Source : Kent McDill, Beckett Tribute, 1993 Michael Jordan, the man who put the "Air" into basketball, was without question the greatest athlete ever to play the game of basketball. Was he, however, the greatest basketball player of all time? The distinction is a tricky one, and one that sparked Jordan's considerable drive during his nine-season joyride through the NBA. Now that he's decided to hand up his air Jordans and head for the links full time, the question becomes and issue of history. While the deep thinkers in the game try to shrug it off as apples vs. oranges, the mainstream, fans who have grown up watching the world's most famous tongue demand an answer. Was He the greatest basketball player of all time? Let's get the numbers out of the way first. Numbers,. after all, can be used to prove just about anything in sports, and they will prove here that Jordan was the best. In the year of his 30th birthday, 1993, Jordan won the NBA scoring title for the seventh consecutive season. His average of 32.6 points per game not only was almost three points per game better than No. 2 Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta; it was better than Michael's scoring averages of the two previous seasons. Joadan finished his career with 21,541 points in regular season play(ranked 15th all tinme) and a career average of 32.6 per game(ranked No. 1). * Jordan let the NBA in steals for the third time in his career. * He paced all vote-getters for the All-Star Game for the seventh consecutive season, proof of his immense popularity among the fans. * He was named the league's Most Valuable Player three times. * As his Bulls won their third consecutive NBA crown, he was named the NBA finals MVP for the third straight season, the only player ever to win that designation in consecutive seasons. Jordan rewrote the NBA record books. Before he shocked the world with his retirement announcement just days before trainning camp, Jordan was on track to own most of the league's all-time marks, including Kareem Abdul Jabbar's scoring record of 38,387. Did he do enough in nine seasons to be considered the player of all time? Questions remain. --- to be continued.