For decades, Michael Jordan’s defense has been one of the go-to arguments for those who defend his case as the NBA’s greatest player of all time.
Jordan is one of the few guards to win Defensive Player of the Year.
He made nine All-Defensive teams.
However, Rasheed Wallace believes he was overrated on that end of the floor.
Talking on his show, the former NBA champion stated that, while Jordan did play defense, he wasn’t a top-ten defender at the time (via NBA Central).
Rasheed Wallace calls Michael Jordan overrated on defense
“I seen this MFer get his a** bust”
( @SheedXTylerShow / https://t.co/tqOJmAEMQd) pic.twitter.com/whhJZtVZtE
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 27, 2024
He believes Jordan was given the benefit of the doubt for being a superstar, stating that most of his All-Defensive selections were all politics.
Wallace claimed that he couldn’t stop guys like Clyde Drexler or JR Rider.
Politics have always been a big part of NBA selections, and Jordan isn’t the only player who has benefitted from that.
We’re talking about someone who averaged 2.3 steals per game in his career and who led the league in steals three times.
He also had a season averaging 1.6 blocks per game despite being a guard.
Granted, he wasn’t the best defensive player on his team, with Scottie Pippen first, and Dennis Rodman later.
But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t an elite defender.
Perhaps Jordan was given a bit of an edge because of his greatness.
But from that to call him overrated, that’s a big stretch.
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