The GOAT debate will always be a hot topic of discussion in the NBA community as fans will always come up with their own reasons to justify their choice. While fans may not agree on one name, former NBA players and legends often boil it down to one name. San Antonio Spurs legend Avery Johnson is the latest to join the list of former icons who think Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever grace the game.
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Johnson joined Mark Jackson and his son Bluu recently on the show Come Talk 2 Me. During the episode, Jackson wanted to know who Avery’s GOAT pick was. This is what the former Spurs player had to say,
“We can really peel back all of the numbers. You can even go with the eye test but everybody else is a distant second behind Mike [Michael Jordan]. And there’s no disrespect to it.”
Spurs Legend Avery Johnson is the latest to name Michael Jordan as the GOAT:
“We can really peel back all of the numbers. You can even go with the eye test but everybody else is a distant second behind Mike. And there’s no disrespect to it.”
(via The Mark Jackson Show) pic.twitter.com/U76V8nymfv
— NBA Strife ツ (@strifeomg) August 24, 2024
Johnson played in the NBA for 16 years and then transitioned into coaching as well. So the Spurs legend has been around the game for a long time. But having witnessed Jordan in person, Avery had to give the GOAT title to the Bulls legend.
He did go on to list the reasons why he picked MJ over others who have accomplished great things as well.
“When you win six championships and you’re the MVP of all six. You never get to Game 7. And all of the DPOYs, the first-team All-Defense, first-team All-NBA, MVPs, regular season MVPs.”
Johnson also brought up another lesser known stat about Jordan. MJ played with the most number of free agents with just one team and has the most number of championships in that segment. Johnson also mentioned that MJ had to go through the iconic Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, and Lakers teams.
MJ defeated the Stockton-Malone duo of the Jazz as well. Not to mention the Clyde Drexler-led Blazers squad, who Johnson felt had a good chance of winning a title.
Compile all of that and there isn’t any player who comes close to what MJ did, at least for Avery Johnson.
