Michael Jordan Makes A Definitive Case For Not Comparing Sports Legends

Michael Jordan was an all-world basketball player and a not so good team owner. He also loves cigars–admitting to smoking up to six per day.

Anyway, during an interview with Cigar Aficionado, MJ talked about the plight of today’s sports stars dealing with social media and should we compare sports legends from different eras.

“What changed between that timeframe to now — social media, Twitter, all those types of things that have invaded the personality and personal time of individuals.”

“I don’t know if I could have survived in this Twitter time where you don’t have the privacy you would want. What seems to be very innocent could always be misinterpreted.”

“You’re never going to say who’s the greatest of all time. To me, I think that’s more for PR and more for selling stories and getting hype. Jack and Tiger never played against each other. They never played in the same tournament. They never played with the same equipment. They never played with the same length of golf course. I never played against Wilt Chamberlain. I never played against Jerry West. To now say that one is greater than the other is being a little bit unfair.”

“Obviously, Jack won more during the time he played; Tiger evolved it to where it crossed a lot of its boundaries, where it’s not just a white guys’ sport; black guys, African-Americans, you know, all these play the game. And he played it at a level where he generated so much interest financially that it grew the game from a financial standpoint.”

“Now, does that constitute him being the greatest? Does that mean he’s any less than Jack? I think it’s unfair. Yes, Jack has 18 majors and Tiger’s got 14, and that’s how people are judging certain things. I won six championships; Bill Russell won 11. Does that make Bill Russell better than me, or make me better than him? No, because we played in different eras.”

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s a fairer comparison pitting legendary icons agains their peers during the same timeframes. There’s way too many factors like improved equipment, improved conditions, society opinions, allowing/prohibiting a diverse group to participate, money and better travel, etc. to fairly compare.

However, I do wish we had access to a sports time machine to pit the games’ best against each other. Talk about must-see-TV.

If only…