That’s actually a decent point that goes over peoples head.
An athlete can be amazing. But the hype machine takes over. And then it goes too far the other way.
MJ was clearly one of the best players ever and the best of his time. But the gap between him and others his era wasn’t as big as people make it out to be. But now over time people act like it’s blasphemy to say X player could even breathe the same air as MJ.
And yes, his defensive ability is highly exaggerated. But we’ve reached the point in sports where if you say “hey man, this guy rates as a 9.5 out of 10, he’s not 11. Which is still great, but…” the stans accuse you of being psychotic and a hater.