Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building (2013)

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/Michael-Jordan/michael-jordan-not-left-building

by sergeant3 • 12 years ago

71 51 12 years ago

espn.go.com

kaonashi• 12 years ago

Not sure if intentional, but it reads rather like Glamorama.

This being HN, my first reaction was that this article was about the famous machine learning professor (who unfortunately shares his name with someone way more famous than him), until I realized the domain is espn.go.com :)

sinkasapa• 12 years ago

I was hoping.

stock_toaster• 12 years ago

That sounds awesome.

rasengan• 12 years ago

I was all excited thinking he was coming out of retirement to play ball. :(

kooshball• 12 years ago

Great article. The title should reflect that it's from 2013.

sctb• 12 years ago

Thanks, updated.

FLUX-YOU• 12 years ago

As he reaches his 50th birthday, MJ is still looking for one more ass to kick

He can start with kicking his attitude into shape.

frozenport• 12 years ago

>they hate us cause they ain't us

He is still making tons of money

at-fates-hands2• 12 years ago

Quite possibly the most self centered, self serving egotistical a-hole EVER.

I have plenty of stories about him, but the HOF speech was a peach. Instead of thanking his family and teammates for helping him achieve his records, he turned his speech into a bully pulpit, admonishing his fucking high school coach for not selecting him for the varsity team and other people he flight slighted by his entire career.

Sure he has a ton of money and is one of the NBA greats, but it all came at a cost of his dignity and character. I'm actually quite happy he's a miserable failure as owner, it serves him right.

myronbolitar2• 12 years ago

He's the greatest basketball player ever. He's the most competitive athlete I know of. He's an athletic genius.

Similar to the stories of Steve Jobs berating colleagues, employees, rivals, etc. there are anecdotes about Jordan doing the same in his field.

He's not known as the Greatest Human Of All Time...he's the Greatest Basketball Player Of All Time.

towski• 12 years ago

I've learned that Greatest X of all time usually just means, greatest A-hole of all time.

Because they absorb so much energy from the universe in order to fulfill their self serving destiny that they cannot help but be viewed as selfish. They quite literally demand the respect that they receive.

Call it the theory of conservation of human energy.

imjk2• 12 years ago

PG should write a corollary to the Ronco essay about how the greatest individuals in highly competitive skill-based fields are all aholes.

practicalpants2• 12 years ago

It's not unanimously accepted that he's the greatest basketball player of all time. You have to take into account things like the illegal defense era (his era), which made it easy for superstars to shine. Tracy McGrady, for example, admitted his points per game average went from 32 to 22 overnight because of the introduction of zone defense.

Likewise, the NBA has become vastly more competitive and international since Jordan's prime, i.e. greater demographics competing to enter, overall raising the mean athletic ability.

Jordan is clearly a great, but one among others, like Kobe and LeBron, neither of whom are actually A-holes like Jordan.

qj4714• 12 years ago

This is a bit harsh. Jordan is the ultimate competitor and he represents excellence and professionalism. He has single handedly revolutionized professional sports and marketing and every kid growing up in the 90s wanted to be him. He has no need to be humble.

prawn2• 12 years ago

He doesn't need to be humble, but if he wants to be part of a community or not face this criticism, he should be.

powertower• 12 years ago

He has single handedly revolutionized professional sports and marketing...

I think you might want to give some credit to the marketing team at nike that more or less told him what to say/do, promoted him + the products, cleaned up after all his messes, and prevented bad press from coming out. Which all lent to his further successes.

At least that's what I've heard.

philwelch3• 12 years ago

At least he didn't throw people out of plate glass windows, rape anyone, or have a whole TV special to announce what team he was going to sign for as a free agent.

joezydeco• 12 years ago

But you have to wonder what he did that allowed Juanita to take him to the bank during the divorce.

imjk2• 12 years ago

Here's one anecdote from a rapper named Chamillionaire on meeting MJ, who was his childhood idol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZQERHL6ow

thret• 12 years ago

Wow, this just ruined my day and a lot of my childhood memories.

bedhead• 12 years ago

I can personally confirm this after an incident from 15 years ago that I wont get into...but know that I'm from Chicago, and our paths most definitely crossed. I don't think the man has a single redeeming quality. Many more stories floating around about him, especially in this city. I have a suspicion that he is absolutely miserable deep down.

twinkletank3• 12 years ago

I see the complete opposite. Virtually everyone in his position is pressured and expected to project a likeable image and recite a wholesome rolemodel's script.

I thank God, my friends and family, and the perseverance of my teammates for what we've accomplished. I am blessed. Don't belive it? Too bad, the brand deal depends on it so stick to the script.

Jordan was and is different. I might not agree with him, but he stands for what he believes, he speaks up about how he feels, and I admire that far more than I admire someone who has no opinions or suppresses them for the sake of being liked.

It's sad that we live in a society where those who step out of line to say what they mean are told they're assholes who deserve their failures.

ekianjo2• 12 years ago

It's sad that we live in a society where those who step out of line to say what they mean are told they're assholes who deserve their failures.

It's sad that you can't step out of line on HN and call people assholes without having someone telling you you should respect those a-holes JUST because they are successful.

aswanson3• 12 years ago

So running up and down a court and putting a ball in a hole better than anyone else gives you license to verbally shit on anyone you come across because they can't? What exactly does he stand for besides making as much as possible off overpriced sneakers/merch built off sweatshop labor, shooting a ball in a hole (extraordinarily well), and being a dick in general to most people he comes across?

antimagic• 12 years ago

It's great that Jordan says what he really thinks. But we also like it when players are humble. We want both, there's no contradiction. So yes, that means we want players to say humble things, and mean it.

emehrkay• 12 years ago

Sports culture is funny. Fans/the system treat these guys like deities and also expect them to be humble. I actually like it when they're assholes.

And you said "one of the NBA greats," come on man don't like your dislike for him get in the way of what he is: the greatest player the league has seen.

aswanson3• 12 years ago

I think great inherent ability coupled with great drive inevitably leads to a-hole qualities. It's a formula for lack of empathy if you start off gifted, drive yourself relentlessly, and can't process failure. If you can't forgive yourself for falling short, how in the world can you hope to develop a measure of such for other people?

courtf3• 12 years ago

Fair point, although I wonder if we'd have these elite players if they were more willing to tolerate failure in themselves.

The man is obviously flawed, but a lot of the criticism is petty and no better than Jordan's own kvetching. I'm sure we all know plenty of other ego-maniacs who don't even have something real to brag about.

bhaumik• 12 years ago

Update on the Bobcats (for those interested):

They've rebranded to the Hornets, attracted some great talent (Al Jefferson) and have put together a solid team. Today, he teared up accepting the "Charlotte Business Journal's Business Person of the Year" award after being criticized so much for his decisions as an owner.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12205207/michael-jordan-ge...

adventured4• 12 years ago

They were pretty solid last year.

This year they're terrible. 18-25 record. That's not likely to improve in the second half, and that's in the east where it's drastically easier to win. Certainly it's a step up from the prior epically bad years.

I think it remains to be seen whether you can build a consistent winner in a city like Charlotte. The NBA is dominated by a few franchises, with the concentration of winners being twice as great as in the NFL and MLB. Going by the last 30 some odd years, there are roughly 20 teams that can never win a championship under any circumstances.

ritchiea• 12 years ago

They're still bad, they've lost 8 more games than they've won (17-25) in the lesser NBA conference and wouldn't make the playoffs if the playoffs began today. The NBA is not starting a company, you can't identify needs and produce a solution for them. You have to wait around to be able to draft or sign or trade for elite players. Few basketball executives are good at this, it's extraordinarily difficult and involves a lot of luck if you are outside of a major media market. But there's really no evidence Jordan is doing any better as an owner/exec.

adventured4• 12 years ago

They'd be the 8th slot if the playoffs started today.

http://espn.go.com/nba/standings

Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building (2013)

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