this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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What if Jordan never got bored and retired/was shadow suspended (if you believe the conspiracy theories). Would the Bulls have won 8 straight? 6? How would Hakeem's career been perceived if they couldn't beat the Bulls instead of getting Ewing and a not yet ready to win Shaq?
I am confident if he would’ve played 1984-2003 with no breaks, they would’ve won 9 straight in the ‘90s and the LeBron longevity argument wouldn’t be as impactful. He averaged 20/6/4 in 82 games in his last season at 40. Now imagine those numbers if he hadn’t taken those seasons off in between the Bulls and Wiz and stayed in better shape up until that point.
If something like that happened, like had the Bulls won anywhere between 6-9 straight with at least 7 titles I think it would have forever ended any debate for the US Sports GOAT until far into the future when someone comes around to eventually do something as crazy. Brady would be close but not quite there. Jordan would have functionally ended up as Gretzky and Brady combined into one, he'd eclipse them, Ruth, Ali, Phelps, Woods, Nicklaus you name it.
On top of the accolades and counting stats he would have accumulated over such a run, just imagine how much greater his marketability would have been compared to what it reached, which was and continues to be insane to this day. And not only LeBron's legacy would be impacted everyone who came after Jordan from Shaq, to Duncan, to Kobe you name it their accomplishments wouldn't hit as hard after the collective fandom would be turned numb to the sheer amount of winning the Jordan Bulls would have done.
If Jordan has someone to chase, he would have climbed that mountain.
He was only competing with himself.