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“I don’t subscribe to comparisons between Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes”: Stephen A Smith shoots down Kansas City Chief’s comparison between Super Bowl MVP and MJ

Amulya Shekhar
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"I don't subscribe to comparisons between Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes": Stephen A Smith shoots down Kansas City Chief's comparison between Super Bowl MVP and MJ

Stephen A Smith responded to the Kansas City Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt’s statement about Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes on First Take today.

Earlier, Hunt had affirmed his belief that Patrick Mahomes could well overtake Michael Jordan in popularity. This, he believes, is because Mahomes already has a lot of success at the age of 25. One could clearly see the differences in team accomplishments between the two by this stage of their careers.

Hunt cited Mahomes’ fabulous 2018 MVP campaign, in which he led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship game. Mahomes followed that up with his first Super Bowl last year, which ended in his favor.

Also Read: “Patrick Mahomes is much more accomplished than Michael Jordan at his age”: Kansas City Chiefs CEO compares the NBA’s ‘GOAT’ to his franchise star

MJ, by contrast, didn’t win a championship till he was 28. It’s a different matter that he ended up with 6 of them with the Bulls.

Stephen A Smith on Patrick Mahomes vs Michael Jordan

Stephen A presented a number of valid arguments on today’s show regarding why the comparison is invalid. The following are a few snippets of the same:

“Mahomes is fantastic, he’s phenomenal, he’s a champion – we get all of that. Last time I checked, he doesn’t play defense, he doesn’t play a specialty. When you’re looking at Michael Jordan, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. The fact of the matter is, a superstar basketball player has more impact because he plays on both ends.”

“Patrick Mahomes is phenomenal, but let’s stick to him as a quarterback. When you’re talking about comparing him to MJ, I think you’re going too far. I don’t subscribe to this comparison.”

Also Read: “I think it’s a stupid idea”: De’Aaron Fox criticizes Adam Silver and NBA governors for idea of All Star game in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic

Stephen A is entirely correct in his assessment. Not only is football a true team game, it has many replaceable and moving parts through the course of the game. Basketball, in contrast, is a much more free-flowing game with a player having to play both ends effectively in order to dominate individually. It lends itself to individual dominance much better than football.

About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

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Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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