Michael Jordan may not be the greatest winner in NBA history. That mantle belongs to the great Bill Russell who won 11 championships in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics.
But Jordan may have been the most dominant winner in his time ruling the NBA.
20 different Hall of Famers fell victim to MJ and the Bulls in the late 80s and 90s. Six of them losing to Jordan multiple times.
No one feels sorry for the New York Knicks these days but in Jordan's era it was easy to be sympathetic to Patrick Ewing and his Knicks who had their championship hopes halted by MJ five times — more than any other Hall of Famer. The one time Ewing and the Knicks were able to break through was when MJ was off playing baseball in the 1994 season as they pushed the Houston Rockets to a thrilling seven-game series. Ewing would get another shot at a ring after Jordan's second retirement in 1999 but would have to watch from the sidelines as his Knicks got swept in the Finals by the San Antonio Spurs.
Charles Barkley also fell victim to MJ and the Bulls, losing to Chicago twice with the Philadelphia 76ers. When he eventually got away from Jordan in the Eastern Conference, Sir Charles finally made it to the NBA Finals in a year which he won MVP and led his team to a league-best 62 wins. It didn't matter as the Bulls completed a three-peat, leaving Barkley ringless to end his career.
Karl Malone and John Stockton are still wondering what could've been as their Jazz had Jordan and the Bulls as close as they may have been on the ropes in back-to-back Finals. Both of them retired ringless.
Alonzo Mourning fell victim to Jordan three times in the postseason but would earn a ring in the twilight of his career, long after Michael had retired for good.
Of the 20 Hall of Famers Jordan eliminated from the playoffs, eight of them retired without adding a title to their resume. Mourning and three others had to wait to sneak one in when Jordan was retired.
Gary Payton who was 37 and playing his second to last season in the league is probably still-high fiving Mourning who was 35 after their 2006 win with the Miami Heat.
Clyde Drexler who got dismantled by Jordan in the 1992 Finals saw his window of opportunity open up in 1995 when he was traded to the defending champion Houston Rockets. At 32 Drexler would hoist the title before MJ came back for his second three-peat.
And finally, Shaquille O'Neal would become the most dominant force the league had seen since Wilt Chamberlian, but that didn't happen until MJ and his Bulls' dynasty were in the rearview mirror.
In the upcoming documentary "The Last Dance" we'll get to relive the Bulls' 1997-98 season — the last of the Jordan-era dominance.
For many basketball fans around the globe, it will be an opportunity to relive some of the great moments of the 90s, but for MJ's opponents, it will be like reliving a nightmare that won't end.
Because when the league was his, no one was winning under Michael Jordan's watch.
| Names | Times Eliminated |
| Patrick Ewing | 5 |
| Charles Barkley | 3 |
| Alonzo Mourning | 3 |
| Karl Malone | 2 |
| John Stockton | 2 |
| Vlade Divac | 2 |
| Joe Dumars | 1 |
| Isiah Thomas | 1 |
| James Worthy | 1 |
| Magic Johnson | 1 |
| Dennis Rodman | 1 |
| Clyde Drexler | 1 |
| Dominique Wilkins | 1 |
| Shaq O'Neal | 1 |
| Gary Payton | 1 |
| Dikembe Mutombo | 1 |
| Reggie Miller | 1 |
| Chris Mullin | 1 |
| Jack Sikma | 1 |
| Maurice Cheeks | 1 |
The views expressed here do not represent those of the NBA or its clubs.