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Nick Wright's list of "Top 50 NBA Players of the last 50 years" has garnered a lot of criticism. With Michael Jordan being placed at No.3 on the list, NBA fans were shocked, reacting to it on social media.
Nick Wright has come under fire for his selections and rankings of legends in the last few weeks. While Wright had Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal being placed at #8 and #9 respectively earlier, the analyst had also seen livid reactions from fans.
However, the most recent addition to his list may see a bounty placed on his head in the basketball community. Having placed Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan at #3, NBA fans have shown no mercy while reacting to Wright's decision.
Considering that several believe Michael Jordan to be the greatest player of all time, here are some of the best reactions to Wright's ranking on Twitter:
With harsh criticism for where he's placed Michael Jordan, Nick Wright has also caught strays for other ranked players on his list.
Although the selection at No.3 came as a bit of a shock, Wright established a valid defense for this as well. However, with two more spots left to fill in this list, a few names come to mind for the upcoming selections.
Nick Wright's defense for placing Michael Jordan at No.3 in his list
Although Wright has caught an unbelievable amount of flak for his selection of Jordan at #3 in his list, he has made some valid points in doing so.
Wright outright mentioned that the Top 3 would consist of LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan. Defending his case for ranking Jordan at No.3 on his list, Wright had this to say on "What's Wright? with Nick Wright":
"I want to talk about what he did. And what he did was have, arguably, the highest peak of any player ever. Jordan's apex, you can argue, is the GOAT apex. The problem is, unlike LeBron and Kareem, the career was shockingly brief."
Very little of what Wright said in his explanation had to do with what Jordan was lacking on. The analyst went out of his way to highlight every major accomplishment the legend has and it puts his greatness into perspective.
However, the standing criticism, if any, merely happens to be the brief nature of his career. Jordan took time off from the game at the height of his powers and then retired again after 1998 only to return in the 2001-02 season.
Although Jordan played till the age of 39, he only played a total of 15 seasons in the league. While from some perspective this makes his achievements stand out even more, it remains a knock in terms of longevity when compared to LeBron and Kareem.
While many fans still believe that having Jordan at No. 3 on the list is blasphemous, Wright did a decent bit of justifying his stance. With practically zero negative comments about Jordan, Wright also made his comments diplomatic and valid.
