I'm not talking about making their teammates better by giving them assist like Magic or anything. See the thought provoking post below about what I mean - specifically the bolded.
bledredwine wrote:
That's a really unusual take. Jordan impacted both ends of the floor as much as anyone.
And more than Hakeem, Lebron, or anyone you mentioned, Jordan held the teammates accountable,
holding them to a very high standard and turning practices into wars, which made games easy-
this has been said by multiple players, from Scottie to BJ, Grant etc.
To say he didn't have a multitude of impact is wild. And when he played point for the Bulls? He averaged near a 32 point triple double during the season while only playing PG for a portion of it. In 1991? He averaged 32.5, 11.4 (3rd highest finals assists of all time behind Russell and Magic) with awesome defense.
There was not much else if anything he could have done to be impactful.
This is why Jordan and Scottie 3-peated twice with two different supporting casts, and Pippen himself stated that Jordan's push made him the player he became (Jordan used to have Pippen guard him during practice when he was young in the league)
The only players that holds others accountable like that whom you mentioned is probably Duncan or Hakeem to an extent, but nearly the same extent as Jordan.
Either way, I appreciate you acknowledging that. Lebron's are impressive as well.
It's been said that no player had the off court impact on his teammates like MJ did.
- He had.twammates accountable like you wouldn't believe. Nobody held teammates more accountable than MJ did.
- He made practices ALL OUT WAR. Per bledredwine's post, this games simple. Games were a walk in the park after to into battle with MJ during practice. Those must have been intense practices.
More than any other player, you hear? How much Pippen benefited from practicing against Jordan. How do you think he became a GOAT wing defender? Practicing against Jordan. He may not have become the all-star player he was without Jordan to play against.
The question is simple. Did any players have the off court impact on teammates that MJ had?
