Gilbert Arenas is drawing bold lines between two very different athletes—Michael Jordan and Lamar Jackson. On the debut episode of his football show The Arena, Arenas defended Jackson’s playoff record by comparing it to Michael Jordan’s early years with the Chicago Bulls.
“MJ in the 80s didn’t win in the playoffs. [He had] individual stats and greatness, showed that he is that dude, and it took him time to mature to get to that level,” Arenas said in the video. “This year is gonna be Lamar’s Jordan 87-88 year”.
Michael Jordan had a 14-23 playoff record through the 1980s. Despite putting up historic numbers, his Bulls were routinely bounced early, often by stronger teams like the Pistons. It wasn’t until the late ’80s that Jordan began pushing deeper into the postseason.
Arenas sees a similar arc for Jackson. The Ravens quarterback has earned two MVPs but has yet to reach a Super Bowl. Arenas believes Jackson’s individual brilliance will soon translate into team success, just as it did for Michael Jordan.
Many would beg to differ, but there is a bit of weight with Arena’s take. Both Jordan and Jackson showed individual brilliance before their teams truly contended. For Jackson, his critics often point to playoff shortcomings despite his MVP-level regular season play, echoing the same narrative that surrounded Jordan in the mid-1980s.
Jackson may be entering his Michael Jordan phase, without the global branding impact of course. But when we’re talking about Jackson’s numbers, there’s a chance of mirroring MJ’s 1987-88 campaign. If so, then the NBA and its fans might be in for a treat.
Michael Jordan’s name continues to echo across sports, not only for his wins but for the journey it took to get there.
Horace Grant Slams Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ Portrayal
The impact of The Last Dance documentary still lingers years after its release, and not all former Chicago Bulls players were thrilled with how it portrayed them. Horace Grant, a key part of the Bulls’ first three-peat, voiced his frustrations with how the series centered on Michael Jordan while leaving others looking secondary.
Grant, who helped the Bulls win three titles, felt the documentary misrepresented many players.
“I could not believe how much they cut it up and made the majority of us look incompetent,” Grant said during a podcast appearance.
View this post on Instagram
A one-sided story. That’s the common denominator in the negative comments section as it did appear at some points that Michael Jordan’s involvement with creatives allowed him to also control some of the narratives. Despite this, MJ remains a towering figure in sports, but as Grant’s comments show, not everyone agrees that his legacy is gold.
For more sports content:
Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for your NBA and college basketball reading fix. You can reach out to Dan Agulto through email at papadanph@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
