Michael Jordan is universally known and accepted as the greatest basketball player to ever step foot on a basketball court. He owns more than a handful of NBA scoring records, among other records, and his dominance over the NBA in the 80s and 90s is a legend that is a necessary chapter in the story of the NBA. Everyone knows about the long list of Hall of Famers that he prevented from winning championships during his reign. But what about the players against which he holds the best head-to-head records? Today, we will dive deeper into that record.
Michael Jordan has played a total of 1,072 games in his career. He owns an overall win-loss record of 706-366. That gives him an individual winning percentage of 65.9% if you take out his years on the Washington Wizards and just focus on his time in Chicago, his record would be 639-291, a winning percentage of 68.7%. Jordan’s dominance sang to the tune of 6 championships, 6 Finals MVPs, 5 MVPs, and a long list of other accolades and awards.
There are a total of 310 players in which Michael Jordan holds an undefeated head-to-head record. Of course, I will touch on some of the more overwhelming ones rather than all 310, or else I would be here until Christmas of next year. Sorry folks, my kids need me. What does an undefeated head-to-head record mean? It means that Jordan and his team simply loved seeing the other individual and their teammates lined up against them. It means that Jordan has most likely taken up real estate in their heads, maybe even to this very day. It also means a whole lot of bragging rights.
Among all of his records, the undefeated one against 310 of his contemporaries might be his coolest, yet least talked about. Why is that? Well, most people, as they should, view basketball as a team game and never like to look at the real dominance a player may have had over another team or individual. It’s just like when we say Jordan is the one that prevented all of those Hall of Famers from winning championships. We know the Bulls had a whole lot to do with it, but one man stood out above the rest, Michael Jordan.
Here are Michael Jordan’s best head-to-head records vs. individual players.
Condition: Players must have played at least 9 games vs. Michael Jordan to qualify for this list
30-0 vs. Sherman Douglas
17-0 vs. Andrew Lang
16-0 vs. Chris Gatling
16-0 vs. Pooh Richardson
13-0 vs. Rumeal Robinson
10-0 vs. Loy Vaught
10-0 vs. Shawn Respert
10-0 vs. Alexander Volkov
9-0 vs. Brian Quinnett
9-0 vs. Pete Chilcutt
9-0 vs. John Morton
9-0 vs. Lionel Simmons
9-0 vs. Anthony Bonner
This list is not exactly a list of All-Star talent that furthers the GOAT conversation in Jordan’s favor. Nevertheless, Jordan has an undefeated record of at least 9-0 against 13 players throughout his NBA career. Sherman Douglas played 12 seasons with 5 different teams in his career, including the Heat, Celtics, Bucks, Nets, and Clippers. Douglas’ presence in the East had him crossing paths with Michael Jordan more often than he had hoped. In 30 games against Douglas, Jordan averaged 29.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 2.1 SPG on 53.3% shooting. Douglas started 20 of those contests and averaged 10.4 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 1.3 SPG. Most of the games were when Douglas was with the Heat early in his career in 1990 and 1991 when Jordan was at his very best and it showed.
The next best head-to-head record that Michael Jordan owns is his 17-0 record against Andrew Lang. Now, Lang is probably most remembered for being sent to Philadelphia from the Suns in the 1992 deal that saw Charles Barkley land with Phoenix. Lang enjoyed a steady 12-year career with the Suns, Sixers, Hawks, Timberwolves, Bucks, Bulls, and Knicks. In 17 games against Lang, Jordan averaged 30.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.9 APG, and 2.2 SPG. He used to love matching up with those Phoenix and Philly teams. Lang, on the other hand, started 10 out of 17 games and averaged just 5.2 PPG and 4.2 RPG. Talk about lopsided, huh?
Michael Jordan also went 16-0 against Chris Gatling during his NBA Career. Gatling was a 1st round pick to the Warriors in 1991 and earned an All-Star appearance in 1997. He averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.9 RPG in the 1996-97 season for the Mavericks and Nets. Jordan averaged 30.2 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 4.8 APG, and 2.1 SPG in his 16 wins versus Gatling. MJ’s opponent had some success too as he averaged 12.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG in the matchups. Jordan met Gatling 6 times in the postseason as well and was victorious in all 6 meetings.
Michael Jordan also had a perfect 16-0 record versus point guard Pooh Richardson. Richardson was a decent point guard in the early 90s for the Timberwolves, Pacers, and Clippers. In 1991 with Minnesota, Richardson averaged 17.1 PPG and 9.0 APG on the season in 82 games played. He followed it up in 1992 with 16.5 PPG and 8.4 APG in 82 games played once again. In 16 games against Richardson, Jordan averaged 29.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 6.0 APG, and 1.9 SPG. Jordan and the Bulls won all 16 matchups while Richardson struggled. He averaged 11.3 PPG and 6.8 APG on 45.5% shooting from the field.
Jordan’s 5th best record in head-to-head matchups was against Rumeal Robinson, against whom he and the Bulls won all 13 games played between them. Robinson had an 8-year career as a journeyman point guard, appearing in games for 7 teams throughout his career. His best season came in 1992 when he played all 82 games and averaged 13.0 PPG and 5.5 APG. In head-to-head matchups, Jordan averaged 29.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 7.4 APG, and 2.4 SPG on 55.8% shooting. Robinson did not stand out in any performance, averaging just 7.8 PPG in their matchups.
The players above that Michael Jordan has undefeated records against are not ones that jump off the page and make you say “Wow! Jordan dominated the greats!”. However, don’t be fooled. Jordan sported some great winning percentages against Hall of Famers as well. In 70 games against Patrick Ewing and the Knicks, Jordan won 70.0% of the time. In 56 games against Reggie Miller, Jordan and the Bulls won 64.3% of the time. In 48 games head-to-head with Dominique Wilkins, Jordan notched victories 62.5% of the time. The point is it didn’t matter who you were, Michael Jordan was going to find a way to will his team to victory more often than not.
There are only a handful of players in NBA history that can say they own a winning record against Jordan. He was the ultimate winner, leader, scorer, and soul crusher. If you got the best of him once, you could expect an all-time great performance the next time you saw him. That is just the way it worked when you battled with the greatest to ever do it. As much as head-to-head matchups can prove to be meaningless in debates, it is still a fun stat to look at who had the worst luck against an all-time great.
Credit the source: Basketball Reference
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