World's greatest?

"Be Like Mike."

Thanks to three simple words, one soft drink company, under the illusion of athletic enhancing fluids, changed the national lexicon.

Over the last few weeks as we've seen Michael Jordan play in his last NBA All-Star game and celebrate his 40th birthday it became apparent that people were lining up to accede that Mike was, quite simply, "the greatest."

I started asking, "Why?"

Why do we accept, without question, that "Air" Jordan was the greatest basketball player to ever live? And why do people expand that premise to include terms like "the greatest athlete" of all time?

I have certain reservations about the former and I would likely give my last breath to refute the latter.

I know that this particular view will not be popular and, in many cases, will simply be dismissed out of hand. But, let's take a closer look at scoring, awards and finally winning.

First of all Michael Jordan is not the leading scorer in NBA history. He's third behind Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and future Hall of Famer Karl Malone.

Granted, he does lead the league in his career points-per-game (PPG) ratio at 30.3, but he's just barely ahead of legend Wilt Chamberlain who boasts a career 30.1 PPG mark. (However, I have a feeling Jordan's career mark won't survive this final hurrah with the Washington Wizards as he's averaging under 20.0 PPG this season.)

Both Chamberlain and Jordan led the NBA in scoring over seven consecutive seasons during their playing careers. Jordan does have a slight edge here with 10 overall scoring titles.

However, if Mike was scary to opponents, Chamberlain was an absolute monster.

In 1961-62 Chamberlain averaged 50.4 PPG. He also amassed 118 fifty-plus PPG efforts in his career and added 126 consecutive games with at least 20 points.

MJ doesn't even come close to either of those records in, what many would agree, was a watered down version of the original thanks to expansion.

Jordan has won a host of individual honors, including the NBA Finals MVP Award six times. Shaquille O'Neal, though, has won the last three and doesn't appear ready to roll over with his 2002-03 version of the Lakers just yet. I think a more impressive feat was Jabbar who captured his two finals MVP awards 14 seasons apart.

Jordan has only five regular season MVP titles to Jabbar's six.

For all you defensive proponents out there who rush to point out Jordan's defensive contributions, those highlights have to be discounted. The league didn't start handing out the Defensive Player of the Year Award until 1982-83.

But what about rings you ask? In other words, what about winning?

Bill Russell took his teams to the finals in 12 of the 13 seasons he competed. He won an astounding 11 of them including eight in a row.

It's possible Jordan might have duplicated this feat, but his two premature retirements (including one ill-fated shot at major league baseball and the subsequent gambling whispers) will forever diminish that possibility.

I know it's not really fair to compare athletes from one era to the next, but we have to seriously ask ourselves how much of Jordan was myth and how much reality? Or better, how much was reality and how much was due to the marketing might of Nike?

I believe to be considered "the greatest" in your sport it has to be indisputable.

Wayne Gretzky is the best example.

"The Great One" has more assists than Gordie Howe, the NHL's second all-time leading scorer, has goals and assists combined!

That leads to the more slippery slope of whether or not Jordan can be considered the "greatest athlete" who ever lived.

I don't even know if Jordan can be considered the greatest athlete in basketball history. Both Russell and Chamberlain were champion track athletes at one time or another. Jordan seems to hit a golf ball about as well as he ever hit a curveball.

A lot of critics also point to the "Human Highlight Film" Dominique Wilkins as the greatest slam-dunk artist ever. Reviewing some of the tapes of previous Slam Dunk contests, including the two Wilkins won, appear to support this claim.

Was he fast?

Someone like Carl Lewis is fast so let's not even go there.

Was he a great leader?

Muhammad Ali was a leader. Ali would say things he felt were necessary, consequences be damned. In fact, he almost did sacrifice his career for principles.

Jordan once refused to enter into a political debate on the premise that "Republicans also buy shoes."

Was he the revered world figure we have come to accept?

Put Jordan up against the likes of soccer legend Pele in most quarters of the world and the likely result would favor the World Cup legend. Jordan would, of course, get the nod in the USA, Canada and most of the westernized world.

However, Europeans, Latin and South Americans love their "football" in a way most North American fans will never understand.

Was he a daredevil like former F1 Champ Aryton Senna, or as cold and focused as current champion Michael Schumacher?

Did he change a game like a Babe Ruth, or change his position like a Lawrence Taylor?

And finally, where's the "yin" to his "yang."

Larry Bird had "Magic" Johnson. Jack Nicklaus had Arnold Palmer. John McEnroe had Bjorn Borg.

I can't really place someone in that category for Jordan.

Jordan was a fantastic talent and complemented that as a shrewd businessman and shameless self-promoter. He had game mere mortals can only dream about. He certainly belongs among the top four or five basketball players of all time.

However, let's not throw away the crown just yet.