“He’s the Greatest Player; Bill Russell’s the Greatest Winner”: Magic Johnson Once Compared Michael Jordan’s Greatness to that of the Celtics Legend

Back in 2003, Magic Johnson was among the NBA icons present on a TNT show talking about the greatness of Michael Jordan. When asked about the Bulls legend, Magic simply responded by claiming that Jordan was easily the greatest player that the league had ever seen.

As seen in this video recording posted on YouTube by Thomas D3, Magic was the second analyst, after Danny Ainge, to rave about Jordan being the GOAT.  “He [MJ] is the greatest player and Bill Russell is the greatest winner. No question Michael is heads and shoulders above everybody else,” Johnson said, before talking about MJ’s financial accomplishments in the league.

Johnson even compared Jordan to arguably the greatest professional boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, in an attempt to quantify his greatness. “There will be no basketball player, and don’t know if there will ever be another athlete who makes as much money as Michael Jordan, on the court and off the court. He will go down, like Muhammad Ali, and maybe even bigger,” Johnson claimed.

Hence, the Lakers icon not only thought that MJ was the best player the NBA has ever seen, he was also appreciative of the kind of brand Jordan had become off the court. Magic went as far as claiming that he will go down, alongside Ali, as the biggest icon across all sports

The rest of the cast, in the form of Charles Barkley, Danny Ainge and Kenny Smith, all had similar opinions. Smith claimed that MJ’s greatness was a result of a combination of his ‘skill and will’ to win. Both Ainge and Barkley seemed to agree on the fact that MJ was simply the greatest two-way player of all time.

Ainge talked about how Jordan was arguably the best defender of his generation and also one of the best offensive stars the league had ever seen. The segment, which took place before Michael Jordan’s final All-Star appearance in 2003, proves that people had long identified him as their GOAT, even before MJ retired.

Michael Jordan paid heartwarming tribute to Bill Russell following his passing

Bill Russell was one of the first Black stars in the NBA who paved the way for social and racial equality in the league. On the occasion of the Celtic legend’s death in 2022, MJ posted a heartwarming tribute on Twitter, as per Sports Illustrated.

Jordan stated that Russell served as an example to him and his fellow Black players, and was mournful for his family’s loss.

“Bill Russell was a pioneer—as a player, as a champion, as the NBA’s first Black head coach and as an activist. He paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me. The world has lost a legend. My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace,” Jordan wrote, before talking about how Russell’ impact had been felt outside of sports as well.

A statement from Hornets Chairman Michael Jordan on the passing of NBA legend Bill Russell. pic.twitter.com/RdYcnuCrmb

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) July 31, 2022

Concluding by talking about Bill Russell’s contributions as a social rights and civil rights activist, the post made it clear that the amount of reverence MJ had for his predecessor.