Greatest CBB Player Ever - Michael Jordan?

[Alaskan_Assassin_21]

Look I firmly believe Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever. Only to be seriously challenged by Kareem but in College Basketball? Am I missing something here.

Bilas had some great reflection on facing Jordan in the ACC
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.es...l-michael-jordan-here-made-great?platform=amp

 

[FearTheBeard]

Did they change the rules bc of MJ? Because they did for Wilt.

 

[meisperplexed]

I don't think he's considered by most experts to be the greatest ACC player of all time, much less all of college basketball. Like you say, NBA is a different conversation. From everything I've heard and read on the subject, David Thompson is tops in the ACC.

 

[Bludvls1]

Laettner or David Thompson.

 

[hart2chesson]

Laettner or David Thompson.

Good deduction(I'll add Alcindor) and I go w/Laettner. No one has done as much or more for their program during their collegiate career, in the expanded NCAA tournament than Christian. OFC

 

[Canadian Dukie]

Don't forget Bill Walton

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

Just the name won this

 

[dbav]

Laettner

 

[smashmouth5]

How can you be the greatest college basketball player of all time when the argument can be made that he wasn't the best college player from his school? Charlie Scott is one of those players. Greatest in NBA yes...but even that title is under attack ...but college no.

 

[jpw]

I don't think he was the greatest college player of all time. I think people are having trouble separating his NBA career with his college career. I understand he had a good betting career as well.

 

[dopeshop23]

Plausible consideration...
Bird
Johnson
Laettner
Thompson
Alcindor
Ford ( pre shot clock was the the most dominate player in basketball just because of the way Smith used him more so than Jordan)
Walton
Jordan
Sampson
Ewing
Robertson
Russell
Chamberlain

 

[skysdad]

Lew Alcindor? A lot of players come in second Jordan being not among of them. OFC

 

[HuffyJB]

His pro career won that vote. He is 100% not the best college player ever.

 

[Mac9192]

Lew Alcindor? A lot of players come in second Jordan being not among of them. OFC

Agree with this. Laettner over Jordan. But Alcindor was the man.

What was the joke about Jordan, that Dean was the only guy to ever hold him under 20?

 

[jwill133]

Alcindor, Walton, or Laettner. Those have to be the picks, right?

Personally I'd go with Josh Hairston, but I'll accept the Alcindor argument for best ever.

 

[Dukeman]

Bilas doing what he does best. Being a shill for UNC.

David Thompson was a better college player than Jordan. State had some good players on Thompson’s teams. But none of the caliber of Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Brad Daughtery, and Joe Wolf played in the NBA. Imagine Thompson on a team with that type talent.

Alcindor was a more dominant college player than Jordan.

Laettner had the best college career.

Took him a while longer to develop but by his last college season Bias could do the same things Jordan did but was a couple inches taller and stronger.

 

[bullettoothtony]

I also agree he's the GOAT but he's not the best college basketball player ever. He's not even the best college player in ACC history. David Thompson and Ralph Sampson at a minimum are both ahead of him.

 

[Liftee]

Funny I remember Jordan as being a good college player but I was in college when Thompson played and saw him for 4 years including on the freshman team. He carried his team on his shoulders to a championship and the next season took a mediocre team pretty far.

I go back as far as the early '60s and the best I've seen were Walton, Alcindor, Thompson, Bill Bradley, Bob Lanier, Calvin Murphy, Austin Carr, Len Bias, Laettner, and for a short time, Zion. I'd put Maravich and Sampson at a different level because they were outstanding players who didn't make their teammates better.

UNX had some great teams that I really liked, but their style of playing didn't allow for one transcendent player.

 

[peterjurkinsquirtsroywilliams]

No way Jordan was the best college basketball player ever. There's several players who had better college careers. Now pro career, Jordan is arguably the best.

 

[dukiejay]

It’s not like Jordan is an awful pick, but I don’t think he’s the ‘best’ college player ever.

Alcindor and Walton were unstoppable, dominant and they won at the highest of levels multiple time.

Because of how college basketball has changed over the years it’s always a difficult argument for best ever. A lot of times I prefer doing it over eras. Even then, I’m not sure Jordan was the best of his.

I think when you discuss college basketball in the modern sense, the list almost has to start with Christian Laettner.

 

[bleediteveryday30]

My Elite Eight: Laettner, Kareem, Ewing, David Thompson, Walton, Sampson, Bird, and Phil Ford. Of those eight it would be tough for me to pick a final four. Off the top of my head, Laettner, Kareem, Ewing, and Walton. Just basing that off of all the variables of success those guys had in college. Laettner and Kareem in the finals with Laettner winning because I legitimately believe no one had a better college career than him. The dude played during one of the most competitive times in college basketball and against some great teams/players.

 

[MyDudeG]

The result doesn’t upset me at all since this was all based on a fan vote. Even Shaq beat Kareem in the bracket which is laughable. A lot of the people voting weren’t even alive during these eras and just went by what they know of their pro careers.

 

[tate12]

Alcindor
Walton
Thompson
Robertson
Bradley (Bill was amazing at Princeton)
Laettner
Chamberlain
Russell

To me, they were all greater in college than Jordan. Heck, I don't care what anyone says but I think Chamberlain, Russell, Kareem and the Big O were all better players period.

 

[DukefanKY]

Four final fours and two titles, along with a multitude of individual awards. Christian Laettner.

If you take those final fours and two titles and also add in every award he won, does anyone match that? I’m not sure about Alcindor and Walton and don’t care enough to look it up

 

[Devilinside]

Pete Maravich

 

[jwill133]

MJ isn't even the best UNC college player ever, wouldn't that be HansTravel if were basing it off accolades and winning??

He's also not the best NBA player ever, that would be Lebron.

MJ is gonna have the best documentary ever though, coming in a few weeks. He also established The Ceiling is the Roof so major props for that.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

OFC

 

[skysdad]

This was done by fan vote. The reasons jordan won is because of the 10 gazillion cheater fans and most who voted have no idea whonLew Alcindor was, think Bill Walton is just an off the wall basketball announcer and also don't know what kind of college players such as Magic Johnson, Pete Maravich, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Keith were. I can think of at least 10 to 15 players who had better college careers than jordsn. Though Shaq was given too many votes also. Most ridiculus poll ever. OFC

 

[dukecorp]

most can't remember but imo the best to ever to wear a chapel hill jersey was Bob Mcaddo .......not Jordan....it's been a very crazy,unsettling year....but for ESPN to get this choice wrong.... Russell,Chamberpin,West,Robinson(Oscar) Alcindor,Walton,Lattner,Bird,Jonhnson,....Heck, even our greatest legends,Lattner,Hill, AND Hurley had more impressive college resumes than Jordan....

 

[dukiejay]

Four final fours and two titles, along with a multitude of individual awards. Christian Laettner.

If you take those final fours and two titles and also add in every award he won, does anyone match that? I’m not sure about Alcindor and Walton and don’t care enough to look it up

Alcindor and Walton exceed those numbers, in a sense. Neither played in four final four's, but that's partly because freshmen weren't eligible back then.

Alcindor won three titles in three years, and Walton two.

 

[skysdad]

As far as jordan being the greatest college player ever he wasn't even the greatest cheater player ever. I put charlie scott, phil ford, walter davis, bob mccadoo,james worthy and tyler hanstravelflopsandgetsfouledalotbutneverfouls ahead of him as a collge player. OFC

 

[christophero]

Jordan was great in college but didn't become all he could be until the pros. Maybe it was the system. I would put Ewing ahead of him in college. That guy was scary/amazing and hurt his knee in the pros and kind of had to adjust his game. My dad said David Thompson and Alcinder and Walton were better in college but that was before my time.

 

[OriginalJayWill]

I read an article that said Kareem just laughed when he read that Jordan was chosen. Can't find the article now, but I laughed too.

OFC

 

[bullettoothtony]

Jordan was great in college but didn't become all he could be until the pros. Maybe it was the system. I would put Ewing ahead of him in college. That guy was scary/amazing and hurt his knee in the pros and kind of had to adjust his game. My dad said David Thompson and Alcinder and Walton were better in college but that was before my time.

Your dad is absolutely right.

 

[skysdad]

Jordan was great in college but didn't become all he could be until the pros. Maybe it was the system. I would put Ewing ahead of him in college. That guy was scary/amazing and hurt his knee in the pros and kind of had to adjust his game. My dad said David Thompson and Alcinder and Walton were better in college but that was before my time.

I think that the reason jordan finished 1st is because the majority of the voting came from people who did not see Alcindor, Walton, Thompson, Bird, Sampson and others play. A lot of people do not even know Jabbar was Lew Alcindor. Look he ever lost a high scool game, was 80-2 in college, three times player of the year and the three years he played varsity he UCLA won the natty and we know how many rings he has from NBA championships. How can he not only be the greates college player of all time but one can argue he is the greatest basketball player ever. OFC

 

[christophero]

The Olympic team was when you saw how special Jordan was. If memory serves he was still in college (84) and you could really see his athleticism in a run and gun offense. I forgot about Sampson he was special too. And Laettner. Magic Johnson and Bird as well.

 

[skysdad]

I guess if they ran something to see who was the greatest high school player ever jordan would get that too. OFC

 

[Mac9192]

The Olympic team was when you saw how special Jordan was. If memory serves he was still in college (84) and you could really see his athleticism in a run and gun offense. I forgot about Sampson he was special too. And Laettner. Magic Johnson and Bird as well.

I’m a huge Larry Bird fan. Even though he’s a legend, in my opinion, he is often overlooked because he wasn’t an elite athlete. What he did at a lowly school like Indiana State was just unheard of.
His pro career was outstanding, and had Len Bias not tragically died, there’s a good possibility Bird could have won a title or 2 more. He won 3. For his career, he averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Here’s a fact, and it shows how much better the Celtics were with him: the season before, the Celtics were 29-53. His rookie season? 61-21.

 

[christophero]

I was lucky enough to see a lot of high school ball in NYC as a kid. My top 5. Sorry a bit off topic! Would have liked to have seen MJ in hs.
1. Rod Strickland. Kid came out of nowhere and was just dominant and such a wizard with the ball. At one point he pointed to the other team's bench and started laughing. A top 5 national team lol.
2. Kenny Anderson
3. Greg "Boo" Harvey. Was at St. John's when I was. Played against Strickland.
4. Marbury. Wow. They ran backwards alley oop plays. For the point guard.
5. Lloyd Daniels. Maybe number one. A 6-9 point guard. Would have been an NBA All Star if he could get out of his own way.

 

[rbum09]

Alcindor and Walton exceed those numbers, in a sense. Neither played in four final four's, but that's partly because freshmen weren't eligible back then.

Alcindor won three titles in three years, and Walton two.

You also have to consider you had to be conference champs to get in the tournament. I don't know whether Duke won the ACC tournament all 4 years with Laettner or not.