Jordan was a true marketing dream. He was super athletic, and had great all around skills. He certainly did not "save" the NBA as some people (and ESPN anchors) seem to believe. The NBA was in a bit of financial trouble in the mid-late 70s, but Larry Bird and Magic Johnson took care of that five years before Jordan came down the pike.
The evolution of super athletic players probably began with the career of Elgin Baylor, whose career covered the 1960s... there were a few other guys who played a "modern" game at the time, such as Connie Hawkins... then, beginning in the mid-1970s, Julius Erving sort of picked up where Elgin Baylor left off... In his ABA days, Dr J was probably even more athletic than Jordan was in his prime. Plus, Dr J had these huge hands and could handle the ball like a grapefruit when he was up in the air.... and with the big ol' afro he wore in his ABA and early NBA days, he just looked really scary going to the basket.
By the time Erving reached the NBA, his game was somewhat toned down (by design, as the NBA was more traditional than the ABA). But Dr J's game still showed plenty of athleticism.
Jordan basically took what Erving did, and took it up yet another notch.
In the 80s, Jordan established himself as the most athletic player in the league (very possibly in NBA history). Although he wasn't the best player of the 80s, he was the most athletic, and he did (along with Dominique Wilkins) perform the best dunks.
Jordan's style of play made him very popular. David Stern quickly realized this, and began marketing Jordan heavily. It was obvious that Jordan was going to be a fun player to watch. Even though he didn't have eye-popping stats in college, that was because he played for the very team-oriented Dean Smith at North Carolina. But we all knew he would be a great pro and, in fact, would probably be better in the NBA than he was in college (where he could only show flashes of his athleticism). It was wisely said that Dean Smith was the only guy in the country who could hold Jordan under 20 ppg.
Much of the GOAT hype is due to NIKE. NIKE has paid untold millions of dollars to the NBA and to ESPN to promote Jordan as the GOAT. The NBA, like the NFL and MLB, never really promoted any one player as the best ever, until NIKE kicked in with lots of cash. Basically, they purchased the GOAT title for Jordan as a way to sell shoes.... as you know, it's still working... look at all the suckers who buy Jordans thinking that it's gonna make them a better basketball player.. With the millions upon millions of suckers who bought those shoes, how come we haven't seen another Jordan?
Jordan didn't have a lot of weaknesses in his game... his biggest weakness was probably outside shooting. Take a look at his 3 point percentages early in his career... under 20%.
Stern and the NBA solved this problem by simply moving the 3 point line in. You can see the years that the line was moved in by looking at Jordan's 3 point shooting percentages:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html
Jordan and the Bulls were able to compensate for the lack of an inside offensive presence (after the departure of Horace Grant) by using the 3 point shot to great advantage.
In reality, there is no true GOAT... it really depends on what definition you want to use.
A previous answer listed Jordan's accomplishments... but there are a couple of players that are just as decorated as Jordan was.
Breaking it down:
Was Jordan the best shooter ever to play the game? No
Was Jordan the best passer ever to play the game? No
Was Jordan the best ball handler ever to play the game? No
Was Jordan the best rebounder ever to play the game? No
Was Jordan the best teammate ever? Not if you ask anyone who played with him.
Was Jordan the best defensive player ever to play the game? No
Did Jordan win more MVP awards than anyone who ever played the game? No
Did Jordan win more rings than anyone who ever played the game? No
Did Jordan play in more all star games than anyone who ever played the game? No
Did Jordan ever lose a game 7? Yes. Did Bill Russell ever lose a game 7? No, he was 10-0 in game sevens.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2453844&type=Columnist&imagesPrint=off
Was Jordan the best dunker ever to play the game? Debatable, but imo, he wasn't. But he's way up there on the all time list. Top 3 or 4 at the very worst.
Did the Bulls collapse when Jordan retired in 1993? No, they went from 57 wins with Jordan to 55 wins without him. You lose the GOAT and your team declines by only TWO games????
Did the Bulls defense collapse following his retirement in 1993? No... in fact, the 1994 Bulls allowed fewer points per game and held their opponents to a LOWER field goal percentage than they did in 1993, with Jordan. You lose the supposed best defensive player in the league, and your team defense IMPROVES? How does THAT work?
shoot... I had a few more points to make, but Y/A cut off the text of my answer after a certain point... why does it do that? can't get it back, oh well...