Numbers don’t do him justice, and comparisons are always subjective. You had to see Michael Jordan live, or at least during the time of his dominance, to understand just how great he really was, and how easy it was for him to score 40 or something points, regardless of who he was up against.

There are about a thousand examples of Michael Jordan going off for 40-50-60 points against a poor opponent. The later it became in his career, the more “proving a point” thing it became. Jordan’s scoring numbers dropped consistently since averaging a career high 37.1 points per game for five consecutive seasons because he slowly got a better team built around him, and he understood that shooting the ball all the time might not be the best thing for the Bulls.

He raised his scoring once again in the 1992-1993 season, his last before retiring for the first time. After coming back, his average dropped year after year during the second three-peat.

A team Jordan used to constantly go off against, especially in the playoffs, were the Cleveland Cavaliers. Be it Gerald Wilkins or Craig Ehlo, something always got Jordan going against the Cavs. One of the best examples for his dominance and extra motivation against the early 90’s Cavs who were a very good team, reaching the conference finals in 1992, is game 1 of their conference semifinal in 1993.

Jordan scored 43 points that night without hitting a single three pointer, but also without making a single shot that seemed lucky or made it look like he was trying too hard. He either posted up on defenders, guards or forwards, double team or not, or simply blew by whoever was trying to stay close to him on the perimeter. The game was made famous after Jordan spoke out loud about Geralrd Wilkins not being able to guard him. The Bulls went on to win and sweep the series before going through the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns and winning their third consecutive NBA title.