Is Caitlin better than Michael?

Michael Jordan was arguably the best one-on-one player in history. He was cat-like in his quickness and leaping ability.

Mortals can touch the rim. Michael could jump so high his eyes were even with the rim. I suspect he could snatch a dime off the top of the backboard and leave two nickels behind.

All that made him nearly unstoppable. And, though often overshadowed by his offensive prowess, those same abilities – along with unrelenting hustle – also made him one of the great defensive players of the game.

When your guy is scoring 35 and holding the opponent he’s guarding to 12, you have an unfair advantage. The Chicago Bulls led by Michael won the NBA Championship six times.  

Caitlin has a different game.

She shoots the ball like no woman ever has. The three-point line in college basketball is closer than the NBA line but she routinely launches from well beyond the line. She does it off screens, when she’s open on a break, and by making her own daylight with a quick release off the dribble. Against rival LSU this week, she made a record nine three-pointers on the way to 41 points in shooting her Iowa Hawkeyes into the Final Four.

Michael and Caitlin have something in common, along with other successful people in life. They compete like hell. They like to win, and they work extremely hard to do so. Because their enthusiasm is contagious, they bring out the best in their teammates – not by instruction or scolding, but by example. Their leadership is almost inadvertent.

Is Caitlin better than Michael?

Ah, here’s the rub. Caitlin could not begin to defend Michael. Too fast, too quick, too strong, too tall (Michael’s 6’6” vs Caitlin’s 6’0”). And she surely does not have the inside moves or acceleration to the basket that Michael had. With a full head of steam, Michael could literally dunk from the foul line 15’ from the basket.

Caitlin is no slouch but she can’t dunk the ball. That’s a tall order for a six-foot man, and it’s just not possible for a six-foot woman. It never will be. Dunking the ball is overrated – the best player in the world today, Nikola Jokic, seldom dunks the ball – but it’s a measure of jumping ability, and that is indeed important.

But Caitlin at age 22 is a better outside shooter than Michael ever was, even in his early 30s at the height of his career. Caitlin’s long-shot is at the NBA level. Luca Doncic, a terrific outside shooter and contender for the league MVP (though he’s likely to lose to fellow Balkan Jokic – who knew they played basketball in former Yugoslavia?) said of Caitlin “She reminds me of Steph Curry, man . . . She shoots it better than me, that’s for sure.”  

Curry is widely considered the GOAT outside shooter (It’s hard to compare him to guys who played before the three-point line was adopted such as Pistol Pete Maravich; but, still, my money is on Curry.)

Shooting is important. Last I looked, the winner is the team with the most points at the end.

The competitive fires of Michael and Caitlin are comparable. In both players, it translates into contagious enthusiasm and on-court leadership. In that, Michael has nothing on Caitlin. Michael always had an endearing shyness, especially when he was Caitlin’s age. Caitlin, on the other hand, is not shy.

Conventional wisdom is that one of the anatomical differences between men and women is that women’s bellies lack the testosterone-fueled fire found in men’s bellies. Maybe that’s so, but count Caitlin as an exception. An exceptional exception.

Here’s the acid test, I suppose. Would Caitlin beat Michael in a one-on-one contest?

No. No way.

But she’s in good company. Wilt Chamberlain would not beat Michael in a one-on-one game. Neither would Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Neither would Steph Curry. (Michael’s defense would shut down Curry’s outside shot, and Curry could never keep up with Air Jordan in the paint.)

Could Caitlin play in the NBA?

No, for the same reasons she couldn’t beat Michael one-on-one. The men are too fast, too tall, and too jumpy. White women – and Black ones too – can’t jump and, compared to men, are not fast or quick.

But . . .

That shooting ability. That fire. That command of the floor. That sense of the game. That classy leadership. This woman is a joy to watch. And she’s a better shooter than my favorite player ever, Michael Jordan. Women’s basketball has come a long way, baby.