Michael Jordan
That’s right…all of MJ’s championships came over 20 years ago, he hasn’t worn a Chicago Bulls uniform in over 20 years, and yet he is still one of the most impactful players of the last 20 years.
Michael Jordan still leads the league in shoe sales and is still brought up daily in NBA circles. As soon as Jordan had his second retirement (and final from the Bulls before a short Washington Wizards comeback most people try to forget) the next five or so years were literally focused on who the next Michael Jordan was.
Every year there was a new Jordan whether it was Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady or even Grant Hill…everyone was trying to assume the mantle, but it was none other than Kobe Bryant who truly became the closest thing to the next Jordan with nearly identical moves and earlier in his career, nearly identical mannerisms.
All commentators were comparing Kobe to Jordan from his 2000 takeover all the way through his fifth title in 2010 and LeBron James has been compared to Jordan since he tattooed “The Chosen One” on himself before being drafted as a high school phenom in 2002 with those conversations picking up, even more, this decade. LeBron literally wrote an article about chasing a ghost, referencing MJ.
Everyone still wears his shoes, everyone still wants to be a part of his massive Air Jordan brand and older players still talk about wanting to be Like Mike all the time. Not only that but in a 2016 Player’s Tribune article commemorating the 20th anniversary of Space Jam, many players credited Jordan’s starring role for piquing their original interest in the game.
The way Mike truly influenced the game is that he inspired all the 2000s greats and many of the 2010s greats to push their game to the next level and many players to work on footwork, fadeaways, jump shots, dunks and developing their clutch gene.
Without the inspiration Kobe, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson and many more took from Jordan’s greatness, all of the championships and epic moments from the last 20 years cease to exist.