Many people consider Michael Jordan to be the greatest player in the history of basketball. The Chicago Bulls legend won six NBA championships in two separate three-peats, five regular-season MVPs and 10 scoring titles, and he was as commanding a presence on the hardwood as the game has ever seen.
There seems to be a running debate about how outstanding a player Jordan would be if he played in the present era. Some think he would've been even more prolific today since the game is less physical, played at a much faster pace and defenders are more spread out these days.
Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is one of the luckiest men in the world, as he won back-to-back NBA championships in 2000 and 2001 with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, then spent the following two seasons as a teammate of Jordan on the Washington Wizards.
While on "Club Shay Shay," Lue told Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe that His Airness would've had an outrageous scoring average in today's league.
"Today? 45," Lue said confidently when asked how many points Jordan would average today. "You can't touch nobody. It's a foul. ... There wouldn't be a year he wouldn't average 45. You can't touch nobody now. The physicality's pretty much gone. Anything, you're going to the free throw line, and just how smart he was. Especially nowadays, you can take advantage of these guys just as far as IQ alone."
At 6-foot-6 and 215 pounds, Jordan had a physical advantage over other guards and wings that was akin to the physical advantage dominant big men had over their opponents in the old days. Combined with his amazing explosiveness and leaping ability, huge hands and pathological need to win, it resulted in arguably the most unstoppable athlete in the history of team sports.
He averaged 30.1 points a game and shot 49.7% from the field for his career during the regular season. That scoring average is the highest in NBA history, as is his 33.5 points per game mark in the playoffs.
For much of Jordan's career, the NBA game was played at a snail's pace. Most teams walked the ball upcourt on almost every possession and rarely, if ever, looked to create pace while milking the shot clock and playing slowdown basketball. Today, teams look to play with pace to one extent or another, and they aren't exactly afraid to take quick shots, especially from the outside, early in the shot clock.
Of course, the game is less physical than it was in the 1990s due to rule changes passed in the mid-2000s in an effort to increase scoring, shooting percentages and pace. No matter how much fans may complain about the lack of physicality in today's game compared to two or three decades ago, those rule changes were necessary to restore the beauty of the NBA game.
Jordan may not have averaged 45 points a game for an entire season today, but he certainly could've gotten to 40 a game if he wanted to. His highest scoring average for an entire season was 37.1 a game during the 1986-87 campaign.
For more NBA news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
Related Articles
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.