Is LeBron More GOAT Than Jordan Because He Can Shoot 3s?
Should Jordan lose greatness points for not shooting the 3-pointer more?
The biggest criticism against Michael Jordan is that he can’t shoot 3s.
Like, I was talking to my friend about NBA GOATs and he said LeBron James was the greatest.
I asked him how he came to that conclusion and he said it was because LeBron can shoot 3s and Jordan couldn’t.
“Well, it’s because Jordan didn’t need to shoot 3s,” I said. “What he was doing was already dominant.”
“But Jordan would’ve been more dominant if he shot 3s.”
“Yeah, but perimeter shooting wasn’t the main focus of the game back then.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. The rules, playbooks… I don’t know, man. I’m hungry.”
“I am, too.”
And we ended the debate there and focused on looking for a place to eat.
Anyway, many people use Jordan’s lack of 3-point shooting to discredit him.
They say he wasn’t skilled enough to shoot from long range.
But in an interview, MJ explained that he didn’t want to become a shooter because it didn’t match his mentality and game, not because he lacked the skills.
“Shooting is something I don’t want to excel at because it takes away from the offence of my game. My game is a fake, drive to the hole, penetrate, dish off, you know? Dunk, whatever. And when you have that mentality, as I found out in the first game, of making 3s, you don’t go to the hole as much. You go to the 3-point line and start sitting there and waiting for someone to find you. And that’s not my mentality. And I don’t want to create that because it takes away from the other parts of my game.”
So, do you think MJ’s greatness should be docked a few points because he didn’t shoot 3s?
Personally, I think the GOAT debate is silly because play styles have changed throughout the eras.
The 80s weren’t like the 90s and the 90s aren’t like the 2010s. The game of basketball has evolved through the decades.
And if a GOAT is truly a GOAT, they’d be able to adapt to the various play styles.
For instance, if Jordan were to play in today’s NBA, he should be able to attack the basket, shoot the 3, and defend with minimal contact.
And the same goes for LeBron.
If he played in the 80s and 90s, he should be able to do all he does and stay healthy while taking the contact associated with old-school ball because that’s what GOATs should be able to do -adapt.
But we’ll never know if they can or not because the past is the past and the present is the present; all of these debates are hypothetical.
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