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I agree for the most part with what this guy wrote:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=a ... &type=lgns

Did anybody else see it? I LOVED David Robinson's and John Stockton's speeches. I missed the others, but they sounded nice. Jordan sounded slighted, if anything. Stay classy, my friend. ;)

I missed the speech (didn't care about it honestly), but I just read the article before I came in and saw your link. If it's true, (can't imagine that it's not) it is pretty sad. MJ never could go out with class, he never could let go.

I heard the speech on You Tube and read the article.

Two quick thoughts:

1. In Jordan's defense, it seemed as though he was just trying to be funny but his delivery and style just came across as bullying - almost like a roast. I really think he was trying to be (and actually was) humble, well, sort of. The speech was more than a mindless rant. It had theme. It could be titled, "What Gave Me My Motivation, Competitive Nature." And the whole "don't laugh" comment preceded his point to never put limits on yourself. It was a positive message. That said......

2. The writer has a point. There were several moments (and you can tell by the muffled laughter of the crowd) where he goes overboard. Two moments come to mind: a) When he referred to Van Gundy ( a professional guy at the professional level, like him or not) as "that little guy." That was down right disrespectful as hell. And b) when he was referring to a guy's name in the Bull's organization whose name I can't remember, he said (paraphrase), "...I don't know who invited him here tonight. I didn't." There were other momemts too and you can see some people feeling a bit uncomfortable or rolling their eyes.

But all in all, it was not as bad as the article made it out to be. Still, the article was not alltogether "off." It was very much me, Me, ME! But without the lovefest of self, they'd be celebrating Michael Jordan the shoe salesman instead of the basketball player. Wait a minute; I suppose he was the former too - and the best at it. Shucks. You know what I mean.

To summarize, Jordan just sucks as a speaker (see: "...I don't know how succeeding he was...." in last part of speech) and has a "Me Monster" complex, but he was ohhhhhhhhhh, a decent basketball player, ;) who was trying to be light. He may just be too much the competitor to easily demonstrate humility. Kind of like asking a rock to spread it's wings and fly.

My take,

-EarlJam

P.S. Oh, he also sucks simply for going to UNC.

EarlJam wrote:
P.S. Oh, he also sucks simply for going to UNC.

Goes without saying - and that was probably where he learned to be so classy as we all know that Tar Holes are the classiest fans in all sportsdom (with the possible exception of Terp fans).

I prefer to dwell on Mikey's accomplishments while he was running the Wizards.
And, as such, I don't dwell on him for long.

He should have had Kanye West open for him/introduce him.

captmojo wrote:He should have had Kanye West open for him/introduce him.

No stage is big enough for those two egos at the same time.

He should've gotten Bill Murray to speak on his behalf.

Or Murray the Steak guy.

I held Jordan in high esteem, Carolina or no Carolina, for a long time.

Then he was a complete asshole towards us in the HBO documentary. I'm no longer a fan.

throatybeard wrote:I held Jordan in high esteem, Carolina or no Carolina, for a long time.

Then he was a complete asshole towards us in the HBO documentary. I'm no longer a fan.

This, plus the fact that he caused different rules for different players in the NBA, thus relegating the pros, in my mind, to the level of pro rasslin'.
I don't call that crap wrestling.