[article] Citizen Jordan

my parents just ate there the other night...i'm anxious for a report back!

 

I also agree with Rokkit that the article tries to diminish Jordan as a basketball player. It makes it seem like he had some grand scheme since the age of 5 to develop this money making persona/brand.

Jordan first and foremost is a winner. That's his legacy. He loves the competition. He is a basketball player who improved his game almost every year of his first ten years in the league to try to achieve perfection. That's also his legacy.

I think the writer takes offense that Jordan has transformed sports marketing. That he has taken his legacy and chose to market it. And he is really the first American athlete to market himself as a brand. But that's just business. And it also goes beyond Jordan, mainly Nike.

Jordan has transformed sports marketing and that's also his legacy. He has helped transform an entire industry. When I walk into a Champ's Store I think about Micheal Jordan and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

 

After one hundred thousand years of sand and silt, when archaelogists dig up the fossils of magic johnson, when they dig up Ali, and when they dig up Billy Jean King, they'll find the same thing. It'll be on their feet. It'll be the logo. The Swoosh. You want social impact. It's the logo. It not only gave dreams to the whole world, it made them possible.

 

magic wore converse.

 

Great post pgabriel.

When I think Jordan, I think winning. Also, everytime I watch Steve Francis, T-Mac, Kobe, Lebron, etc. do one of those up and under layups, I think Jordan. When I think Jordan, I think the famous pose on his dunk to beat Wilkens in Chicago. And like pgabriel, I think of Jordan whenever I walk into a store like Champs.

I see no reason to criticize Jordan for the business decisions he's made. He could be doing a lot worse things.

 

Unfortunately, this is one aspect of sports celebrity status that I could do without.... it is an overhyped part of the industry, and its influencing where FA's want to play, what you should expect from a player, and it just adds to the "me first" attidue that perpetuates sports.

Jordan was never about himself on the court... until he tried to comeback with the Wizards. He let his performance speak for itself, and he never rejected an endorsement opportunity that came as a result of that play.

Now, you have people trying to emulate that... when they shouldnt. Carmelo is NOT a great NBA player yet. However, he's the frontman for Jordan's Jumpan shoe line, and its obvious that this puts expectations on a kid that's nowhere near meeting them. He's got a more prominent endorsement presence than guys who are head and shoulders above him in Duncan, Nowitski, KG, Nash, Shaq, and even his own temporary in Wade.

Also, I think the article brings to light that Jordan was NOT a great human being off the court... and only a player of his track record could not be affected by his transgressions while he was at his prime.... and as more time goes on from his greatness on the court, these things will start to come to mind more and more, rather than simply his excellence on the court.

 

look. for everyone in houston hakeem was not just the guy who brought us the championship. we all felt he was genuine, sincere, thoughtful, modest (at the end of course).

jordan? great basketball player. amazing stats. ridiculous will to win. but not the same character/social transcendence in my eyes.

if the critique of the article is that he wasn't as great of a basketball player....fine but if you cast that objection aside...what other objections are you left with?

jordan is capitalism. and its just that...its not 'human' its 'corporate'.

 

Yea i do agree MJ was all about capitalism. I never really heard any stories about him helping the larger community, I mean sure he's attended a few charities, etc etc..., but really, has he ever done something like Mutombo has done for his hometown of Congo or Manute Bol for Sudan? These two guys had a genuine passion about helping people when they speak about it. A lot of celebs attend charities or donate money just for the publicity of it.

Being so popular around the world and having that celebrity 'power', I thought that one thing MJ could have done was make the public more aware of the terrible working conditions and wages in corporate factories around the world. Being so closely tied with NIKE (which is one of the culprits), he could have worked with them to improve working conditions and wages of the people. These people slaved their asses off for a few dollars a day, while NIKE makes millions a day from their hard work. I saw the documentary of the NIKE factory in Saipan and let me tell you, it was like a prison there. IF he had made the public more aware and challenged one of his own endorsers, it would have made a HUGE difference in the practices and policies of other multinational companies.

Yea, MJ was one of the greatest to play the game and I loved watching him hit clutch shots and make athletic plays, I do think with the celebrity status he had, he could have used it differently. Now that I think about it, he is quite a selfish person..well, what can we expect from sports celebs these days when semistars talk about themselves in the 3rd person. It's all about ME, ME and ME.