Jordan's Hall of Fame Speech

[mlewinth]

Ok, I gotta COMPLETELY disagree with Doug on MJ's HOF speech. Michael Jordan was not a guy about gushing, or a guy about giving accolades. MJ was a man about competition. Anyone who remembers Jordan's press conferences back in the day, or any of the famous stories of Jordan's competitive fire, know that the thing that made Jordan the best was not his talent, there are other players out there with his type of talent (LeBron, Kobe for one), but there was no one and may never be anyone again who has MJ's competitive spirit.

Look, I heard Stockton and Robinson be gushy, thank the fans, thank god. Their speeches sucked. Michael Jordan's speech was SOOOO Michael Jordan. Jordan reminded us for 5 minutes, who he was, the type of competitior he was and I loved viewing it. The slights he made at Isiah, Russel, Stockton etc, were Jordan's way of saying "I proved to myself and to everyone that I was the best player in the era I played". He challanged himself to be the best and his HOF speech really hit home that he hit his goal by being a competitior. I even loved what he said about Jerry Krause. He gave him his fair due in putting the team together, but he gave us a bit of insight into their fued which, lets be honest, is a huge reason the Bulls didnt keep winning titles into the 99 season and beyond. By the way, I agree with MJ 100%. The organization is responsible for nothing more than putting the players on the floor. The players win Championships. There is a reason why Miami and Cleveland are sucking the respective dicks of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. They know they hit "jackpot" by getting them and realize the situation they will face if those players leave their team (and come to the Chicago Bulls...please god Dwayne).

MJ was far more appreciative in his press conferences earlier in the day. He said glowing things about Chicago and what Chicago meant to him. But let's all be honest for second. Chicago did not make Michael Jordan. If MJ was drafted by Houston, Portland, etc he would of still been MJ and he would of still electrified the league. MJ owes nothing to his fans, the the game of basketball, to the city of Chicago. He has done enough. John Jackson of the Sun-Times had an article yesterday about how "Chicago feels MJ abandoned them". Bullshit! MJ was the perfect speciman of person/player, when he played. He never walked out on the media after his final playoff game in a loss (like LeBron), MJ was the PERFECT media guy. He always made time for the media and always said the right thing. MJ owes us nothing! He owes fans nothing! Chicago nothing! The world nothing! He gave us something so special from 1984-1998, something sports fans may never see again.

Appreciate MJ for who he is and appreciate his HOF speech for truly reflecting the type of player, person and competitor he was.

 

[houheffna]

There are two ways to look at this. The first is that he should have gotten up there and thanked his teammates, ownership and even Jerry Krause for helping him suceed on the highest level. That is what HOF speeches are for. I agree with that. I thought he was harsh towards Krause, the fact is Krause worked A LOT harder during his tenure as GM than Jordan has. And was more effective. Krause made a lot of mistakes. What he did, through trial and error, was build a championship team. I don't care much for Krause myself, but give him the respect he is due, or don't even bring his name up. He mentioned Scottie, briefly. But Scottie will go to the Hall himself so he will have his opportunity to speak.

On the other hand, I know what it is like to be told that you cannot make it, or treated average when you know you are better. I know what it is like to be "squeezed out" and pushed aside by the "cool people". I know what it is like to never get the benefit of the doubt, but to be doubted constantly. There is a song Tupac made that is my favorite song, its called "Picture Me Rollin'" It is about Tupac being free from jail and living the good life, and rubbing his newfound success in the face of his enemies. I used to say back then that every black man should have a "Picture Me Rollin'" moment. Where you state clearly that you have defeated your enemies, and that you are not at all sorry for doing so. MJ had his "Picture Me Rollin'" moment in front of the whole world at his Hall of Fame induction. It seemed that speech was impromptu. That would explain the disjointed patterns of the speech. I cannot say given the opportunity, that I wouldn't name my enemies by name, and let them know that they were assholes and I WIN! So until I attain what I want to attain in life and achieve my dreams, I seek the moment that MJ had last night. Believe me its not a color thing, but I just remember saying to myself when I first heard the song almost 15 years ago, "every black man should have that moment once in their life". It is what it is....

 

[??? ??????]

I think that MJ definitely could have been seen as an asshole last night...but when you're the GOAT, you probably are going to be a bit of an asshole. You don't become the GOAT (and not just speaking basketball, but EVERY SPORT) without having a little bit of assholeness in you.

And I think it should be pointed out, while Jordan might have been a bit of an asshole last night, Jerry Krause was an asshole in his treatment of Jordan back in the 90's, and obviously the hatchet wasn't buried.

Jordan was just being himself last night. Anyone remember when Scottie Pippen got his number retired, and the controversy over Jordan slighting Pippen during that? That's just who Jordan is.

I think a lot of the same people criticizing Jordan for last night, love it when a player calls out those who doubted them while they're still playing.

And I thought it was a very "Hs Ha You're Dead" type of speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VYqnJVcQ7Q