Gilbert Arenas blasts Michael Jordan fans for relying on rings in GOAT debate - "None of this s**t matters"
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time, with his fans regularly citing his six NBA championship rings. However, according to three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas, Jordan fans' primary argument for his GOAT case is flawed.
Jordan famously led Chicago to two three-peats in the 1990s, the first from 1991 to 1993 and the second from 1996 to 1998. That, combined with his elite offensive production and apparent killer instinct, cemented him as the GOAT in many fans' minds.
Today, NBA superstars who threaten to surpass Jordan, like the LA Lakers' LeBron James, are usually measured up against the former's ring count.
However, according to Arenas, Michael Jordan wasn't held to a similar standard before he was crowned the GOAT. So, rings shouldn't be the primary indicator of players' all-time rankings.
On the "Above the Rim with DH12" podcast on Sunday, the former Washington Wizards star touched on the early stages of Jordan garnering GOAT consideration. He noted that some gave the 14-time All-Star the title before his first championship, based primarily on his late 1980s scoring dominance.
"This is what I hate about the narrative now. When they say, 'He's the GOAT, and you've got to have this, this, this and this.' When he got the title, he didn't have that," Arenas said. "When he got crowned the greatest of all time, he didn't have a championship. When they said, 'You're better than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,' he did not have a championship yet."
Arenas added that if fans want to be objective, they should uphold a consistent standard when judging players' GOAT cases.
"You broke the code and said, 'None of this s**t matters,'" Arenas said. "So, stop using it then because you didn't use it when you removed Kareem, you didn't use it when Bill Russell got moved, you didn't use that s**t against Magic Johnson and [Larry] Bird."
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Gilbert Arenas says today's players would be criticized for reproducing Michael Jordan's early-career accomplishments
Continuing his discussion about Michael Jordan's GOAT case, Gilbert Arenas noted that today's players would be blasted for replicating Jordan's early-career production.
According to Arenas, Jordan was lauded for his scoring ability before winning his first championship. However, today's top young superstars, like the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic, are called out for putting up elite offensive stats without winning.
"Jordan was 26 when he was considered the best player in the world ... You can't do that anymore," Arenas said.
"Like Luka, there's no player that can come into the league, average 37, 35, 32 and 33 [points per game], and no one says, 'When are you gonna win championships?' Name somebody who can go and win a scoring title five times before they start questioning his legacy."
Doncic, a five-time All-Star, is coming off his first scoring title, averaging a career-best 33.9 points per game. Despite being only 25, pressure is already mounting for him to win his first championship. However, Jordan was 28 when he did the same.
Thus, Arenas concluded that fans should hold off on being too critical of today's top players.
"Give them the grace period you gave to everybody else," Arenas said.
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