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Which is why he didn't need to act asshole-like and continue to try and prove people wrong. You are the one who will be not getting.
Jordan flew him out to prove that the story was true and that Smith actually existed and it wasn't some made up legend that maybe people doubted ever happened.
It seems that we are trying to measure MJ's speaking ability or level of humility to his once in a lifetime basketball skill and that is not fair. Just because you are the best ever at one thing doesn't mean you are going to be good at other things. I think he had a tremendous amount of pressure on him (the longer speech time allotted to him, his iconic status etc...) and anything short of a professionally written and rehearsed speech would not do him justice. His mistake was not hiring a professional writer to write this for him and then rehearse it. Big deal. It's obvious he's not the most humble person on earth nor the most gracious or for that matter even the best educated (he eluded to avoiding academics in the speech). The reality is he was born to play basketball and did so better than anyone else ever has in the history of the world. Maybe he lacked some tact or decorum but I don't think he intended to spit fire on his critics so much as to let them know that he did pay them mind and their words or slights were a motivational tool for him. He actually showed some frailty on the podium (which is something he NEVER DID AS A PLAYER) and seemed genuinely humbled to be there. For those that remember his pre-championship days the consensus was that he would never win an NBA le because of his scoring and his lack of a complete game. He not only overcame this criticism but did it many times over.
At the end of the day he's a victim of his own genius/talent. We have him perched so high up because of what he did on the hardwood that everything else he ever does in life will never be MJ-esque...
Which is why he didn't need to act asshole-like and continue to try and prove people wrong. You are the one who will be not getting.
Maybe MJ should have said thank you and walked off the stage.
Excellent post.
Horrible post! I keed I keed! nice post I guess!
Actually he's a winner, one of the greatest winners ever actually. You sound like one of those parents who'll tell his untalented kids that they're winners in life because they're polite even though they suck at everything.
It's unfortunate that you're clueless, but what else is new?MJ was an ass when he had a chance to show the world he'd grown up, Jamstone is spot on, and as usual Tlong misses the point.
Nothing changes.
Like MJ, you have no idea what "gracious" means, but then I don't expect it from you.
Let's see, most of the people in this thread think MJ behaved like an ass, but you're right. Please explain to me why it was a great speech. I'll now explain why it wasn't.
MJ is the greatest basketball player of all time, a winner on a level seldom seen in professional basketball or any other sport, and an incredible althlete and compe or by any measure. So, why then did he have to get up and brag like a 12yo? If a small portion of the speech, maybe 2-5 minutes, was devoted to explaining where his ultra-compe iveness came from, with a few humourous asides about those guys thrown in, I think we all would've laughed and enjoyed it. Instead, MJ spent the whole speech telling us about how he proved everyone wrong and beat down people who challenged him or weren't as good as him - it came off as crass and attention-seeking, as if he somehow needs more validation. Afterwards, it left me feeling pity for the guy - he's 46, just been inducted into the HoF, and yet he's still settling petty scores that the rest of us considered settled a decade ago. It confirmed to me that MJ, GOAT that he is, is a bitter and unhappy man, and for that I feel sorry for him. Actually, I hope he can find some peace, because from that display of childish surliness, it doesn't look like he's found any peace at all.
I'll leave it at that.
Last edited by RuffnReadyOzStyle; 09-15-2009 at 03:51 AM.
How old are you again? dude, haven't you grown beyond meaningless ad hominem snipes?
i always wondered why i never liked jordan as a kid. he was the greatest basketball player ever but i could never remember why i just didn't like him even when he was racking up all those championships. this reminds me why.
Good article.
I remember trading every single one of my Jordan cards for Pippen ones. For some reason, I never liked Jordan growing up.
Great, great post. MJ, despite his accolades seems like he's a pre-pubscent dude trying to prove himself to everybody else. Sure, basketball-wise he is great but I believe he has never been thankful for the simple things in life. The way he scoffed at his children during the ceremonies really disappointed me. Sad, sad guy.
Well, well, House is back with bang!
http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/200...g-michael.html
That says it all. , that is awesome. Spot ing on. Y'all should read Bawful's blog regularly, it's an excellent take on the lighter side of the NBA.
Checkmate.
We just witnessed what made Jordan the best player in the entire history of basketball. No one gets to his level of greatness without that kind of psychological mentality. I wouldn't want to know him personally, but watching this speech I was like "damn, so thats what made you that good".
Last edited by picc84; 09-15-2009 at 12:02 PM.
Here are the pics from that link. Pretty amusing.http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/200...g-michael.html
That says it all. , that is awesome. Spot ing on. Y'all should read Bawful's blog regularly, it's an excellent take on the lighter side of the NBA.
Checkmate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/opinion/15brooks.html
"Today, immodesty is as ubiquitous as advertising, and for the same reasons. To scoop up just a few examples of self-indulgent expression from the past few days, there is Joe Wilson using the House floor as his own private “Crossfire”; there is Kanye West grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards to give us his opinion that the wrong person won; there is Michael Jordan’s egomaniacal and self-indulgent Hall of Fame speech. Baseball and football games are now so routinely interrupted by self-celebration, you don’t even notice it anymore."
Oh really? You needed him to explain every little detail of every vendetta he's ever had to work that out?
Oh really? You needed him to explain every little detail of every vendetta he's ever had to work that out?
Well, I didnt really need him to but he sure did it anyway.Oh really? You needed him to explain every little detail of every vendetta he's ever had to work that out?
It was a very narcissistic speech but I smiled throughout. Count me as an MJ fan.
RoFL.. who knew that the MJ hate ran so deep? Pretty amusing that people critcize his "humility" and character flaws. Hate all you want, it doesn't take anything away from him and he will always be what basketball players the world over can only dream of becoming.
This article isn't saying anything new that we were unaware of. Jordan has always been an asshole. He was just being true to his nature.
Who's hating?
As I already said, he is the GOAT, it's just a pity he decided to fling at everyone like a rabid monkey rather than displaying some grace like a decent human being. He displayed the emotional maturity of a 15yo, and that's pretty sad.
He's a top selling brand to this day. In fact, I think he's made much more money post basketball playing days.
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