It is important to read what I type here.... so I've been asked questions like this: "Bruce, I know defenses were more physical and harder to beat when Jordan played, but why do I see him getting so many good looks with his jumper?"

Well folks, I must say, that's a great question to ask, instead of just making blanket assumptions. First and foremost, thank you to hoopsencyclopedia for the footage I'm using early on in this series, but let me answer that question for everyone....

Michael Jordan had 3 different types of jump shots he liked to use, his ball in hand jumper (basically any jumper he took by creating a look off the dribble), his transition jumper (basically any jumper in transition before the defense could load up on him), and his catch & shoot jumper (you see guys like Ray Allen and Kevin Durant use that today.)

With the ball in hand jumper, Michael Jordan was able to use rocker steps, jab steps, step backs, pivots, pump fakes, quick lateral moves, screens, and much more to shake his defenders in order to get a good look. Defenders were afraid of Jordan's drive to the basket, so all it took was selling body language to appear as though MJ was gonna head to the basket and that alone created separation and put defenders on their heels. Also Michael Jordan's pull up jumper off the dribble was so hard to defend, because he would head to the basket at full speed, stop on a dime, and pull up for a jumper. So many times with Michael Jordan's pull up jumper you would see defenders fall right out of contesting range because he was so agile and his ability to raise up so fast took the defense right out of position to contest the jumper. Jordan made so many contested jump shots in his career, but the mark of a great player isn't making a contested jumper, the mark of a legend is shaking defenders in order to get a clean shot. There are players today like Kobe Bryant who are not consistently great at shaking defenders the way Jordan was, also the catch & shoot as well as the transition jumper is missing from Kobe's arsenal from a consistent basis.

One thing to notice about the evolution of Jordan's jumper is this, early in Jordan's career you saw more jumpers with his momentum coming towards the basket, which is very hard to execute, as his athleticism started to leave him a bit, he started using the fadeaway and lateral jumpers to beat defenders. Players like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant have tried to emulate Jordan's "aging" jumper, and never mastered that floating forward momentum jumper Jordan mastered as a young lion.

So when you take the sum of the whole parts, the ball in hand jumpers, the catch & shoot jumpers, and the transition jumpers to go along with the driving ability Jordan displayed, that's why he was such a versatile and literally unstoppable player.

The thing I want to point out to you is this, on most highlight videos on youtube, when they display Jordan's catch and shoot jumper, they do not show how he got open. So when you see Jordan perform a catch and shoot jumper, just keep in mind the scrambling, cutting, or slick court placement he used before taking and making that catch and shoot jumper. The only way to defend a player so great at working without the ball is a man to man defense, with help loaded up to contain his driving ability.

This video features Michael Jordan's "ball in hand" moves, aka off the dribble jumpers.

tags: Michael Jordan LeBron James jumpers fadeaways jumper fadeaway jump shot shooting shots game winner winners clutch basket baskets dunk dunks facial poster free throw line Dwyane Wade Kobe Bryant Clyde Drexler Dominique Wilkins Reggie Miller catch and shoot ball in hand dribble drive penetration defenses defense intense physical NBA basketball