Top Five Shooting Guards in NBA History
Best Shooting Guards in NBA History: Number 1
Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards (1984 -1998; 2001 – 2003)
In his second season in the NBA, after having missed the majority of the year with a broken foot, Michael Jordan put on a show against the Boston Celtics. The year was 1986, and the Celtics boasted the best front line in the history of basketball in Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. However, the young Jordan would not be denied; he torched Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge for 63 points while making the entire afternoon look like an effortless display of brilliance.
Throughout the 1980s, Jordan and the Chicago Bulls would have to live with the fact that the premier teams in the Eastern Conference were the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. However, when Chicago pulled off playoff series upsets against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks in 1989, it set up a showdown with their new rivals, the Detroit Pistons.
Although Chicago would not finally overthrow the Pistons until 1991, it was the hard-fought series against the Bad Boys that prepared them to dominate the league. The Bulls would dominate the early 90s and win three consecutive titles, becoming the first team to “3-peat” since Bill Russell’s Celtics in the 1960s.
In the summer of 1993, Jordan’s father was murdered during an armed robbery; he subsequently decided to walk away from the game he loved.
In March of 1995, Jordan returned to the Bulls for the final 17 games of the regular season. Although the team would go on to lose in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the stage was set for one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sports. The following season, the Bulls dominated the NBA, winning a regular season record 72 games, while Jordan walked away with the MVP award. The team would go on to win the championship that season, with the final game being played on Father’s Day. Michael declared that the season and the title were dedicated to the memory of his father.
In 1997 and 1998 Michael Jordan led the team back to the Finals. In each instance, the Western Conference team the Bulls faced was the Utah Jazz. Jordan’s exploits in Game Five of the ’97 Finals will never be forgotten. He scored 38 points while battling food poisoning that should have kept him out of the game completely. The Bulls would win the go on to win the contest and close out the series in six games.
In 1998, the Bulls found themselves on the brink of disaster. Finding themselves down by three points with under a minute to play, and facing the possibility of playing a game seven on the road in Utah, the team called upon Jordan to do the impossible. In under a minute, Michael scored a layup, stole the ball from Jazz forward Karl Malone, and nailed a game winning jump shot on offense, It is still considered the most impressive sequence in NBA History.
“His Airness” will be remembered for being a high flyer early in his career and an incredible jump shooter later in his career. However, the thing that separates him from other players is his incredible will to win and the uncanny knack for delivering in clutch moments. His game winners and performances in big games are unparalleled to this day. That is why he is not only the greatest shooting guard, but simply put, the greatest basketball player of all time.
TJ Brown is a certified personal trainer and a member of the National Sports Media Association, as well as the National Association of Black Journalists. His work is often humorous and insightful, and always original.