much to be ignored, pointing to his collaboration with Nike as being one determining factor for including Michael on the list,
“You gotta throw Michael Jordan somewhere in there bro. I agree with what he [LeBron James] is saying, but Michael Jordan and their shoes… it’s still the shinest thing.”
Telfair even gave Jordan the edge over other candidates like Stephen Curry and LeBron James, calling #23 the “complete package”. Seeking to highlight Jordan’s impact on the business side of the sport, the former Suns legend further mentioned,
“Bron is still the shinest thing, but Michael Jordan’s era like, them rings, at that time and like the timing at which he was doing it…so for Jordan at that time, how they put that together, first with the Nike commercials and the Wheaties..Jordan is the first one like ‘packaged’.”
MJ’s impact is undoubtedly second to none. The Bulls legend changed merchandising and marketing for the league and became the first global superstar from the NBA. His exploits with the 1992 Dream Team allowed the league to expand its reach to the global audience, which wouldn’t have been possible without MJ’s marketable playstyle.
It helped him create a “holier than thou” persona, as everyone in the ’90s wanted to grow up to be ” Like Mike”. Even former NBA stars like Dwayne Wade and Allen Iverson have confessed to looking up to Jordan, crowning him as being “The most influential” during their childhood days.
Austin Rivers also calls out LeBron James
LeBron James has been receiving quite the backlash for his take on this debate, as former NBA guard Austin Rivers also joined the bandwagon. Recently appearing on ‘First Take’, the former NBA guard played out his disapproval of LBJ’s list,
“If we are talking historically, it starts and ends with Michael Jordan. I think we’re quick to just forget about what he has done for the game. It was interesting to hear LeBron on that podcast with JJ talk about the most influential and not named MJ considering this guy still outsells anybody in today’s sneaker sales for a reason. He is the most iconic player to ever play the game.”
While sneaker sales may not be the best metric to gauge a player’s influence, Jordan’s reach stretches farther than just selling sneakers with Nike. His real influence can be seen through the players he inspired, who formed the backbone of the league for the next few decades. From Kobe and Iverson to Derrick Rose and Dwayne Wade, everyone wanted to be ‘Like Mike’, a trend that still continues, as players still pay homage to the six-time NBA champion.
