Detailed Michael Jordan analysis: using new data to gauge his impact | Greatest Peaks Ep. 6 

A ton of people asking about the years ('89-91) -- it was actually really clear cut to me. First step and explosiveness start to wane a little by '91, along with his motor. Since so much of his game is based off that, he couldn't quite generate as many advantages by '93 on offense (can see this in dip in free throw rate), and the slight reduction in motor made him a little less active on defense (where his playmaking is key). Additionally his box based stats and impact stats both peak in this period ('89-91), along with his on/off stats we tracked (+/- is less impressive in the '92 postseason). 1988 is a bit different, because his athleticism/motor were still incredible so he peaks on defense, but his passing and shot selection weren''t as polished as the ensuing seasons.

If MJ saw this critique of his defense he’d take it personally

Shocking to hear that Jordan gambled too much

This series is better than anything ESPN has ever produced.

I grew up in Chicago, born in 77’. I was just starting to follow sports closely when MJ joined the Bulls. I didn’t understand as a 10 year old kid, how good he was. To me, he was the best player on the Bulls by a lot, and I knew he was one of the better players in the league. It didn’t dawn on me that he was a sports icon, until we were on vacation in Florida, and a shopping mall shoe store was FILLED with Michael Jordan shoes, jerseys, gigantic murals.......it was a Foot Locker, but it might as well have been a Michael Jordan/Nike store......because thats all they seemed to advertise. Sure, me and all my friends had his shoes.....but we lived in Chicago. I figured every city had their star player and everyone bought their shoe. By the time the Bulls started winning titles, I knew that not only was he the best, but he was the most recognizable person on the planet. It wasn’t just that he won and filled the stat sheet. It was the way he moved. I could see a shadow of Michael Jordan moving with the ball, and I could tell it was him. His moves weren’t just show-boating, they had purpose. A big man dominated league was changing. For the first time it didn’t matter how many 7 footers were guarding the rim. MJ would just go around them, or over them. His athleticism was so off the charts, it really didn’t matter what size he was. And the defense....my god, he put the same maximum effort into defending every time. He frustrated opponents, constantly getting int he way, closing passing lanes, and was constantly swiping at the ball. Recency bias is a thing. I know that its hard to imagine somebody better than LBJ when you never watched a prime MJ play live. Lebron is a great player. No question. Michael Jordan though, its hard for me to imagine another athlete being so far ahead of ALL of his peers, at any time in history. “When the best player in the world, is also the hardest working player on your team, that pretty much sets the tone.” ~ Steve Kerr

MJ's gotta be the most graceful basketball player ever. Just pure poetry in motion on the court.

13:50 Damn, MJ's playmaking really stacks up nicely compared to some of the great passers ever. It's because his creation isn't limited to simply racking up assists - his mere presence on the floor makes life SO much easier for his teammates offensively. Also, this video made me realise that I've been misunderstanding some aspects of his greatness. He has such a monstrously high peak not because his defense was necessarily as impactful as his offense, but because his offensive peak is so damn high (with his unparalled scoring and vastly underrated playmaking) that his defense being simply really good is enough to push his OVERALL impact to near-untouched levels. Fantastic work by Ben, this series is amazing.

Jordan's rebounding is so underrated. He's a guard rebounding at a high level in a league dominated by big men And where everyone crowded the paint

Jordan's off-ball movement is severely overlooked!

This was the quickest 24 minutes of my life

Ben, you're a blessing. Finally someone taking this conversation leaving out the dogma of MJ being the perfect player. For people like me that came too late to actually see him play on a day to day basis, this is the first time I have an objective and analytic view on this incredible player who is often buried under the narrative he holds. You have all of my gratitude.

19:00 "Jordan gambled... and then gambled... and then gambled..." - I see what you did there Ben XD

What's not discussed enough is how valuable MJ's fantastic off ball ability was, and how it allowed Pippen to be the great playmaker that he was by allowing him to have the ball to make plays with. Had MJ just played the way he did in '88-'89 when he averaged 32.5/8/8, which was similar to how Lebron and Westbrook play being ball dominant and running pick and rolls or Iso drive and kick all the time, it's reasonable to think he would've continued to improve along those lines and averaged lines like 37/10/10, but that kind of ball dominance would prevent players like Pippen from utilizing their playmaking abilities. Hence, Jordan made Pippen better by being willing to play off ball. As Jordan said in The Last Dance, he initially did not like Phil Jackson taking over, because Doug Collins had put the ball in his hands all the time, whereas Phil wanted to take the ball out of his hands more and utilize his off ball abilities so that players like Pippen and BJ could use their playmaking abilities as well.

Here. We. Go.

MJ’s playmaking ability was the most underrated part of his game.

I remember in my youth reading an article about Jordan's footwork, that he studied Olympic-level long and high jumpers' footwork. And that doing so, helped Jordan increase his leaping ability. He was able to glide further, hang in the air longer. Being mindful of footwork, perfecting it, will harness one's overall abilities.

This is a great video. I think one of the biggest thing that is overlooked here is his low turnover rate. For a player with such high usage, his turnover rate is abysmally low against other high volume scorer or creators (look at James Harden, Russell Westbrook, etc). His jump pass turnovers and his lack of anticipation on his passes are rare occasion than norm and did not result in him turning the ball over needlessly. In a way, his offense game is way less chance taking than his defense game, and I am not sure if having Pippen, an all-time great wing defender, in his back pocket, played into some of those gambles and playing the passing lane on the defensive end. He knows very well that more than likely enough those gambles will turn into fastbreak points, and if it doesn't pan out, there is a big chance that Scottie is there to help. IMO that's smart play, and you see it in the +/-. Fantastic video!

Damn this Michael Jordan guy could really jump

"MJ did flick many balls here", "And he did strip players sometimes"😂

Endless amounts of energy and extreme levels of competitiveness combined with high levels of skill who was never satisfied so he kept working on his game. MJ and Kobe will always be my favorite to watch.

His gambling on defense had an enormous psychological impact on opponents and that doesn't show in stats!

It's just that he was so fluid, so fundamentally sound, AND that he was able to go and SCORE ALL THE POINTS, defend like a demon, DUNK, Facilitate and Pass, EXPLODE on you, it was just immeasurable to go against him...

Jordan is freaken Thanos with all 6 infinity stones: 1) Mind - Killer Mentality 2) Power - Explosive First Step 3) Reality - Control and Mastery of the Ball 4) Soul - Unmatched Artistry 5) Space - Created with his Amazing footwork 6) Time - Hang Time!

Great to see someone finally give him his props in playmaking. Sometimes I watch clips or segments of games and I'm like, "Man he is actually a really good passer". Even his rookie year he'd still make the right passing play a lot of times, probably due to his UNC coaching. Though some of his missed reads even on this video can be infuriating.

I watched his career from McDonald's All-American to final retirement, and it's really easy to forget that he's always been a disciple of Dean Smith's system, and Phil only gave him that kind of structure to better impact NBA games by spreading the floor to force long-range help creating an easy pass that resulted in wide open looks for a teammate. Hands down the best overall player I've ever seen or gotten torched by(yes, he destroyed me as a young'n during VCU summer league with Oakley the summer after the broken foot & my game got way better like he said it would).

It's crazy to see the defensive attention he draws in a lot of these clips, it was pretty common for four players to swarm him when he attacked the rim!

"That Luigi-hangtime..." ❤

16:36 Jordan is just behind Stockton and Kidd in steals, and is not by that much even though they played 300-500 more games than Jordan, and is per game stats is 4th all time (3rd all time just as a Bull). So he was very effective at getting steals. 20:25 One of the best shot blocking guards? He is only possible second to D.Wade. Jordan still holds more blocks than any guard in the regular season, but D.Wade has played only 18 fewer games than Jordan and is 9 blocks away from passing Jordan. D.Wade would had to average 0.5 blocks for those 18 games which he may/may not have done. Jordan being the top guard in pretty much blocks and steals says something.

What made Jordan great was his ability to turn his real or perceived weaknesses into strengths through a maniacal work ethic combined with incredible natural gifts. If Jordan was coming into the NBA today, scouts would question his 3pt shooting, instead of jump shooting as they did in the 80's. If that were the case, just as Jordan went from having a "weak" jump shot to the greatest midrange shooter ever, he would probably have been able to do the same from the 3pt line. In short, he takes things personal and works like mad to address whatever that may be.

MJ shooting percentage was almost 50% on double and triple teams. When he was a point guard he averaged triple double. Still the goat.

This is the golden era of Thinking Basketball videos.

I guess the point is with his Defense that he got the steal on Malone in that 98 Finals to win that game and that series. All the gambling payed off in that moment. In the end, he made the plays to win the chip.

MJ is the only guard that was an A+ athlete with an A+ skill set.

Even with MJ’s overly aggressive defense, his motor being inhuman I figure it’s not that big of a deal. Considering how he was on offense that’s truly a testament to his greatness.

17:58 Hey Ben, the Y button is for blocks. It's X for steals man.

3:58 Oh my god! I never noticed this before. He actually catches the ball and shifts it into one hand and starts his spin all while still in the air.

The most beautiful basketball player of all time. He moved so well and this quality made the games more enjoyable to watch. I don't know the comparable style but he was absolutely dancing on the basketball court. And this is an absolute quality-- you don't have to compare MJ with other stars to identify the grace he had, but if you compare it you'd realise Jordan is just unique.

Finally, a discussion about MJ's greatness without mentioning "Killer Mentality", "Clutch Genes", "Greatest Lockdown Defender of All Time", or any other subjective hyperboles. Amazing work, good people of Thinking Basketball. It helps a lot of people like me, who only have highlight reels and The Last Dance to learn about MJ. Especially, putting his statistical impact at his peak against other greats at theirs, really helps to contextualize how much he actually impacted the game.

There was just something special watching MJ play that I don't get with any other player currently playing.

I think Jordan’s off ball game is so underrated. As much as he carried a lot of those Bulls teams offensively, he held the ball way less time than people think. That let Scottie, another very good scorer and great facilitator, hold onto the ball more. Of course, Jordan could cook better than anyone in isolation, but he didn’t have to, and didn’t as much, as most people think

Watching this the first time I thought, "This sounded a bit harsh toward Michael." But my second time through realized that it was a fair critique of his game. The narrator did a fine job poking holes in some of the invincibility in Jordan's defensive game. This series has been outstanding, and I just wanted the creator to know that I greatly appreciate the content he creates. It's unlike anything out there.

I just had the greatest peak clicking on this video if you know what I mean

Without a doubt Jordan was the most fluid player. Just the way he moved there was a style to it. Behind him to me is bird. They're both play their own pace but Jordan was just so acrobatic

MJ avg 11.4 apg in 91 finals, Magic 12.4, MJ tried his darndest to out pass the goat of assists. the goat was uncanny.

Jordan gambling on defense is what helped him lead the league in steals 3 times and finish close to the top the other years. It's no different than a shot blocker going after most shots...sometimes you get it and sometimes you don't. But the greats get it more times than not.

Watching Jordan burst inside for layups is the most satisfying thing in basketball.

His Airness The 🐐.. this series is brilliant work. Also as a Chicago native, the love you showed for Pip is greatly appreciated.

Watching Jordan work in the post was a thing of beauty. The footwork, the fakes, the fadeaway, all of it was watching a master at work. That jumper was deadly too. Can you do an analysis of Scottie Pippen next?

When Mike was in his prime, he was so good that he made people fans who were on opposing teams. He was so good, he basically could've scored 50 points a game. So good that ALL his games we prime time games in the 90s. He was so good, it was like he had a cheat code with the devil that nobody else had. That is saying alot. He created shots, offensive angles, tricks and court vision that nobody ever saw at that point.

Jordan's 3 pointers peaked at 37 % at the regular 3 point distance

I like how you bring the flow into the history of the game. Thank you for keeping the team in the history of peak stars and their shining careers. I like the kaleidoscope perspective on so many stars.

Thinking basketball was instantly my favorite basketball channel when I saw breakdowns of players in 2019. The vids keep getting better and better. Thank you Ben!

The amount of thought and work put in by the team to assemble this series is astounding. Keep up the great work.

I'd imagine the Bulls never having a great shot blocker morphed Jordan's defensive style.

4:35 That was probably the most impressive part of the video. As he's shooting, he brings the ball low to dodge the block from Isiah, and yet still manages to make it over the defender in front (Salley?). Just absurd.

Man, can't wait for more of these. I never saw Jordan play but seeing these types of videos on guys I did see play so I can compare them will be great. Thank you again for this series

Mike was simply created to play basketball I'm not even a fan of the sport and I love watching his plays.

Jordan’s peak 3pt shooting year in the regular season was 1990 he took 3.0 3PA per game while shooting 37.6%. He shot even higher 3pt percentages in the playoffs from 90-93,which averaged out to around 36%.This was before they shortened the 3pt line.Basketball Analysts like to suggest Jordan was a bad shooter from that range, when that’s simply not the case.

The lack of spacing watching these clips kind of drives me insane I want to scream get the fuck away from Jordan to the teammates half the time 😂😂😂

The triangle prioritizes proper spacing then ball movement and he couldn’t be contained with or without the triangle and his basketball fundamentals is what makes him the 🐐 and he didn’t PRACTICE shooting the 3.

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS ONE!

Great video, great series! I love that the videos are not simply highlighting but actually explaining why it IS a highlight. Showing the details that are easy to miss at times and giving context!

A whole lot of his pros and cons discussed in the video were shaped by the pressure and burden of responsibility he put on himself to do everything and single handedly carry the team on his back to victory. Thus, the ball hogging, the 1 v 5 attack, the roaming on defense, etc. he simply didn't have confidence in his teammates, such that he felt he had a better chance scoring over 5 opponents than his teammate did on an open jumper. Or that his team mate wasn't going to stop the opponent with the ball so he had to roam over to defend him too. Eventually, Phil, Pippen and the Triangle Offense fixed all that.

So gladi found this channel, it's the best ever . Your prolific descriptions are unreal and so perfect great job and thanks for your hard work

17:07 this action is epitomy of mj greatness.

One thing I was really looking to see based on the title was how often Jordan's teammates were able to rebound and get putbacks on his misses with all the attention he drew. These became popularized as "Kobe assists" but as with many things Kobe I'm guessing Jordan was the inspiration and did it better.

This was excellent Ben! His fluidity while in the air on both defense and shooting/passing was a really keen observation. Well done

Man this video was fun to watch and thank you for making it! The nostalgia around MJ is so much that people think he really had no weaknesses and many big youtube videos say that exactly. Its enjoyable to watch an objective breakdown on his incredible strengths as well as his weaknesses of gambling on both sides of the ball.

Its crazy how i cant remember the last time ive actually seen a clip of jordan missing a shot or turning it over

Boom. Perfect timing. Oops wrong channel.

This is superb, including the commentary. I will say that his appetite for risk on the defensive end generally added to the joy of watching him play the game. Cheers.

To be fair...Magic was the size of a PF and MJ was too small to handle him in the post. And his gambling on defense gave away more open mid-range shots than 3's against typical wings during his era. Overall, his gambling yielded a net positive on defense in the scheme of things, and also lead to momentum shifting plays in critical points of the game. MJ usually left his man to sneak on big men postups and help on elite penetrators. Switching and not missing on rotations is much more critical today due to the rules, style of play and high volume of corner threes. Also, I remember as MJ got older, he would gamble less on defense to conserve his energy. And he became more shrewd in choosing when to gamble during a game. All in all, MJ's defense was airtight in crunch time.

If you go back and watch tape, he's actually an underrated passer.

Only thing I'd note is that you made a point in a previous video about how not all risky assists are the same. Some assists are high reward (leading to extremely high % shots), and low risk (give ample time to get back on defense if turned over). Others are not. I think it'd be interesting to apply that same lens to the risk-taking we see from Jordan on defense. Good risks leading to easy breakaway points, or give the chance for teammates to rotate if the risk isn't a success. Bad risks, being those more similar to the reaches on Magic that are high risk, low reward (eg those aren't turning into easy transition points). Thanks for the phenomenal content as always, Ben.

The production value of your videos is incredible. Truly great stuff, keep it up!

This is a great analysis and a great channel. Thank you for putting the THINKING into basketball discussions.

Some of your criticisms were a little nit picky. In terms of your overall ranking of Jordan defensively, you opted not to take into account Jordan's usage offensively. For him to have the impact he had defensively while also leading his team averaging 35+ ppg is incredible. I'd be interested to know the defenders you have ranked over Jordan so I could evaluate what their offensive responsibilities were. Also in reference to Jordan "not seeing certain open teammates", I'm sure he missed open teammates sometimes. But I'm also sure there were times he saw the open teammate and simply said "Nah, I'm shooting it". All in all though great great video.

Jordan's swipes are underrated tbh, if you watch how he jumps one direction and swipes the opposite it makes him a hard person to shake on ball.

Well done! Excellent narration that is well paced and enunciated! The script is full of perspective balance without bias and the few opinions are clearly stated. Well researched. Thanks for putting this up!

Congratulations on this video, you’ve been the best basketball channel for a while but you just keep getting better. Thank you for great quality content

Crazy how this video tries to knock his defense while also showing that he rated out at the “top of the heap.” I do appreciate that you stated it was hard to evaluate his style of defense. He reminds me of the NBA’s version of Ed Reed. If you combed through Reed’s tape, you’d probably see plenty of swings and misses. But he made plays nobody else could even dream of making and completely shifted a game’s momentum with his knack for making the big play. You might want to grade out the more fundamentally sound guy who’s always in position higher, but you know that guy won’t make the game changing, turn defense into offense type plays of someone like Ed Reed.

I knew he was a good passer but I never knew he was that good at creating open shots for his teammates.

I love your channel. You do a great job of covering players strengths and weaknesses with video footage and data.

I very recently found your content... literally the best analysis and opinion I've ever seen on basketball and that's saying something since there's so much of that

It's always a head scratcher to me when people say he was a mediocre ball handler. The guy was an amazing ball hander. People like to say Kobe was a better ball handler but I disagree, Kobe seemed like a more flashy ball handler but would turn it over quite a bit actually. I can't tell you how many times I seen him bounce the ball off his own foot out of bounds. Just because a dude doesn't do a dribbling exhibition before every game a la Steph Curry doesn't mean he wasn't a great ball handler. Jordan had the cross over, around the back, spin, between the legs, in and out, etc. I always thought he was one of the best ball handlers because he rarely turned the ball over and instead of all the flashiness it was based more around necessity, which I appreciate.

Anyone disappointed we are already at MJ. I wanted the series to have 100 episodes

One of the best basketball videos I’ve seen - a great great video .

Superb series! Looking forward to watching your analysis of Stockton´s game.

Damn you really had to release this as I was about to sleep. Ah well, this is worth it.

I think your analysis on Jordan's weakness being 3's is wrong. His percentages are highly skewed because of the extremely low number of 3's he took per game. This means that any last second heaves or low percentage late clock bailouts he would take would disproportionally affect his percentage. You said he shot worse when they changed the line, but he also just shot less. And if you look at his career there were 4 seasons where he took 3 or more 3's per game and in those seasons he shot 38% ,35%, 43%, and 37%. (I'm ignoring his return season where he shot 50% in 17 games). In no other season did he average more than 1.5 3's per game. And when you are at that low a number just 10-20 of those last second heaves in an 82 game season can drastically lower your percentage. For example in the 91 season if he takes just 15 of those in the season his percentage falls from 38% to 31%. At best you could criticize him for not taking 3's and spreading the floor more, but when he's so hyper efficient everywhere else I don't know why you would ever want him to.

After one year of watching and rewatching all TB videos it's finally here...

My Favorite RU-vid video about MJ and I've been a fan since the 91 Finals came on past my bedtime! It's possible to be the GOAT and not be perfect. Beautiful analysis!

God knows this is quality content. Thank you!

Great vid as always Ben! MJ's hangtime, first step, hands, and fluid body control was like watching a dude who was half-man/half-panther play basketball. Phenomenal finisher, dead-on mid-range game, underrated passer, All-league defender, and had an often overlooked off-ball game which made him scalable despite being a high volume scorer. I agree mostly with this video...with mild exceptions for the 3 pt shot and defense assessment. I do believe MJ is limited as a 3 pt shooter (he would never be elite like Curry, Nash or Bird...even with higher priority and practice). But MJ with more practice would become a better 3 pt shooter and he generally shot at higher 3PT % with higher volume in his '90 and '93 season with the original 3 pt line. I believe his shooting style at the apex of his jump would have limited effects on 3 PT shots at the corners. It would be the straight on 3 pt shots that he may be less consistent without changing his shooting stroke. But at the end of the day, MJ's offense would probably be most optimal at about five 3FGA's per game and shooting 37% from three is reasonable if he displays good shot selection. And a young MJ used to gamble alot more when he was revved up on defense. As the championship years progressed, Jordan took less gambles to conserve his energy for offense and concentrated more on locking up his guy. I remember when a big man received a pass on a pick and roll, MJ was great at swiping the ball at the last second to prevent an easy dunk or layup with his timing and quick hands. And those plays can be demoralizing when the Bulls' pressure defense was making it difficult for the opposing team to get a clean shot.

This is one of the most underrated channels period. Well done!

I love this. Thank you for making these

I like this video, as it's an objective analysis of MJ. I have a complaint, however, when you said he's not an all time great wing defender. You don't get DPOY, 9x defensive first team, and being #3 in steals and #4 in steals per game without being all-time great. Remember, he "hit pay dirt more often than he did not."

Also to clarify, Pippen was drafted the same year as Grant. All the MJ-haters clearly don’t really know anything about MJ, as they go specifically to Pippen to try and belittle MJs accomplishments, while ignoring Grant. Grant was still on the team when Jordan retired and they added Kukoc as well. BJ Armstrong was coming into his own and both Grant and BJ upped their numbers the next year alongside Pippen’s whopping 1 PPG increase his highest scoring per year in 1994. Armstrong brought way more to the table as a PG than Paxson, who retired along with Jordan. When Grant left the following year, it’s no surprise the Bulls were on the verge of not making the play-offs until Jordan actually comes back and they go from the 8th to 5th seed. Pippen never carried the Bulls.

This is some of the best produced basketball content I’ve ever seen

cant wait to see the rest of the series, these are great