Back In The Day NBA

Hall Of Famer Uses Load Management Era To Squash G.O.A.T Debate

Shandel Richardson

Feb 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Lebron James and Michael Jordan on court during halftime during the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Feb 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Lebron James and Michael Jordan on court during halftime during the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway played in an area where players rarely took days off.

The goal was to play in many games as possible. He used that mentality to why Michael Jordan is the great player to ever grace the NBA.

During an apperance on the Mark Jackson podcast, Hardaway says it's impossible to consider LeBron James the G.O.A.T or greatest of all time.

"Michael Jordan is the GOAT, no question," Hardaway said. "He's been there six times and refused to lose six times. When he put his mind to playing defense, he went out there and played defense. He don't take no days off. and he gave a damn about playing 82 games."

Hardaway criticized the load management of today's game. Players are given rest days so they are healthy for the postseason. Before the season, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid said he would not play in back-to-back games because of maintenance purposes.

Jordan played in all 82 games nine times during his 15-year career. James accomplished it just once in 2017-18. Hardaway went far as putting Kobe Bryant ahead of James on the list.

"Load management," Hardaway said, laughing. "Michael said, `I'm going to buss your (bleep) in practice and them I'm going to go out here and bust your (bleep) in the game. But that's the way we was. No disrespect to LeBron ... to me, (No. 1) is Michael Jordan. 1A is Kobe."'

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com