The biggest reason why Michael Jordan is considered the GOAT by the majority of basketball fans was his ability to score anywhere, against anyone.
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Most sports fans can instantly spot a transcendent athlete when they see one. The game of basketball has had quite a few of them over the 75 years of the NBA era. But practically none of them carry the unbeatable aura that one Michael Jordan did.
His Airness put the league on notice right off the bat, averaging 28 points per game as a rookie. 22-year-old Jordan topped his team in 4 out of the 5 box score stats and was named to the All-NBA 2nd Team.
A debilitating ankle injury forced him out for nearly all of the 1985-86 season. This meant that MJ was doubly stoked to put the league on notice the following year.
What the league saw in 1986-87 was a scoring barrage of the kind we’ve never seen again since.
Michael Jordan scored 40+ against 20 different NBA opponents in 1986-87
Jordan played all 82 games during his 3rd professional season, and he seemed to make it his personal mission to destroy every team every possible chance he got.
He’d also refined his mid-range skills during the summer, allowing him to make possibly the biggest leap of his career. And he showed it off by dropping a 50-piece at Madison Square Garden in the season opener.
By the end of the season, Jordan would drop 30+ points against 21 teams. He’d also tally 40+ points on 37 different occasions, clearing the mark against 20 different teams.
An underrated aspect of this season is that Jordan also averaged an otherworldly 2.9 steals and 1.5 blocks per game that year – the latter being his second-highest blocks per game figure for a single season through his career. Despite these stats, Jordan wasn’t voted to the All-Defensive Team.
Perhaps that was what would spur him to elevate his stats even further in 1987-88. He finished his 4th professional season with a scoring title, MVP and DPOY honors in addition to an All-Defense nod.
