- Here's what Brady and MJ do have in common. Let's-- let's find the commonality. Number one is they both had all-time coaches. Phil Jackson and Belichick are all-time coaches. They have that in common. Now-- now Michael didn't start with a great coach, but Michael's career-- he had a Hall of Fame coach. And Brady's got a Hall of Fame coach. They got that in common.
The second thing, they both had good teammates. I mean, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc-- those are good teammates, especially Pippen. And by the way, Brady's had Randy Moss, and Wes Welker, and Tedy Bruschi, and Rodney Harrison, and Gronk, and Ty Law. He's had good teammates too. So they both had legendary coaches. They both had good players. Here's another thing they have in common-- they've both had a little controversy. Michael Jordan-- did he gamble? He retired twice. You know if LeBron retired, you'd crush him for it. You would absolutely crush LeBron for retiring. MJ retired twice. Brady's got Spygate, Deflategate.
And the third thing they have in common-- they're both considered the greatest of all time. Michael's the best basketball player of all time. You can argue it, but it's overwhelmingly considered-- best basketball player ever. And most reasonable people consider Brady to be the best quarterback ever, and the best player, frankly-- I mean, at this point, he and Jerry Rice, Montana.
But-- but let's-- let's look at the differences. And I think the differences all favor Brady. I really do. And number one is Tom didn't have the player continuity. Michael Jordan had Pippen for every title. Brady has had different tight ends, different running backs. He's had 60 receivers, 46 running backs, 39 tight ends. Michael never won a title without Pippen. Never won a title without Pippen. If he didn't have his running mate, he didn't win titles. Brady's won with a lot more guys. Edge-- Tom.
The second thing that jumps out-- Brady has lost stars, multiple stars, going into a Super Bowl. He won a Super Bowl without Gronk. He can win this one without Edelman. Dante Hightower's been gone. He's lost Darrelle Revis one year to the next. Tom has played in huge games and in Super Bowls missing top players because the NFL simply is a league with more violence. It's-- it's a regulated violence. It's less physical than it was 10 years ago. Michael Jordan went to the finals, and Pippen was right next to him. Advantage-- Tom.
The third thing is Tom-- and this is indisputable-- has beaten significantly better teams. OK, Brady beat the Rams, who'd already won a Super Bowl. They were on their way to a dynasty-- beat them. Seattle had already won a Super Bowl, on their way to a dynasty-- beat them. Big Ben-- knocked him out. Peyton Manning legend-- knocked him out. Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, guys in their prime Tom's playing. He wins over them.
Michael Jordan never beat Larry Bird in the playoffs 0-6. He never beat the Pistons in their prime. He was 0-6 in the East against the Celtics and Larry Bird when they were playing in their prime. Never beat them. Oh yeah, he won 6 for 6 in the finals-- against Utah, Portland, Seattle. I mean, that Knicks team was his biggest rival for a lot of years in the East. They had nine guys that couldn't shoot. Their guards couldn't shoot. John Starks couldn't shoot.
Number four, duration. Tom Brady-- 17 years of dominance. 17 years of dominance in a more physical sport. Michael Jordan-- first to last title, eight years and retired in the middle of it. That is a clear edge-- mentally, discipline, duration. Huge edge-- Brady. Number five is another edge to Brady. Michael's career ended in a fizzle. Couldn't jump and playing for an awful team that he couldn't elevate. At 40, Tom is the MVP of the National Football League-- again. And number six, it's harder to win Super Bowls than it is NBA finals. You have a bad half, you lose in the Super Bowl. You can have multiple bad games against the Utah Jazz. Jordan did-- both finals he faced them, still won. He had two bad games against the Sonics, lost, and they still won. Just harder to win in the Super Bowl.
In the NFL, you've got a tight salary cap. In the NFC, we've had a different team every year. The NFC is the greatest example of how hard it is to win a Super Bowl. I mean, the NFC East-- when's the last time they had a back-to-back champion that was the same? The NFC South-- every year it's a different team. The only conference that delivers the same team a lot-- New England and Brady.
It's just easier to win in the NBA. If you have Pippen and Jordan, if you have Steph and KD, you get hurt less, you lose your teammates less, and even if you a bad night, it's a 7-game series. So those six reasons to me are absolutely advantages Brady against Jordan all-time. And frankly, Tom's getting to more Super Bowls. I didn't even mention that. You can be into perfection. I never have been.