Who else was sickened by the Jordan-biased All-Star?

Have a sense of history dude. Jordan made the NBA the sport it is today. He carried a professional league further, financially and popularity-wise, than any other athlete has done in the history of sport. Perhaps the halftime serenade was a tad over the top... but how can anyone in their right mind begrudge Jordan anything?

 

Michael Jordan has never stood for anything except making money and playing basketball. He has NEVER been a role model in the mold of Muhammed Ali or Arthur Ashe, nor has he ever shown a willingness to sacrifice his image/career in any casue other than his own career, as opposed to the likes of Ted Williams, etc... I'm not begrudging him his remarkable basketball accomplishments, but what, exactly, has he done which wasn't self-serving, and therefore worthy of the right to 'anything' as you put it? Or do you believe that doing what you want to do exceptionally well, and making as much money as you can along the way entitles you to something akin to sainthood? All that Michael Jordan has 'given' to the game has been done while he was just doing what he wanted to do for his own betterment, and he received as much as he gave.

 

And isn't it money that makes the world go round? It was Jordan who helped make the NBA the billion dollar "corporation" it has become and allowed the youngsters of today to have multimillion dollar contracts.

I never said he was a role model. I couldn't care less if he was, wanted to be, or is. What I'm saying is that he MADE the NBA what it is today, the most popular and profitable sport amongst youngsters. (Of course the NFL will always hold that spot in the majority of the population, but amongst kids age 5-18, I think the NBA has taken over). David Stern and the rest of the league owes Jordan everything for making the league so much money.

As much as you or anyone else may hate it, money rules all.

 

I have no respect for the NBA "corporation" at the moment. The beyond shabby way League Pass users have been treated by them, so they could further line their pockets, put paid to any respect I have for the NBA as promoted by Stern. I respect most everything else about it (the Jazz excluded).

I think the whole thing with Jordan was WAY over the top. I have a feeling that he thought so as well. Not a very classy way to send him off, imo.

 

STFU

 

I agree with Dream_team, I don't remember anybody giving up their starting or any other spot for Dream. I just get sick when the league puts all their eggs in one basket then complain that the don't have anyone to market after Jordan is gone.

 

I agree with every word.

 

Great player? Absolutely. Maybe the best of them all. Go argue.

But this guy was all about marketing and image and still is. All this tiresome crap about Vince Carter giving up his starting job or not — looks to me like Nike got to him — and then ultimately doing it was enough to make someone hurl. Who cares about such nonsense? The fans — and remember there's nobody more sentimental than sports fans — wanted Jordan to start so much they refused to vote him in. Period.

The best all-star sidebar, unreported by television, naturally, was Steve Nash wearing a stop-the-war T-shirt. Here was a guy who had taken a side on something rather important, not who starts a stupid exhibition game featuring about 40 minutes of mostly thrown-away lob passes.

In his life, Michael Jordan never did anything so bold as Nash did and more's the pity because this is the guy who could have commanded the kind of soapbox that might — might — have made a difference a time or two.

Michael Jordan never made a difference except to some product's sales figures. What's worse is that he never really tried to.

Muhammad Ali spoke out on social issues. The late Arthur Ashe, whose 10-year passing was marked last week, did as well. Michael Jordan spoke out for Michael Jordan and those who paid him to sell products.

This is plowing old ground, but remember when an African-American civil rights activist named Harvey Grant was running against that disgraceful old bigot, Jesse Helms, for the U.S. Senate seat in Jordan's "home" state of North Carolina? Jordan wouldn't lift a finger to help. He said, with a big smile, that "Republicans buy shoes, too."

He may have done his bit for charities, but that profoundly stupid statement goes on his epitaph, too.

Jordan looked the other way when Nike was paying him more money to pitch shoes in a year than it paid to all the women and children who laboured in its worldwide sweatshops. Jordan never got involved and now his heir apparent in the sports world, none other than Tiger Woods, proves repeatedly how he learned from the master.

Woods won't take a stand on anything, either. Tiger used to mention how his buddy MJ gave him the good advice, how to handle the corporate crowd, the media, how to say nothing, especially when the subject matter may turn out to be important.

 

The reason why fans didn't vote Jordan into the all-star game, and yet there was tremendous support for him to start the all-star game, was because the fans who voted were basketball fans, while the support for him to start came mainly from Jordan fans. Basketball fans cared enough about the game to vote, while Jordan fans only wanted a spectacle -- "Jordan's last All-Star game!"

When Jordan finally retires, many of those Jordan fans will retire from basketball too. Crowds that filled up arenas when Jordan visited, will go back to their usual attendance.

 

1. Basketball fans were stupid enough to vote Vince Carter in.

2. Doug Collins stepped aside in 1978 to let John Havlicek start in his place.

3. I don't expect to alter anyone's viewpoint around here because this is a Rockets BBS and only diehard fans (i.e. homers) visit it. I'm not a Bulls fan at all, nor am I particularly a Jordan fan. I'm a Houston Rockets fan who understood the need to give Jordan his proper dues on (potentially) his final All Star game, by the NBA. Without Jordan, who knows where the NBA, FINANCIALLY, would be today. Stern saw this and decided a tribute was in order.

 

Without Jordan, NBA tickets are probably a lot cheaper because the top players will get much lower salaries. NBA might be less famous or global, but we will still see good games. Great players like Garnet and Duncan will still play whether the top salary is $20,000,000 or $2,000,000 because that is a lot more than any of the NBA stars can earn in any other profession.

Jordan, like other sports superstars or high paid CEOs in this country, is blown out of proportions. I am going to love Nash from now on.

And yes, I agree with most of you. ASG is a lousy display of the clueless NBA marketing machine.

 

The most stupid part is the Mariah Carey show. Isn't it ironical that millions of people were watching this chick singing praise (the song "Hero") to a sports figure when thousands of American young man are about to risk their life in a war in a foreign land? Utterly ridiculous, it is not laughable, it is pitiful and I believe that Jordan was decent enough to feel undeserving too.

 

I think people are overestimating Jordan's contributions to the profitability of the league and of his players. As for the league: what about Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas? Even folks like Dominique Wilkens and other draws? Jordan had some effect, but he didn't sigle-handedly drag the league into popularity. In fact, it was gaining momentum before he was drafted. As for the players and their fat contracts: what about Garnett, Glenn Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Juwan Howard? Jordan made a statement about what players were worth when he was paid $30 million. But, these other guys did the real damage: Garnett's humongous contract, Robinson's holdout as a rookie.

 

I thought it was pretty shameful. Jordan didn't belong in the game, let alone start. That honor (all-star) should be based on what you are doing now, not what you did 5, 10, years ago. IMO if there wasn't a Micheal Jordon more kids would have identified with Hakeem, Barkley, Malone, Drexler, Oneal, Payton or Stockton those years instead--the NBA would not have lost that much marketability or money--IMO it just would have been credited to different people. It is not like MJ was from China or Europe or something where trully new unlimited markets may be reached.

Micheal Jordan was (not is) a great, unbelievable, player. But he wasn't the first and he won't be the last. IMO a tribute like Jordan got should have came after he died, or maybe the same year he makes the hall of fame--but not while he is still playing.

 

And in the Bulls' second round of championships, the Bulls lost money even wtih the insane level of popularity, all because Jordan wouldn't give up any of his $30 million salary (the real reason for the Bulls' breakup, and a big reason for the lockout). Read MacBeth's post: Jordan received as much as he gave. Nobody owed him a starting spot.

 

my problem with all the Jordan fanfare is this: HOW MANY LAST SEASONS ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO HONOR THIS FRIGGIN' GUY IN?

this isn't his first last season.
this isn't even his second last season.
THIS IS HIS THIRD FRIGGIN' LAST SEASON!

meanwhile, it's also David Robinsons last season and he isn't getting much mention at all. Hakeem Olajawon and Patrick Ewing retired before the beginning of the season to very little notice. Karl Malone and John Stockton are nearing the end of their careers, are still playing and still taking their team to the play offs but they weren't picked to play in the all-star game for all they've contributed.

Jordan obviously deserves to be considered one of the best to ever play the game. He's arguably the best. BUT I AM SICK OF HONORING HIM! we're talking about a guy who already has a statue of him up in front of the arena in chicago and had his jersey retired there what? 6 years ago? And as good as he was I just don't know that I believe he was so much better than the other greats of his era like Dream, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler etc etc that they all have or will retire with out hardly a word being spoken about them and Jordan should leave the game getting so much hype you'd think he negotiated peace treatise in wars and cured children of cancer in the off season. Not to mention, he played absolutely awful in that all-star game and probably did more to hurt his legacy than help it. I personally don't want to watch Michael Jordan play on a level that really can't be called anything better than mediocre. He didn't deserve to be there, and on top of that, remember when he was 0-7 and he scored his first 2 points on a layup that he got after he faked Garnett and drove around him? I am 100% convinced KG let Jordan get around him. KG is just so much more athletic, so much quicker, so much bigger and such an amazing defender. I refuse to believe a nearly 40 year old Jordan with bad knees can fake out KG. I don't believe it....


also, agreed he's not much of a role model, though he beats the hell out of rasheed wallace and ron artest.

 

I thought it was great, a bit over the top as I expected, but overall I really enjoyed it. Whats wrong with being a marketing guru along with being one of the top basketball palyers of all time? I think David stern and the rest of the NBA understand what MJ did for the game of basketball which was raise the bar to another level after Magic, Larry and Isiah retired and it doesnt hurt that alot of people got rich in the process. Anyway, I thought it was a great sendoff, I only wish he would have made the game winning shot.

 

Jordan sounded like he was a freakin god during halftime (and Mariah wanted to make me vomit).

But what he said really ticked me off. "I carried the torch. I am passing it on to these players. I can feel at peace when I go home knowing that I put basketball in a good place."

It really sounded selfish. I mean the whole point of the All-Star game is to enjoy the excitement, not play too intense, and not be selfish. Participation is the main idea.

I'm not saying Jordan is THAT selfish, but he did seem a little self-conscience in practically making himself up to be a god.

It didn't bother me until that halftime show. I mean how many tributes can you give one guy? It's sickening!

He's not dying, he certainly isn't a personal role model (he's a gambler, and there's nothing too bad about it; it makes him competitive; but the scandals that were leaked don't influence anyone well).

I'm sure he got sick of the tributes as well, but maybe they could've gotten David Robinson to the game aswell. Not as a player, but why not a tribute?

Oh well. I guess I sound pessemistic cuz I always thought Wilt was the best player ever.

 

More sickening Jordan words, this time about Vince Carter when he gave up his spot and had some words with Jordan:

"....he was very respectful..."

STFU.

Like you're his father.

How about you be repectful to him? You didn't even deserve to be there.