“I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon,” James said. “There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn’t Michael Jordan first.
“He can’t get the logo [Hall of Famer Jerry West's silhouette adorns the NBA's logo], and if he can’t, something has to be done. I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I’m starting a petition, and I’ve got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I’m not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it.”
“If you see 23, you think about Michael Jordan,” James said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “You see game-winning shots, you think about Michael Jordan; you see guys fly through the air, you think about Michael Jordan; you see fly kicks, you think about Michael Jordan. He did so much, it has to be recognized, and not just by putting him in the Hall of Fame.”
Jordan hasn’t received enough recognition? Um, okay. Does anyone else feel that he’s been slighted somehow?
Other than LeBron, there are 12 players that wear the #23: Kevin Martin, Jason Richardson, Marcus Camby, Lou Williams, Martell Webster, Toney Douglas, C.J. Watson, Stephen Graham, Jodie Meeks, Devin Brown, B.J. Mullens and Wes Matthews.
It sounds like James is bitter that the NBA won’t change its time-honored logo to feature Jordan instead of Jerry West, so he’s putting together this silly petition to “honor” his hero.
This quote is the most telling…
“Now, if I’m not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it.”
So are the players honoring Jordan or honoring Lebron’s homage to Jordan?
Is it just me or is this an unnecessary waste of time?
Simmons’s latest column is dedicated to the age-old question: which month is better for sports/time-wasting — April or October?
On the Russian billionaire’s purchase of the New Jersey Nets…
You know the NBA is in at least a little trouble financially when it allows a Russian billionaire to buy a team. Five or six years ago, how fast do you think David Stern squashes the idea when someone says to him, “So, I guess the best way to describe him is that he’s like a Russian Mark Cuban”? Two seconds? One second?
Which raises the question: Did Stern just open the door to all foreign billionaires, or was this a one-time thing? I’d argue that the NBA was soooooooooo desperate to fix this Nets situation and salvage the Brooklyn complex that it didn’t care where the money came from. This was a one-time exception. We need a cash buyer. Period. I think a Saudi oil sheik would have been approved as an owner. I think Tom Cruise would have been approved. I think everyone short of a Pablo Escobar-type buyer would have been approved. It’s the NBA and it’s faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan-tastic … ( … -ally in need of some cash).
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wasn’t impressed with Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame induction speech.
This wasn’t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down. This was a night to leave behind the petty grievances and past slights – real and imagined. This was a night to be gracious, to be generous with praise and credit.
Jordan wandered through an unfocused and uninspired speech at Symphony Hall, disparaging people who had little to do with his career, like Jeff Van Gundy and Bryon Russell. He ignored people who had so much to do with it, like his personal trainer, Tim Grover. This had been a moving and inspirational night for the NBA – one of its best ceremonies ever – and five minutes into Jordan’s speech it began to spiral into something else. Something unworthy of Jordan’s stature, something beneath him.
When basketball wanted to celebrate Jordan as the greatest player ever, wanted to honor him for changing basketball everywhere, he was petty and punitive. Yes, there was some wink-wink teasing with his beloved Dean Smith, but make no mistake: Jordan revealed himself to be strangely bitter. You won, Michael. You won it all. Yet he keeps chasing something that he’ll never catch, and sometimes, well, it all seems so hollow for him.
You can see the speech for yourself after the jump.
I just watched the first four and even when you know how things turn out, they’re still pretty exciting. He truly was the best player ever to play the game.
- DEADSPIN says that hunting for the guy who shot and uploaded the now-infamous Erin Andrews peephole video is a futile effort, while describing the method the perpetrator used to shoot the footage. The site also laments ESPN’s (inevitable?) takeover of local media all across the country.
- According to Luke Walton, via an AVP announcer and SPORTSbyBROOKS, Lamar Odom will be a Laker. “Trust me.”
- NCAA Football 10 users should take note. Fully named rosters are now available, per TONYBLOGS.
- WITH LEATHER reports that MLB was not happy with President Obama’s decision to wear a Chicago White Sox jacket when he threw out the first pitch at the All-Star Game.
- Charles Barkley says that Tiger Woods’ career is more impressive than Michael Jordan’s, per AWFUL ANNOUNCING.
Remember when Michael Jordan got dunked on by a camper in the summer? Yes, the video was grainy, but there it was, His Airness posterized by a high school kid. I forget the guy’s name, but I’m pretty sure he was from the Milwaukee area and that I played against him in the Easter Seals All-Star Game in high school. He had his 15 minutes of fame, and then I never heard about him again.
What’s my point? Well, LeBron James just got dunked on at his skills camp by Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, and according to Gary Parrish, the tapes were confiscated by a representative from Nike.
Turns out, there were at least two cameras rolling Monday night when Crawford dunked on James during a pick-up game here at the LeBron James Skills Academy. It was a two-handed jam, the kind that would’ve circulated quickly on YouTube. But Nike officials eliminated that possibility shortly after the dunk happened by allegedly confiscating tapes from various cameramen.
Worth noting is that there is no policy against filming at the LeBron James Skills Academy, and Miller said he had been filming all day without incident. Nobody ever told him to stop. Nobody ever said there was a problem … until after Crawford dunked on James.
“LeBron called Lynn over and told him something,” Miller said. “That’s how I knew his name was Lynn. LeBron said, ‘Hey, Lynn. Come here.’”
Minutes later, Miller said Merritt demanded his tape.
LeBron shouldn’t be worried about the tape ruining his image. He should be more worried how it looks to confiscate the tape. This is a case where the censorship is worse than the actual incident.
Until recently, James has always acted wise beyond his years. But this, coupled with his refusal to shake hands after the Eastern Conference Finals, indicates an underlying immaturity. He (or Nike) is so concerned with his image that he (or they) don’t think about the ramifications of confiscating a video that makes him look bad. This only makes him look worse.
Mark Jackson mentioned Lucas’s comments about Kobe during last night’s broadcast and said he didn’t disagree.
Lucas goes on to compare Kobe to Michael Jordan, but we seem to be forgetting the elephant in the room…
Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan.
There is no doubt in my mind that Duncan is most fundamental player I’ve ever seen play. (Hence his nickname.) His post up game is polished, he doesn’t force anything, he is solid in all aspects of the game and he’s a tremendous defender. There is no doubt that Kobe is a great player, but he gets out of position sometimes defensively and he’s a streaky shooter because his shot is flat. Tim Duncan is the most fundamental player to ever play the game.
Posted by Christopher Glotfelty (04/19/2009 @ 5:33 pm)
- SPORTSBYBROOKS reports that the Washington Nationals have fined Elijah Dukes for tardiness. Where was he? Signing autographs for little leaguers.
- TONYBLOGS was one of the countless sites that spotted this Washington Nationals wardrobe malfunction.
- Don’t care about European soccer? Well, head on over to GUNAXIN and take a look at who these players end up dating. Maybe then you’ll tune in to a game or two.
- THELOVEOFSPORTS ponders the current state of Michael Jordan.
- Uncoached.com compiled 10 awesome Michael Jordan commercials that are, well, awesome.
- The Love of Sports plays the “What If?” game and wonders what if Barry Sanders didn’t call it quits in 1998.
- SPORTSbyBROOKS.com has the story of the community college basketball coach who stole money from the school and also submitted fraudulent admission applications for his out-of-state students. Well done, coach.
Today is the 10th anniversary of Michael Jordan’s final retirement (from the Bulls — his stint with the Wizards doesn’t count) and ESPN’s J.A. Adande was there.
There were more than 800 reporters in the United Center that day. I was part of a two-man team from the Los Angeles Times. Can you imagine more than 800 reporters from around the country converging to cover a retirement news conference today, with a bank of 25 cameras focused on one individual and a fleet of satellite trucks parked outside to beam his words to the world?
There’ll never be another Jordan the way there’ll never be another Johnny Carson or another Walter Cronkite. Individuals don’t hold our interest that regularly and that long anymore.
Adande goes on to discuss how the current economy and the age of YouTube will keep the Jordan mystique secure. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James both can capture the public’s attention, though not in the same way as MJ did. Kobe is seen as a prima donna who can’t win a title without Shaq (pending 2009 season). Oh, and the incident in Colorado doesn’t help either. LeBron is criticized for not being focused enough on his game and there are more than a few that wonder if he has the kind of killer instinct required to rack up multiple championships.
Jordan retired in 1999, when the economy was booming and the newspapers were doing just fine. Publications had the resources to send a reporter or two to Chicago to cover MJ’s retirement. I don’t think we could say the same today.
