Charles Barkley says Michael Jordan should have won more than 5 MVPs: "Michael Jordan was the best player three or four years before he got MVP"

Charles Barkley says Michael Jordan should have won more than 5 MVPs: “Michael Jordan was the best player three or four years before he got MVP” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

Michael Jordan walked away with five MVP awards in his career. A massive achievement on its own, but not quite enough according to Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who believes history has undersold just how long Jordan stood as the league’s most formidable figure.

Jordan played 13 seasons for the Chicago Bulls, and excluding his second year when he broke his foot and missed almost the entire season and his mid-season return after retirement in 1994, he was arguably the best player for nearly all the other seasons.

The best player

Barkley’s take echoes a long-standing conversation among players who lived through the brutal late-’80s and early-’90s Eastern Conference wars. In their view, Jordan’s statistical dominance and undeniable impact weren’t always reflected in the accolades.

“Michael Jordan was the best player three or four years before he got MVP,” Barkley said. “He just didn’t win enough games.”

Before 1991, Jordan had already claimed multiple scoring titles, a Defensive Player of the Year award, posted eye-popping efficiency on both ends and torched elite defenders nightly.

Yet aside from a lone award in 1988, the MVP votes favored Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, dynastic icons whose teams routinely finished at the top of the standings. Jordan’s Bulls, though lethal, had not yet cracked the Finals or stacked up the win totals that voters favored.

The stretch from 1987 to 1990 saw Jordan lead the NBA in scoring every single year.

He averaged 37.1 points in the 1986–1987 season, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Wilt Chamberlain, and still finished second in MVP voting behind Johnson. Despite consistently dragging a flawed Bulls roster to the playoffs, Jordan’s brilliance was often viewed in isolation rather than team context. Voters hesitated to crown him king without the wins to back it up.

This wasn’t an isolated occurrence in league history. MVP voters have traditionally rewarded stars who lead elite teams. It took years before Jordan’s unmatched consistency, defensive effort, and competitive drive converged with a roster capable of serious title contention. Once that happened, he won MVPs in 1991, 1992, and 1996, each aligning with the Bulls’ championship runs.

Jordan’s proving phase

Winning didn’t come easy for Jordan. Those playoff matchups against the Detroit Pistons, particularly from 1988 to 1990, shaped a vital chapter in Jordan’s career. Chicago was tough, scrappy and unrelenting, but Detroit was deeper and more physically punishing.

The Bad Boys had a system designed to wear Jordan down. And still, he produced elite numbers, fought through injury, and carried the Bulls deep into the postseason.

“He was the best player when he played against the Detroit Pistons,” Barkley said. “But he did not have a great team.”

Detroit’s dominance over Chicago wasn’t a reflection of Jordan’s shortcomings, but rather a gap in roster construction.

Before Scottie Pippen evolved into a superstar and Horace Grant matured into a reliable frontcourt piece, Jordan was essentially a one-man war effort. He took punches from the Pistons and kept coming back. Eventually, the Bulls learned from those losses. The franchise fortified its depth and toughness.

Once they broke through in 1991, the dynasty began. But those earlier years, when Jordan still dazzled despite the odds stacked against him, remain underappreciated in the MVP conversation. Barkley’s remarks remind basketball fans that greatness doesn’t always align perfectly with trophies. Sometimes, the best player in the world has to wait for the world to catch up.

The gap between individual brilliance and collective success is often overlooked in award voting.

Jordan paid that price early in his career. Yet the impact he made, routinely dragging an underpowered team to relevance, redefining the shooting guard position, and setting new standards for intensity, was unmistakable to those who shared the court with him.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.

Charles Barkley says Michael Jordan should have won more than 5 MVPs: “Michael Jordan was the best player three or four years before he got MVP”

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