To say MJ wasn't a team player early is wrong. I remember a stretch in 1989 when they had lost their point guard where he moved there and went for seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in 11 games. That season, he ended up with 15 triple-doubles and five more games where he missed it by one assist or rebound. Magic had 17 that season. Jason Kidd's career high is 12. MJ was one of the few players in league history that if u needed 45 one night, he could get it. If u needed 15 boards the next, he could get it. If u needed 15 assists, he could get it. It's just that in those earlier days, his team needed him scoring 35 a night in order to have any chance. But he absolutely could play the team game if he wanted to. He could do whatever he wanted to do on the court. Others have made the point that he didn't have a team to play with then. That's true so he needed to be more of an individual. But I hate when people say he didn't become a winner until he learned to play team ball. That's just not true.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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