Honor Jordan? Please!

[ethurst22]

First of all, this is a rant and I hate Michael Jordan.

Okay, his game descends from Julius Erving and Connie Hawkins. If Erving was an F4 fighter plane then Jordan was an F15. The difference? Media access. If you watched Erving in the ABA, he did some incredible stuff and by the time he got to the NBA, he toned his act down to fit in with his teammates.

Michael Jordan has had more rules bent for him than Al Capone. Stern is always looking for a league poster boy to give perks and entertain people and Jordan just happen to fit the bill. No one dared go against the mighty Jordan. Besides, why kill your cash cow?

When Jordan, Umm "retired", Scottie Pippen almost took the Bulls to the NBA Finals if not for the worst phantom call in NBA history that Hue Hollins made when Pippen was no where near touching Hubert Davis of the Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Why was that call made?

Because the NBA did not want people to see that it wasn't all Jordan but it was the system. Kind of like that guy who plays quarterback up there in NE. If Ne would have won the division and went to at least the AFC Championship or Super Bowl, Tom Brady would probably be with another team right now (ask Drew Bledsoe).

But as a human being, Jordan SUCKS! He reminds me of Ty Cobb. I do what I want when I want an f*** everyone else.

Now LeBron James wants everyone not to wear number 23 because Jordan was "so good" to the game. Sorry, I'd take Kareem, Bill Russell or Magic Johnson any day...even Larry Bird, but not Jordan.

And you can't compare this to the Great Gretzky, who was accessible by the way or even Jackie Robinson who really wasn't the first black player that broke down the color barrier in baseball but was the more "marketable" one. Jackie had class.

And Muhammed Ali lost three years of his career because he believed that the Vietnam War was immoral. Those were three years that he could never get back. Players stopped their careers to fight in WWII.

But Jordan?

Jordan stands for NOTHING (aka see how they manipulated UCF). A father would have told his son to be a team player and wear the shoes.

No, not MJ.

It was Julius Erving that saved the NBA in 1976 when the ABA and NBA merged. The NBA had image problems (cocaine, drugs, unruly players, poor television ratings). The league was in danger of losing franchises but Erving bought class, style and accessibility to the league that I haven't seen since.

Jordan WILL be found out. I believe that the NBA had evidence that Jordan betted on NBA games and even his own team. When his father died (which was a hit from owing money that needed to be paid to sharks and two teenagers got pinned for unfairly), all of this would have been exposed and it would have been a disaster that the NBA could have never recovered from. Stern and his stooges suggested that he retired until the thing blew over for a year. Then like a snake, he snuck back into the NBA.

And Pat Riley has the nerve to have his jersey as the first jersey retired at the Triple A? That's an insult to the Heat franchise and now this clown LeBron doesn't want anyone else to wear 23?

Sorry, Michael Jordan does not deserve that distinction. LeBron needs to worry about Shaq bailing on him by mid January with a fake injury.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

When Jordan, Umm "retired", Scottie Pippen almost took the Bulls to the NBA Finals if not for the worst phantom call in NBA history that Hue Hollins made when Pippen was no where near touching Hubert Davis of the Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Why was that call made?

As much as I agree with your rant and I can't stand Jordan as a person, or the fact that he gave the Knicks so much heartbreak and misery for such a long time, I have to disagree with this statement.  There was no question that there was contact on that foul call in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semi Finals.  Pippen clearly hit Hubert Davis's wrist.  The thing is, the officials tend to not blow their whistles in the final seconds rather than take the game from the players.  But judgment is precarious and Hue Hollins blew his.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Yeah, that was technically a foul on Pippen, but I wouldn't have called it. Don't expect me to cry about it though considering all of the laughable calls Jordan got in his whole career. Let's not forget he shoved the Jazz guard to the ground to hit the GW jumper against the Jazz before his 2nd retirement. That was just one of many.

Jordan was still great without the refs help, but far from the greatest.

[Dave Gray]

I am not a big fan of Jordan, and I think that you have a lot of loopy conspiracies in there, but that is an A+ quality rant!

Well done.

[Phishfan]

I am a Jordan fan, but the idea of retiring his number league wide is ridiculous.

[Sunstroke]

I'm a Jordan fan as well...but agree with Phish that you just can't have a league-wide retirement of every great player's number when they're done playing.

[CF DolFan]

I am not a big fan of Jordan, and I think that you have a lot of loopy conspiracies in there, but that is an A+ quality rant!

Well done.

I agree with you Dave on all accounts.  I also think it would make for a great movie!!

[JVides]

Greatest player I've ever seen.  He deserves every honor his team and the league office wants to bestow upon him.  He does not deserve for every other team to retire his number, though.

[Thundergod]

^^^  Agreed

The biggest WTF was when the Heat retired his number...   

[jtex316]

I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan.

Your conspiracy theories are - even for me - laughable at best.

Your rant? The RANT OF 2009 on TDMMC!!!!!!! Fucking excellent.

[Dave Gray]

^^^  Agreed

The biggest WTF was when the Heat retired his number...  

Yeah, I wasn't happy about that, either.

[Spider-Dan]

The day that the Knicks, Jazz, Pistons, or Celtics voluntarily retire Jordan's number is the day hell has catastrophic flooding.

I don't care how good Tom Brady is, if you think the Dolphins, Jets, or Colts are going to retire his number, you're insane.  The idea that a player's number should be retired leaguewide solely because of how good of a player he was is just absurd.  Are the Red Sox going to retire Mariano Rivera's number next?

Jackie Robinson and Pat Tillman are people that deserve to have their number retired leaguewide.  Jordan is just a good player, and as difficult as it may be for some to believe, there will be a better one someday.

[ethurst22]

Its like hanging a Brett Farve jersey in Landshark Stadium. Its just total stupidity.

Jordan still stands for nothing in my book. When people finally catch on that the NBA is becoming the WWE with pre-determined outcomes in big money games, maybe they will wake up and smell the coffee. You can dismiss Tim Donaghy all you want but he's valid on many fronts.

And that leads me to another issue. Why is the NBA trying their best to overlook Kobe Bryant and his accomplishments? Dwayne Wade? Wade hasn't accomplished 1/4 what Kobe has and the inspiration for the Heats championship was Alonzo Mournings defensive play in the middle while fat ass Shaq was on the bench shocked that he wasn't "the man".

Jordan endorses Dwayne Wade as an "Air" apparent? What a joke.

I don't think it was because of the rape charge either. Bryant is just different which works against him. See rant post of Dwayne Wade.

[jtex316]

^I think I take back what I said about your awesome rant because this 2nd post is a total pile of crap.