not even gonna compare the compe ion.
the rules clearly favored his style of play. it would be laughable to see guys like lebron get to go either purely one-on-one, or be able to completely pick apart the defense should they decide to blatantly double. and
at anyone who thinks more leniency on hand checking is going to do anything to stop him from getting to the rim at will.
either we have to judge all eras as is, or we have to analyze them all fairly. we cant dismiss wilt and russell because they played weak and had stacked teams, in favor of mike, while completely throwing it all out the window when comparing mike to more modern generations.
i still feel overall, mike is the goat. but there is definitely arguments to be had otherwise, and he certainly had cir stances that he greatly benefitted from as much as anyone, while others didnt have near the same luxuries.
and to act as if he just demoralized and put the fear of god into every opponent he played, absolutely not. teams and players had a deep respect for him as a player, but its not like they just bent over and gave up as soon as they saw him. and if we are going to bring guys like bird into the equation, then thats just stupid because mike went 0-6 against bird in the playoffs. by time mikes teams reached their peak, bird was pretty much broken down as a player. highly doubt those bulls teams would win 6 championships if they were battling the lakers and celtics at their primes, as opposed to coming to power after they faded and the league had a severe lack of quality wing players