I think it’s safe to say that Michael Jordan is the biggest “Franchise” player of all time?

[GameOver]

You might argue that Messi, C. Ronaldo, Maradona, Pelé or Ali are bigger but the Michael Jordan brand is unstoppable even decades after his retirement.

I mean, when one of the biggest football club in the world is sporting his brand you realize how fucking huge he still is.

 

[NekoNeko]

his brand is the biggest for sure. don't think there is any arguing with that.

 

[Ketch]

I think technically Shaq is bigger.

 

[The Albatross]

For sure, Jordan basically made Nike synonymous with basketball. Even if someone has surpassed Jordan for lifetime sales or something, that athlete's program does not exist without Jordan making it the norm, and prior to Jordan athlete branding for nike/basketball wasn't the same. At least for North American sports he was "the first best."

 

[shintoki]

People say they are wearing Jordans. Doesn't work nor sound as good with anyone else.

 

[RadzPrower]

Yeah, and given the way the world's changed since then, I don't think anyone else ever has a chance to beat him. Yeah, the brand may fade in time, but I don't think anyone else will ever compete in terms of longevity and notoriety. We just don't live in a world of single stars anymore because access is just so much higher than it used to be back in Jordon's day. One person could become the focus because the access to these people was limited to the media outlets. With modern-day social media, streaming, online articles...the coverage is just spread way thinner overall and diminishes the odds of a single player becoming an all-encompassing center of attention like Jordon did.

 

[Legacy]

Without a doubt

 

[BassForever]

Yeah, and given the way the world's changed since then, I don't think anyone else ever has a chance to beat him. Yeah, the brand may fade in time, but I don't think anyone else will ever compete in terms of longevity and notoriety. We just don't live in a world of single stars anymore because access is just so much higher than it used to be back in Jordon's day. One person could become the focus because the access to these people was limited to the media outlets. With modern-day social media, streaming, online articles...the coverage is just spread way thinner overall and diminishes the odds of a single player becoming an all-encompassing center of attention like Jordon did.

Click to shrink...

I feel like Jordan as a brand will be one of those things like Gibson where with time the fact it was named/started by someone will more of a footnote on wikipedia then something commonly associated with the man himself.

 

[thewienke]

I think technically Shaq is bigger.

Click to shrink...

 

[nihilence]

I think technically Shaq is bigger.

Click to shrink...

Lately I've been seeing commercials and ads with him everywhere.

 

[groganos]

Yeah he's got a massive brand but like I always associate franchise player with like the player you build your team around for the future for.... which Jordan definitely was that but was he the quintessential franchise player? Possibly, maybe, and I don't know. I think Jordan I think arguably the greatest to ever play the game, jumpman logo, the bulls, space jam, mci & Hanes commercial, the comeback from retirement season wearing 45, and finally that weird wizards period where everyone was selling merchandise for it instead of focusing on a return to basketball.
I'm not saying he wasn't a franchise player or one of the absolute best franchise players of all time because he's most likely the best basketball player of all time but greatest franchise player ever? I can't say

 

[Ketch]

Lately I've been seeing commercials and ads with him everywhere.

Click to shrink...

yea he's huge

 

[UltraMagnus]

Sports are at the end of the day entertainment and he does have a storybook style quality to his career which is hard to look past (taking his lumps early in his career, being doubted, being bullied by the Pistons, then eventually destroying them, the retirement odyssey, being doubted again, winning three more titles, the flu game, the last shot with the Bulls, etc. etc.).

6 championships as the defacto best player on a team is also frankly ... a lot. Even a guy like Gretzky who dominated hockey in a ridiculous statistical fashion "only" managed to win 4 championships in a 20 year career.

 

[ty_hot]

Is the Jordan brand even big anywhere outside the US? Nobody uses it in Brazil and I dont remember seeing it often in Europe in the years I lived there (in Spain which is one of the countries that most enjoy basketball).