MJ got outplayed by Shawn Kemp in the 1996 Finals. Simple as that. Nothing wrong with it... it's happened to every one of the greats at some point... it's okay to admit to it.

In fact, if you switch MJ's name with LeBron's we would still be hearing this day how he got shown up.

In order to back-up my statement that the only reason people don't say MJ got outplayed is because of his name, I ran TEN blind polls. Shawn Kemp went 10-0. In blowouts. Here are the results:

In the last poll, I even tried to put too many numbers to make it confusing, hoping people would just look at points and assists and pick MJ. Still didn't work...

As you can see, when you take the names out of it, it's pretty consensus that Jordan got outplayed.

But polls can be misleading, so let's dig a little deeper into that series.

Game 1 --> Shawn Kemp

Min: 41 to 41
GmSc: 24.1 to 21.2
BPM: 9.4 to 8.5

Game 2 --> Shawn Kemp

Min: 40 to 43
GmSc: 26.5 to 21.8
BPM: 16.5 to 12.7

Game 3 --> Michael Jordan

Min: 42 to 41
GmSc: 8.1 to 28.1
BPM: -1.0 to 14.6

Game 4 --> Shawn Kemp

Min: 33 to 41
GmSc: 24.6 to 9.8
BPM: 16.3 to -3.3

Game 5 --> Michael Jordan

Min: 46 to 43
GmSc: 13.6 to 15.1
BPM: 2.8 to 7.4

Game 6 --> Shawn Kemp

Min: 40 to 43
GmSc: 16.0 to 14.9
BPM: 7.0 to 3.8

Now let's look at the average GmSc. As I've already mentioned, it has its issues, but overall its formula benefits MJ a bit more:

MJ - 18.5
SK - 18.9

Now we remove the high and low outliers:

MJ - 18.3
SK - 19.7

So, it becomes even more clear who was better.

This my favorite one. First, it is important to note, ORtg and DRtg are impacted by the team performance. Players on the winning team usually have a positive NRtg and vice versa. 99 times out of 100, major players on winning teams have a better NRtg than on the other side.

With all that said...

ORtg...
MJ - 116
SK - 117

DRtg...
MJ - 107
SK - 106

NRtg...
MJ - 9
SK - 11

Remember, SK played in 88% of a series where the Sonics got outscored by 23 points.

This is crazy stuff, not sure how it happened.

Let's look at what they contributed, basic stat-wise...

Kemp:
Pts - 26%
Reb - 27%
Ast - 13%
Stl - 22%
Blk - 75%
TOTAL - 163%

Jordan:
Pts - 29%
Reb - 13%
Ast - 19%
Stl - 20%
Blk - 4%
TOTAL - 85%

So... not even close.

"WhO wOn ThE sErIeS"

MJ's teammates averaged a GmSc of 9.4 per 36 minutes. Kemp's teammates averaged a GameScore of 7.5 per 36 minutes. So Kemp was working with significantly less.

GameScore is mostly an offensive stat, though, so it should be noted that the Bulls were also the better defensive team. Heading into the series...

Bulls DRtg - 97.3
Sonics DRtg - 102.3

A pretty SIGNIFICANT leap.

Also, it would be a crime not to mention the difference in coaching. If George Karl listens to his players, we could all be looking at Jordan, Kemp, Payton, and more VERY differently.

In Game 4, Karl put Payton on MJ and his average GmSc went from 23.7 over the first 3 games to 13.3 over the last 3 games. The Sonics also won two straight after dropping the first three straight. If that decision was made G1, like Payton asked, they could've won that series.

So yes, Jordan got outplayed by Kemp. AND THAT'S OKAY!

I know we overlook it now and hide it because MJ can do no wrong, but it's the truth.

This man brings up an important point, I left out some context. I forgot to note that Kemp was guarded by Dennis. Rodman. the entire series. Jordan wasn't guarded by Payton until Game 4. And no disrespect, but GP isn't on Rodman's level defensively. https://twitter.com/BrandonHonaker1/status/1240237314489663489?s=20

Also, I know the feds hid the tapes on this one, but if we wanna talk about watching the game, let's watch Kemp outplay MJ on both ends of the court, back-to-back.