Almost no fans have seen Jordan play, but Jordan is still considered the number one person in history

On July 28, Michael Jordan's name was like an insurmountable mountain in the basketball world. Even for young fans who have never witnessed him galloping on the court with their own eyes, the title of "GOAT" (the greatest in history) has long become a consensus. This dominance that transcends the times is not accidental, but a legend built by multiple dimensions. When we disassemble this "hidden dominance", we will find that its core lies in the absolute crushing at the competitive level, the eternal value of cultural symbols, and the continuous appreciation of the business empire - these three dimensions are like a stable triangle bracket, supporting Jordan's still standing in the digital age.

The ultimate criterion for competitive sports is always results. Jordan used the hard-core data of six championship trophys, six FMVPs, five regular season MVPs, and ten scoring champions to build an achievement matrix that daunts later generations. What's even more shocking is that he never allowed the Finals to enter the tiebreak during his two three-game winning streak. This absolute control on the highest stage has almost become a fantasy in the modern NBA. The Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins and 10 losses set in the 1995-96 season was not broken by the Golden State Warriors until twenty years later. Jordan's performance in winning the championship, MVP, AMVP and scoring champion in the season has been no replicated. Modern data analysts often point out that Jordan's PER (player efficiency value) history, playoff score record holder, defensive team member and other cold data actually underestimate his killer instinct at critical moments. Those classic moments that have been recorded in history - "The Shot" Knights, "Flu Battle" scored 38 points, and "Last shot" locked in the sixth championship - constituted the most brilliant star belt in basketball history.

When we turn our perspective to the cultural level, Jordan has long surpassed his athlete status and became a super symbol of global popular culture. Nike's Air Jordan series sneakers still generate US$5.1 billion in revenue in 2024, which is more than the combined sales of current top stars Antetokounmpo and Curry endorsed shoes. The "Flying Man" bronze statue outside the Chicago United Center attracts more than 500,000 tourists to pilgrimage every year, which is three times the number of visitors to the Kobe Memorial Wall in Los Angeles. In the field of film and television, the documentary "The Last Dance" set a record of ESPN's documentary ratings when it was aired in 2020, allowing Gen Z viewers to intuitively feel what "Jordan is shocked". What is more noteworthy is that Jordan's iconic tongue-tag breakthrough action, No. 23 jersey number, champion cigar and other elements have evolved into synonyms of victory and excellence after 30 years of cultural precipitation. This cultural penetration continues to ferment in emerging platforms such as TikTok, and the cumulative number of videos on related topics has exceeded 12 billion times, among which the comparison videos of "Jordan VS James" have long occupied the top spot in basketball topics. The continued appreciation of commercial value constitutes the third pillar of Jordan's dominance. The 2024 Forbes list shows that the 60-year-old Jordan still ranks first in the athlete's wealth list with a net worth of $3.2 billion, and his Hornets' re-sale transaction is expected to bring a premium income of $1.5 billion. By contrast, James, the highest-paid career total income is expected to reach the $2 billion threshold until he retires. The endorsement contract between Jordan Brand and McDonald's, Gatorade and other companies has continued to this day, and this thirty-year business loyalty is unique in the history of sports marketing. In the Chinese market, despite the trademark dispute, Jordan Sports' 2023 financial report still shows that its annual revenue reached RMB 7.63 billion, proving the business magic of the word "Jordan". What is more interesting is that in the field of NFT digital collections, the digital copyright of the jersey worn by Jordan in the 1998 finals was sold for US$690,000, which is 11 times that of Durant's similar collection.

In the face of the doubts of the new generation of fans, the dimension of historical comparison is often the most convincing. When modern fans marvel at Curry's three-pointer rain, they often ignore Jordan's shooting percentage in the 1992-93 season when the three-pointer line was shortened; when discussing Antetokounmpo's offense and defense, they need to know that Jordan is the only player in NBA history to win both DPOY and scoring champions at the same time; when praising Jokic's high-level support, they should not forget Jordan's performance of averaging 11.4 assists in the 1991 Finals. This all-round technology has no shortcomings, making it difficult for any single technology to shake its position. In the NBA's official 75th anniversary celebration, Jordan still ranked first in history with a 78% vote rate. This result comes from the collective perception of active players. The memory reconstruction phenomenon in the digital age further strengthens the Jordan myth. Big data analysis shows that the average daily viewing volume of Jordan highlights videos on YouTube platform is stable at more than 8 million times, and the algorithm recommendation mechanism continues to push classic images to new users. In the 2K game series, Jordan's ability value is set to 99 all year round. This authoritative recognition of the virtual world affects the cognition of young players. The #JordanMoment topic on social media naturally grows about 200,000 pieces of content per week, and this spontaneous user-generated content is reshaping historical memory. It is worth noting that when contemporary stars face the problem of "comparing with Jordan", Jokic's response "we are not in the same league" and Doncic's "that's the God of Basketball" objectively constitutes the authoritative certification of intergenerational inheritance.

The ultimate code of Jordan's dominance is that he perfectly fits humanity's eternal desire for "heroic narratives". From being ordered to be in danger (joining the bottom Bulls in 1984), going through hardships (losing Detroit for three consecutive years), Ultimate evolution (developing back-to-back singles), Return of the King (first comeback), Retirement (turning to baseball at its peak) to a perfect curtain call (the last shot in 1998), this narrative arc is more in line with the mythical prototype than any screenwriter's idea. Psychologists point out that this complete and ups and downs of heroic stories has emotional resonance beyond time and space, which is why in the era of short videos with fragmented information, Jordan's legend has been continuously strengthened and sanctified.. When modern basketball increasingly emphasizes data analysis and load management, Jordan's paranoid aesthetic of "taking every game as the last game" has become a scarce spiritual totem.

Looking back in 2025, Jordan's hidden dominance is essentially a value resonance that transcends physical time and space. His game video became a basketball textbook, his business territory redefined the value of athletes, and his spiritual symbols continued to empower the brand economy.