What is the big deal? Jordan has said things like that before and of course he is arrogant. I appreciated his honesty, as far as his speech being self centered, it is HIS speech for the hall of fame, honoring himself. Also, I believe everything he said is true.... I will say this, you can see personalities through the speeches.... the soft nancy boy qualities of David Robinson versus the ultra competitive Jordan. Which would you rather have on your team?
Wojnarowski is a COMPLETE idiot for writing that article. A bully, pettiness?!! WTF; where did that come from? Jordan was just speaking his mind and being truthful. The incompetence of that article makes me mad......... Damion
MJ hasn't mellowed at all. I laughed at this portion of his speech when he mentioned how he scored 20 points in a row to win a game: "Tex Winters said there is no "i" in team." Jordan's response, "Well there is an "i" in win" One of my favorite MJ story is the one about the 92 Olympics where he reminisces about the time where Magic Johnson kept nagging him to play 5 on 5 because Magic could not accept getting beat in practice and MJ says something to Pippen and Magic storms off.
heres an example of how influential jordan is to baskeball: before this past fridays hof ceremony, how many of you have truly been this into a hof ceremony? (with possibly the exception of hakeems last year)
I'm not trying to take anything away from Jordan on the court, but I think Wojnarski is dead on. Jordan was a douche then and is now. Yeah, he was incredible, but it doesn't really change the fact. And the fact is, Jerry Krause ultimately was right: Organizations do win championships. I don't see why this board wouldn't outright agree to that (Morey is easily the most valuable person in the organization). And for those who don't believe me, just look at Tim Duncan in San Antonio versus KG in Minnesota. Players don't get to draft, they don't get to sign free agents, they don't get to make trades.
Don't be surprised. It takes a ridiculous amount of belief in self to achieve what he did. There are side effects - arrogance. But when you have an overdose of self belief plus an overdose of talent plus an overdose of competitiveness.... it's worth it.
Its a combination of both...but the coaches and players have more to do with it than the management. Put it this way...hypothetically speaking, if you have a kid who wants to be a doctor, as a parent, all you can do is provide $ to go to a good college and make sure the kid is able to eat everyday and has a car or means of transportation to get to school everyday, etc. But once you provide that, the kid has to get accepted into college, do well in college, get accepted into medical school, go through medical school, go through residency, and then 12 years later, the kid can finally become that doctor. The parents can pay as much $ as they want to, and if their child is accepted into Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, wherever...it doesn't matter, they still have to do the work after that, otherwise, they won't become a doctor and may get kicked out of the college. All you can do is give them the opportunity. Lets say you went and became a doctor after doing all the things that I listed, but your parents tried to claim that it was all because of them that YOU became a doctor...wouldn't you be atleast a little angry at them? I would be greatful for the $ they invested in me to go to school, but they didn't study all those hours, they didn't join clubs at school, they didn't pull all-nighters, they they didn't fill out numerous applications, they didn't go to numerous interviews, they didn't go through med school or residency. YOU did all that, not them. Now I'm not saying they don't deserve any credit, but the credit they deserve is providing you with $ (talking strictly about college here, not other values, taking care etc.) to go out and go to college. I would be pissed if my parents tried to say it was all because of the money they spent that I became a doctor...I think the actual work had more to do with the success. Relating this to Jordan and Krause...Jordan had a right to be angry at Krause. Jordan wasn't completely right, because he didn't give management credit in his speech. But if Jerry Krause thought it was all because of him that the Bulls won the title, then he is wrong. It wouldn't have happened without the moves he made, BUT all he can do is bring in and take away players...those players and coaches that are there that season still have to work hard and win a title. The most consistent plieces for the Bulls were Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson, so they had to lead whatever Krause brought in, to a championship for 6 years. Krause gave them the opportunity and resources in players to be competitive and dominant, but Jackson, Jordan, and Pippen made sure they were dominant and winning titles. Its a combination of management, coaching staff, and players, but ultimately the players get the most credit, with the coaches being a close 2nd, and then management.
Jordan's bitter to the last. Could you imagine Dream getting up there and going off on the teams and players he beat down? Have a little class Mike.
I agree, he did sound real bitter about everything. I don't think he's moved on...It wasn't a very classy speech in my books....he sounded like he didn't prepare at all.
Stockton was funny . Sloan/Stringer were inspirational. MJ was interesting. Robinson was good too. BTW anybody know where I can find video of the real GOAT's induction? (Hakeem). Been looking everywhere.
Here is what I don't get, why isn't Dennis Rodman in the hall? He may have been a headcase but the fact is he has 7 rebounding titles (all consecutive), many all-defensive teams (7 1st, 1 2nd), 2 All-NBA 3rd teams, couple of DPOY awards, and 5 rings with 2 teams. He won wherever he played (before his final two years in Dallas/LA). He is one of the greatest PFs to ever play the game (defensively/rebounding wise, the greatest).
I wonder the same thing. He definetily belongs for his on the court accomplishments. I think he will get in, but it may take awhile. There's no way David Stern would've ever allowed Rodman to be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer. I think once people forget about all the negativity OFF THE COURT, then he'll get in. In all honesty, he wasn't all that bad off the court...he for the most part only hurt himself with excessive drinking/partying. He had a few incidinces, but the thing that messed him up, IMO, was when he kicked the camera man in 1997. Plus many players would get into it with Rodman from 94-2000. He was a master at pissing people off. I say he'll get into the hall within the next 15 years...lets just hope he lives long enough to see himself inducted.
MJ was a ahole. If you have that kind of drive you can't be that nice. He was being real instead of portraying his pc front.
This reaction is even better: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_a...yon_russell_challenges_jordan_to_pickup_game/ EDIT: No mention of Mad Max in the speech?
I guess anyone that ever watched him play shouldn't be surprised by his bitterness. It takes more than being good to be that hungry to win. I just don't know how I feel about the notion that it takes a personality disorder to reach the highest level of success. EDIT: I guess that's why I like Hakeem so much.
bryon russell sucked and plus he was a jazzhole, but that last play where mj pushed off in order to get the open look in game 6 '98......that was a foul
I think his speech is fine, just some playful jabs at the guys. And I can understand where he's coming from with his motivational stuff. That said, I always have a problem with the notion that "I have to beat someone to feel good about myself." You know, that so-called competitiveness. I wonder what if Jordan played at the same time of some guy who was a bit more talented, a bit better, and just as motivated as he did, and Jordan never got the team to win multiple rings but that guy did. If Jordan played at the exact same level but was always the second best player in the league, would he be as proud and satisfied as he is now? What if he got plagued by injuries, and even though he tried his best he could not accomplish what he had actually done. Would he still thought well of himself? I like what Scola said during the Lakers series. "We are not afraid of losing. We just go out and play our hardest and our best." That's the kind of competitiveness I like. You compete with yourself, with your own limits, not trying to beat the other guy, but to beat your own very best. I think sometimes the so-called competitiveness of these great players come from the fear of losing, the fear that if they lose they cannot feel good about themselves. Well, some of them did succeed to win. But how many other less talented, or less fortunate, players did not succeed no matter how hard they tried and how much fear they had of losing?
In all honesty, Jordan's competitiveness is almost border-line mental disorder. It was unmatched. But anybody who is great at anything is always "a little off" in their head. It takes so much dedication, hard work, discipline, and focus to go out and be best at whatever you do. The people who you see winning championships, selling records, selling movies, making big $ in business, politicians...they are EXTREMELY competitive. The people who are usually validictorians in their high schools even...those students don't play around. Whether its them or their parents forcing them to get there, they'll do anything to get that honor. They'll sacrifice their fun, social life, sports, and even friends or family to get there, and they won't feel accomplished otherwise. To be great, you almost have to be a little crazy...not in a dangerous way, but in terms of focus, discipline, work ethic, and dedication to whatever it is you are doing. Its sad in a way, but it just goes to show you that the human mind is capable of many things if you are built that way. Most people are "normal" and are content with moderate success. But greed is a dangerous flaw, but it can get you a lot if you the work you out matches your greed. Most people, average to moderately successful people are not built that way to where they are "crazy". They still work hard and are good at what they do, but they aren't the greatest or the best at what they do. But for those few who can claim that they are the best at what they do, more often than not, they are obsessed with perfection, and will not settle for anything less.
