Posts tagged ‘hall of fame’

When you want to relive your favorite NBA moments (like the time Stromile Swift murdered Tyrus Thomas), where do you head? YouTube, of course.

Now, if you were interested in seeing highlights of Hall of Famer Gus Johnson, well, you won’t find anything more than a few snippets. Until recently, Johnson was a player who never got the notoriety nor the respect deserved from contemporary audiences. It is so hard to praise, and even harder to remember, someone you have never seen. Never known.

Time makes forgetting easy. In explaining why LeBron James need not be afraid of Michael Jordan, J.A. Adande once wrote:

And just because you might remember the old days doesn’t mean everyone does. There are Chicago kids celebrating their 12th birthdays this month who weren’t even born the last time the Bulls won. He has the chance to win over a whole new generation of Bulls fans who would then ask, “What was the big deal about that bald-headed No. 23 guy?”

What was the big deal about No. 25? Without further ado, I present to you: Gus Johnson, in excerpts from around the web.

[Bullets superstar Gus Johnson and his custom Cadillac. Among the amenities are a leather interior, a TV set and a license plate that lets the world know. - Baltimore Sun]

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So Michael Jordan made it to the Hall of Fame. Should we be surprised that he didn’t mention Abe Pollin and the Wizards amongst his list of competition fuel? Oh, that’s right, he hasn’t had much success at the management level, so no grounds to prove anyone wrong there. Although, I will admit that pawning off Juwan Howard and his silly contract on Mark Cuban was cigar-smoking smooth. Unfortunately the WaPost’s Michael Lee wasn’t afforded a chance to ask Jordan about the Wiz … it would have been nice to see his reaction to the question in the least.

I still stand behind what I wrote regarding Jordan’s induction speech. However, in discussing it with a co-worker, I’ll admit that he could have been more charming, while still recounting his motivational factors. But Jordan’s message was a conveyance of his personality, and since he’s not some basketball demigod to me, I could care less how he came across … opting to stick with my preference of honestly at face value instead.

[If it feels like I'm posting about Jordan too much lately, then good, we are on the same page. But like I've said before, we really won't have a chance to cover him this much again (until he passes). So, might as well get it out of the way now. And don't worry, there will be plenty on the Wizards of the future coming soon.]

Below is the best of what was said regarding Jordan’s tenure with the Wizards…

Suggested Michael Jordan/Wizards Reading

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{ Jordan smokes 'em if he's got 'em - flickr/simplistic.designs }

I’m not a ‘huge’ fan of Michael Jordan, and I definitely don’t hate him. When he was beating the Lakers and Blazers for a ring when I was 11 and 12, I was like, “Oh cool! It’s MJ!” When he was taking down Chuck Barkley, my sentiment was “may the best man win.” When Jordan came back, I rooted for the Sonics and Jazz because I thought the Bulls had won enough, it was time for someone else. Finally, when Jordan was a Wizard, I initially thought his presence would be good, then responded to his departure with shock/surprise, and ultimately, became apathetic toward his presence in DC.

Ok, now that my Jordan fandom disclaimer is out of the way …

Jordan’s HOF speech has been called petty, uninspiring, disparaging, vicious, and strangely bitter by Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He was called a clown, and vicious again, by FanHouse’s Terence Moore. Ken Berger of CBS Sports dubbed Jordan “ruthless,” and called him a “competitive sociopath.” In his Twitter one word description of each HOF entrant’s speech, The Washington Post’s Michael Lee used “cruelty” in reference to Jordan. J.E. Skeets of Yahoo!’s Ball Don’t Lie twittered that MJ’s speech was a bad idea, and akin to “finding out the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were crackheads.” Joshua Lobdell of The Inquisitr called Jordan petty (again), and a disgrace, even going so far as to say, “a large part of Jordan’s legacy has been forgotten” as a result. Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell called the speech “tacky, vitriolic, and unnecessary” … but Tim also recognizes that Jordan’s shots were “footnotes of his mythology,” and calls on us to better recognize the David Robinsons of the world (a more than valid request). And finally, Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm calls Jordan a jackass, but has a great piece highlighting that such actions from Jordan are nothing new … although Moore does claim that, “Ron Artest probably has more going for him than Michael Jordan as far as a complete life goes,” and challenges readers to wrap their brains around that assertion. Not worth trying.

You see, I came across most of these reactions prior to actually seeing Jordan’s speech. My initial response to the reactions was, “Well, that’s Michael … he’s a dick, but a competitive and winning dick.” And the same sentiment seemed to be conveyed by many who knew Jordan with a shrug of the shoulders.

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