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Patrick Ewing Insinuates that James Worthy Was a Better College Player than Michael Jordan

Published 05/27/2021, 6:00 AM EDT

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From being the force to be reckoned with, to the Greatest of all time, Michael Jordan has earned multiple names for himself. While most believe that his NBA titles, MVP awards, and scoring records make him unstoppable, there is also an unpopular opinion most people don’t like to hear.

However, Patrick Ewing said it out loud. He believes that there was someone tougher than Jordan, and it was James Worthy.

Before entering the league in 1984, MJ’s path to NBA greatness started off back in college itself. After excelling in high school, on receiving a scholarship from the University of Carolina, Jordan represented the Tar Heels in 1981.

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But when he entered, he was just an addition to the already star-studded team of college players. And one such player that had already made a name for himself was none other than James Worthy.

Worthy was Jordan’s senior and even entered the league two years before him. His talent had North Carolina coach Dean Smith stunned. But if there is anyone who knows what Worthy could do was his Georgetown opponent, Ewing.

Does James Worthy deserve more credit than Michael Jordan?

The two faced each other in the 1982 NCAA Finals in which Carolina took the win home. James had scored the highest points of all, that is 28, more than MJ’s 16 points. Even Ewing had contributed only 23 points to the board.

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In a recent interview, Ewing opened up about the toughness of Worthy. In fact, he insinuated that he should be put on a higher pedestal than Michael Jordan as well.

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“Every body talks about Michael and how great Michael was,” Ewing stated. “If it wasn’t for James Worthy, I would have two championships. The one that we didn’t have anybody to stop was James Worthy. He was too big, too quick. I think he had 30-something points against us. Everyone else we held relatively in check but we didn’t have anyone to stop him.”

This goes to show that anybody that ever played around Jordan got hidden under his shadow. No matter how great the player was. Worthy could have had a three-peat for himself too, but he did win three championships as well. Don’t you think Worthy deserves more credit than he gets?

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Written by:

Yashima Bhatia

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Yashima Bhatia is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports who specialises in providing nuanced predictions and updates for matches. She has a Bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication. Yashima's love for playing the game came up at a young age, when the excitement of the games coupled with the intensity of the Playoffs had her hooked.
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