John Salley Explains Why He Thinks Michael Jordan Is Not The GOAT

On today's Pardon My Take... JOHN SALLEY! The former NBA player joined Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter on today's show to discuss basketball, being a vegan, a food chat with Billy Football, and much more. Salley had his takes ready to go during this interview, including uttering these words...

"Michael Jordan is not the greatest of all-time"

What is the context of this quote? We get our answer below thanks to a discussion on today's show...

John Salley: The reason I say that Michael Jordan is not the greatest of all-time is the same reason Michael says he's not the greatest of all-time, because he didn't get to play against the other greats of all time. 

Mr. Cat: So, no one can be the greatest of all time...

John Salley: You can't. You can be the greatest of that decade. So in the 90's, from 1991 to 1998, well from really 1988 to 1998, Michael Jordan was the best. Period, right? But then before that, it was Magic and Bird, and before that, it was Dr. J. And then after Michael, was Allen Iverson and Kobe. So, Kobe from 2000 to 2010, nobody better than Kobe, except Allen Iverson inside of it.

Mr. Cat: I feel like you got a big man bias. You missed Shaq, you missed Kareem…

Mr. Commenter: You missed Tim Duncan…

John Salley: I said better than Kobe.

Mr. Cat: Yeah, right. 

John Salley: So, those guys are better?

Mr. Commenter: I feel like you could say Shaq was more dominant than Kobe Bryant. 

John Salley: Shaq was the best big man I've ever seen or played against. Period. Olajuwon is the best power forward/center. Kevin McHale used to give me the business. I can go down the line, but when we talk about what impact of the game, you know you're going to talk about Kobe winning five championships in ten years. Right? And then you got LeBron all the way to from 2010 to 2020. Now the next ten, we'll see who it's going to be.

Mr. Cat: Who do you think it is?

John Salley: It might be Giannis. 

Mr. Cat: Yeah, I think so.

I actually agree with this angle of the GOAT debate. Each sport has changed so much over the years that it is very, very hard to compare someone from one era to another. So, what is John Salley's idea? The GOTD. The Greatest of the Decade. What are your thoughts on this new era of sports debates?