The Next Michael Jordan
The public has been actively searching for 25 years to find the next Michael Jordan. Claims have been made about obvious candidates like Kobe, Lebron, and most recently Anthony Edwards. They're all great basketball players; Kobe and Lebron won championships. There are aspects to their play and careers that allow for someone to begin to make a case. We all know it's a reach, though. When we have something awesome, we want more of it. We try to manifest it. We try to see it in places it may not exist.
The truth is, Michael Jordan was so much more than a superstar basketball player who won championships. Those elements existed, of course, but he was also a revolutionary cultural force. He was different. He was unique. He did things that others couldn't do and hadn't done. He played with a flair that was genuine, electric, and had the ability to completely entrance anyone lucky enough to witness his otherworldly athleticism.
When I think about those rare qualities, there is a name roaring at the gates that simply won't go away. It seems crazy at first. He doesn't even play basketball. He hasn't won a championship. His journey is not complete. Yet there are undeniable parallels to MJ. He goes by LJ. His name is Lamar Jackson. Watching him on Thursday Night Football hold the follow through on his game-winning jump touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman struck me like watching MJ fly through the air, tongue out, enroute to a thunderous dunk would. Iconic. That’s something, but it isn’t everything. Let’s examine the merits of the case.
The efforts to label subsequent basketball players "the next MJ" was a natural human reaction. It satisfied our desire to fill a void, to put the universe back into equilibrium. Nature abhors a vacuum. Yet no players really fit the bill. There were valid points to argue, but there simply hasn't been anyone who lived up to what MJ was. It isn't easy. It shouldn't be easy. It would be fair and reasonable to consider that none of us would ever see anything like it again in our lifetimes. Things that are rare and special don't come along often. "Thank you Captain Obvious ... " that's literally what rare signifies. Rare isn't common; rare isn't always accessible. Transcendent figures like MJ aren’t found around every street corner. They come along once in a matter of decades … if we’re lucky. “The next” can’t be forced, despite our inclinations and many efforts. It must occur naturally; it must be authentic, undeniable, and real.
Let me present to you some points that are real and undeniable. They happen to apply to both MJ and LJ:
-Eye popping athleticism. Takes your breath away.
-A plethora of highlight reel plays. Plays you don't see others make.
-The will to not only carry their teams to victory, but do it in ways that are unique and jaw dropping, Mystifying and unbelievable. Things we never imagined seeing.
-The ability to make plays that seem to be on the edge of reality. We watch and wonder if anyone should even be able to do what we just witnessed.
-Dominating statistically in multiple facets of the game. For MJ it was scoring AND defense. For Lamar it's passing AND running.
-Signature moments. Some examples are presented below. Go treat yourself to some highlights.
From a career arc perspective, the comparison also checks out. Both come into the national spotlight in college. They put themselves on the map, gaining notoriety with success at the college level. Michael Jordan earned player of the year and secured the National Championship with his iconic game-winning shot against Georgetown. Lamar Jackson won the Heisman with 3,500+ yards and 30 TD’s passing to go along with 1,500+ yards and 21 TD’s rushing. He left us with the lasting image of the Lamar Leap against Syracuse.
At the professional level, both MJ and LJ experienced individual success early. MJ was the MVP in his fourth season; LJ in his second season. Both revitalized a franchise in need of a spark. Both suffered injuries and battled back. Both garnered a fanbase that extended far beyond the team they played for. Fans of the sport were in awe of them and even people who weren’t basketball or football fans couldn’t help but take note of the sensational performances. They put on shows you couldn’t get elsewhere and didn’t expect to see anywhere. MJ and LJ made plays others can’t do and hadn’t done before.
To touch on some of the unforgettable signature moments, we already mentioned the image of Jordan’s iconic free throw dunk and Lamar’s recent game-winning touchdown pose. Those are lasting images that capture brilliance, dominance, and grace. There also exist moments of significance marking milestones in their careers. The “exploding onto the scene” moments for MJ were plentiful. I encourage you to watch a highlight reel of his rookie season; pick any of the dunks in transition or otherworldly finishes at the rim while hanging in the air and attacking the paint with a vengeance. Lamar also had many early highlights, of course, but one that stands out is his 47 yard TD run against the Bengals in 2019 when he spun four defenders into a different universe: “Houdini.”
Both had coming out parties as forces of nature. For MJ, the most noteworthy was in 1986 playing against Larry Bird and the Celtics in game 2 of a first round playoff series. Prior to this game, Jordan had been hurt for almost the entirety of his second season. Jordan scored a post-season record 63 points, leading Bird to comment “I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan.” Lamar Jackson spent more than half of his rookie year as the backup. In his first season-opening start the next year, he announced his presence by blowing the doors off the Miami Dolphins, throwing five touchdowns on his way to a 59-10 rout.
Among the many great games that MJ and LJ have both had, there are a couple early in their careers that stand out as the coronation of being “that dude.” The type of dude where nothing else matters, as long as you have that guy on your team, you can win any game. Michael had a stretch of three games at the end of the 1987 season where he scored 50 points, including a 61 point effort against the Hawks. In that game, he scored a record 23 straight points. He cemented his NBA scoring title for that season with an average of 37.1 points/game and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player to record over 3,000 points in a season. For Lamar Jackson, this occurred on Monday Night Football in 2021 against the Colts. Trailing 22-3 with less than a minute left in the third quarter, Jackson threw four touchdowns to win the game in overtime 31-25. He accounted for over 500 yards of offense HIMSELF with 442 passing and 62 rushing.
Michael Jordan suffered agonizing defeats in the playoffs for the first six seasons of his career. Lamar Jackson has had his fair share of playoff frustration to begin his career. What do these two do following such gut-wrenching losses? They come back the next year with even more fire, fury, and motivation. They get better. They evolve their games. They become more motivated. Michael Jordan reached the mountaintop and managed to stay there for six championships. Nobody knows what the future holds for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Anything is possible, but it would be presumptuous to assume that he does that or anything resembling it. What can’t be denied are the parallels between MJ and LJ up to this point in their respective careers.
Also, MJ had the Air Jordan. LJ has the Entire Gym. Don’t worry about it.