Question....

[Diesel]

Was Micheal Jordan the MOST competitive player ever??

[cyman3]

for me, thats hard to answer... cuz im not a big of a fan when it comes to other sports.

but in the BASKETBALL WORLD, i believe MJ was the most competitive player. He has that "I HATE LOSING!" attitude and practices hard. Hes also very professional... bring his A game to each and every game.

Whether ur the suckiest team or the best team, he will try his best. He doesnt take it EASY on anyone.

I think his team championships speak for itself. In the 90s, JORDAN RULED!

As good as Malone/Stockton, Payton/Kemp, etc were... they didnt win cuz of Jordan.

[Admin]

is the most competetive player ever. He is a guy that brought the wood on every single play of his career. However what really makes me think that he is the most competitive ever is that one playoff game that he broke his finger and he had them cut the end of his finger off just so he could finish the game. Show me another player out there that dedicated to winning the game in any sport.......I seriously doubt you will find one.

[Dukegotgame]

What the heck? Are you serious... I have never heard about that.

[Weez]

Jordan's obsession with winning was almost a disease. Was he the most competitive person of all time? Yeah, I'd have to say so. HE simply willed wins. Unfortunately, this spilled over into many other aspects of life (read the story about how, at cards, he cheated the mother of his teammate that got him into the ABCD camps (or something) in HS).

He was competitive to a fault. But that's also what made him great...and is what many condemn Kobe for right now.

[KB21]

Yeah.

Ronnie Lott tore the end of his finger in a game. They told him that if he had it fixed, he'd miss the rest of the season. Ronnie told them to cut it off and forget fixing it.

[cyman3]

hardcore!

[Diesel]

1. MJ. In one finals appearance with the Jazz, Jordan had to cut a hole out of the top of his shoe to play.

MJ came back a second time after cutting off part of his finger with a cigar cutter.

MJ scored 55 (I think) against the Jazz while having the flu.

2. Emmit Smith.

Dude, Emmit played against LT and the Giants in a playoff game with a separated Shoulder. If you have ever had a separated shoulder, you know it's hard to get a comfortable position. No less having to carry 3 and four guys after being hit.

[Diesel]

I don't think Kobe is as competitive or even close to as competitive as Jordan.

I remember when Jordan played against PTL in the finals. Drexler was considered a rival to Jordan. Well, Jordan started the first half of that game by dropping 6 3 pters on Drexler and on defense, Jordan put the lock down on Drexler.

I remember when Jordan would play Ron Harper, he would put the defensive strangle hold on him because Harper was known as "poor man's " Jordan.

I remember all those Jordan/Nique games. This was before Phil. Jordan and Nique would put on a show to see who can wow the crowd the best.

Also, it's evident when you look at Jordan's life....

He's a bigtime gambler.

He tries to be great at everything he does.

He's driven.

Coming out of retirement 2 times is just a sign of how competitive he is.

When Artest broke Old man Jordan's ribs in a private workout, they say Jordan was back on the court two days later.

There were reports that he socked Kerr in the eye over a card game.

However, Kobe is not as competitive. I have seen Kobe disappear in a game. I can honestly say that I have never seen Jordan disappear. Ever. When Chuck D. made up the Jordan Rules, he never said anything about stopping Jordan because he knew that Jordan would not allow himself to be stopped. I think Kobe is more of an immatator and not truly competitive like Jordan.

You hear stories about guys who are the best.

Like Magic. Magic would play til night in Michigan in the Snow...

Jordan worked on his game constantly

Lastly, no other player has changed as much as Jordan.

When Jordan first came to the league, his game was Worthy like. He had a quick first step and his game centered around his ability to dunk.

As he got older, Jordan became the best Post up Guard. He invented the postup and the fall away jumper. As he got older, his game revolved again into a perimeter game with a drive.

Kobe came in and memorized the post up/fall away jumper. However, he's not as competitive. For instance. If Young Jordan played with Shaq, there is NO WAY that it would be Shaq's team. I don't care how good Shaq was, Shaq would take direction from MJ. 4th qtr, Shaq would play like Bill Cartwright, he'd set the pick and get out the way.

[cyman3]

as much as i like KOBE... i agree

Kobe is competitive, but not as competitive as JORDAN.

i remember how in HS they said that kobe used to let his opponents catch up, only so he could ruin their run and steal the show at the end... obviously, he doesnt do that in the NBA (phil would pull him out immediately).

while we are comparing, i would like to add that...

- Kobe is clutch, but not near as clutch as Jordan or even Reggie Miller.

[Weez]

"If Young Jordan played with Shaq, there is NO WAY that it would be Shaq's team. I don't care how good Shaq was, Shaq would take direction from MJ. 4th qtr, Shaq would play like Bill Cartwright, he'd set the pick and get out the way"

are you kidding? With Phil as the coach? You're right though, Kobe's not quite as competitive as Jordan...but he might enjoy winning even more. I mean really enjoy it (not quite teh same as hating to lose). I'm not playing semantics, but most of you know what I'm talking about ~ do you really think the Magic, with Kobe instead of TMac this year (without the offseason issues - say, use last year's players) would have allowed 19 straight loses?

[CHORO44]

Kobe doesn't even compare to Jordan. If Kobe was so competitive and set on winning then why would he even entertain opting out and leaving Shaq? Kobe wants the spotlight, Jordan got it because it comes with greatness and winning...both of which come from being ultra competitive.

And yes the Ronnie Lott story is true but I don't think playing with severe injuries makes you super competitive. Some people do things that look competitive in order to save face.

[Weez]

on the second part, I guess that moves Grant Hill to number one all time on this list. His playing through injury, i.e. his broken leg and ankle, have ended up costing him most of his career.

[Diesel]

Just for a little more Clarity...

Reggie Miller is the MOST Clutch Player ever.

The last 30 secs is Miller time. Nobody has hit as many big clutch shots as often as Miller.

I would say that Jordan was 2nd..

Followed by Magic.

[Diesel]

Quote:

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'm talking about ~ do you really think the Magic, with Kobe instead of TMac this year (without the offseason issues - say, use last year's players) would have allowed 19 straight loses?

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Last year, Shaq sat out... And Kobe took the team to like a 3-10 record to start the season.

Now without Hill... Tmac has won 41-41 before and all he had was Mike Miller... and Doc's bad draft picks...

I don't think Kobe is good enough to win without help. I think he'd put up really good stats but winning is another story.

[Weez]

how'd the team do last year when Kobe decided to score 40+ for however many consecutive games, most of them without Shaq?

[Diesel]

That's what I'm telling you.

They had a losing record. Unlike Jordan, Kobe hasn't learned to make those around him better. In that respect he's like AI. He can put up Points, but he's not going to elevate his team.

[AHF]

Quote:

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That's what I'm telling you.

They had a losing record. Unlike Jordan, Kobe hasn't learned to make those around him better. In that respect he's like AI. He can put up Points, but he's not going to elevate his team.

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I agree but only to a point. AI's team is built around him. The Lakers last season were built around Shaq. No one knows for sure how a team built around Kobe would fare but it is sure that it would look different than last season's Laker lineup (Fisher, Kobe, Fox/George & Grant/Horry).

[Admin]

Plus Jordan wasnt exactly on any outstanding teams when he first came into the league. It wasnt until he got Pippen as his sidekick that he really started to become a winner.

[Diesel]

That's true...

Brad Seller, Oakley, Jordan, Theus?, Iceman?, Gemnaski, and who was the PG?