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Message: [QUOTE="FfldCntyFan, post: 5035772, member: 71"] I would never consider myself specifically a Jordan fan or a Lebron fan although there are a number of things I admire about each players individual game. Anyone who doesn't believe each in on a very short list of greatest players ever is being intentionally obtuse. My biggest issue is that when someone says MJ is one of the best, instead of claiming that he is without question the best, the response is similar to someone having committing blasphemy. Where I take issue is in the fact that basketball was played, ar an exceptionally high level prior to 1984. MJ was the beneficiary of three things that converged all at basically the start of his NBA career: David Stern became commissioner and basically mandated star power as the league's MO. ESPN became basically ubiquitous within this country and highlights became a staple of what they were selling audiences. Nike pulled out all stops in an advertising/promotional campaign ("it must be the shoes") to move from a company that also made basketball shoes to the to athletic shoe company in the world. Yes, MJ's massive talents played an exceptionally large role in all of that succeeding and yes, a very valid argument can be made that he was the best ever. I do however also believe that there were a couple of players who did not have the benefit of any of those three things who may belong in the argument. [/QUOTE]