Recent retirees
Late retirees that played for a long time after MJ ended his NBA career following the 2002-03 season, as a member of the Washington Wizards, deserve mentioning on this list too. Here’s who we feel like should be mentioned on this list.
Dwyane Wade, Guard
Although they never played a game against each other, there are tangible similarities between MJ and the former Bulls and Miami Heat talented guard Dwyane Wade. This future Hall-of-Famer had 13 career All-Star selection, eight All-NBA selections, one Finals MVP, one All-Star Game MVP, and three titles. What eluded Wade were those highly coveted MVP honors.
Allen Iverson, Guard
Much of the years that Hall-of-Fame volume scoring combo guard Allen Iverson played in the NBA were at the latter end of MJ’s career with the Bulls and Wizards. Iverson did have that famed moment of crossing up MJ during his rookie season. And he spent most of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets. He didn’t get a single title but he did win on MVP, two All-Star Game MVP’s, 11 All-Star selections, seven All-NBA selections, four scoring titles, and three steals titles.
Kobe Bryant, Shooting Guard
It’s hard to fathom that the Los Angeles Lakers legendary shooting guard and the recently passed Kobe Bryant only got one MVP in his entire NBA career. He did have a whopping 18 All-Star selections, 15 All-NBA selections, 12 All-Defensive Team selections, four All-Star Game MVP’s, two NBA Finals MVP’s, and five titles. He’s probably the closest it gets all-around to an MJ comparison among any player that played for a while after he retired for the final time from the Wizards.