Author Topic: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era  (Read 11965 times)

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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #30 on: February 15, 2013, 06:59:43 PM »

Offline timobusa

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Growing up, Jordan was my favorite player.
But I'll be first to admit that he is a straight up Narcissistic.
He probably looks in the mirror and salivates over himself.
Great player, not so great person.

How so? Because you disagree with some of his opinions about basketball?

Nope, not just about basketball, there's so many articles about him being an @-hole to other people, and to genuine fans of him.
I'm not taking anything away from him as a player.
But its pretty well documented that he's not the greatest person in the world.

Is he really? Id love some examples of this. I'm sure hes not an angel 24/7 but who is? People are only on his case because they strongly disagree with some of his views. That's what it all boils down to..

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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #31 on: February 15, 2013, 07:02:09 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Growing up, Jordan was my favorite player.
But I'll be first to admit that he is a straight up Narcissistic.
He probably looks in the mirror and salivates over himself.
Great player, not so great person.

How so? Because you disagree with some of his opinions about basketball?

Nope, not just about basketball, there's so many articles about him being an @-hole to other people, and to genuine fans of him.
I'm not taking anything away from him as a player.
But its pretty well documented that he's not the greatest person in the world.

Is he really? Id love some examples of this. I'm sure hes not an angel 24/7 but who is? People are only on his case because they strongly disagree with some of his views. That's what it all boils down to..

there are endless reports of Jordan being a narcissistic, antagonistic jerk. From friends, teammates, his wife, coaches, etc. He is a class A jerk.

Robert Parish played with him for a bit at the end of the Chief's career, and he hated him. He was close to karate chopping MJ.

Lol


Yea, the Chief was a martial arts expert. Kinda scary considering his size and length!!! He would have kicked Jordan's ass pretty hard.


http://www.celticslife.com/2012/03/as-teammates-robert-parish-and-michael.html

""I told him, 'I'm not as enamored with you as these other guys. I've got some rings too,' " Parish recalled. "At that point he told me, 'I'm going to kick your ass.' I took one step closer and said, 'No, you really aren't.' After that he didn't bother me."

The Chief might have been the only teammate of Jordan's to ever stand up to him, and Jordan was wise to back off considering Parish's martial arts skills."

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #32 on: February 15, 2013, 07:05:15 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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He's also heavily responsible for turning Antoine Walker into a pathological gambler who lost all his money.


"Michael Jordan didn’t help matters. Walker spent the 2001 offseason training with Jordan, but their training didn’t end on the basketball court. Cedric Maxwell says Jordan was one of the biggest influences on Walker’s gambling addiction.

“It was like a father and a son going someplace and the son’s watching the dad go and spend money and the son’s saying ‘OK, it’s fine,’ but not knowing that the dad got a revenue stream and that you don’t. Antoine ain’t making that kind of money! He’s not the ‘Swoosh Guy.’”"


http://www.celticstown.com/2010/03/21/antoine-walker-and-his-money-gambling-problems/
« Last Edit: February 15, 2013, 07:15:46 PM by hpantazo »

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #33 on: February 15, 2013, 07:23:17 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #34 on: February 15, 2013, 07:25:16 PM »

Offline fairweatherfan

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To clarify, he didn't say they're the only 4 that could play, but that they're the only 4 that could be "nearly as successful". 

It is mostly nonsense, but I'd say he's at least partly right about guys like D-Wade, who would get handchecked on the perimeter, bodied up on the drive, and thrown down at the rim a lot more often back in the day.  The slashing and driving game was a whole lot tougher back then without today's protections.

But yeah, it's mostly just a case of an aging guy pulling the "kids these days are soft and spoiled" routine.  Same as it ever was.


EDIT: the article as a whole is a great read, though.  Fascinating look at MJ, warts and all.  Recommended.

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #35 on: February 15, 2013, 07:29:15 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Jordan likely took time off from the NBA because Stern and Co. realized he was gambling on NBA games:

"after the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls secured their third NBA Championship in a row, the NBA launched an investigation into Jordan's gambling habits to see whether he had violated league rules. Four months later, His Airness shocked the sports world by announcing his retirement from professional basketball."

It looked as if the gambling stories were dead – at least until 2005, when Ed Bradley grilled Jordan during a "60 Minutes" profile.

"Yeah, I've gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I've pushed the envelope," Jordan told Bradley. "Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you're willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah."

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6676299/13652550

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #36 on: February 15, 2013, 07:46:13 PM »

Offline Bahku

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Probably the greatest player ever, (especially offensive), but his ego grows by the hour, and he takes a back seat to no one when it comes to shameless self-promotion. Humility is at a premium in professional sports these days.
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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #37 on: February 15, 2013, 08:09:49 PM »

Offline Moranis

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People always forget about the awful teams that were in the 80's.  I mean this is the 1984-85 Indiana Pacers http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/1985.html or how about the 1984-85 Golden State Warriors http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/1985.html or maybe the 1984-85 New York Knicks http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/1985.html or the 1984-85 Kansas City Kings http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/KCK/1985.html or the 1984-85 Los Angeles Clippers http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/1985.html or the 1984-85 Seattle Supersonics http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1985.html.  All of those teams lost at least 50 games.

To act like the players of today couldn't compete with those teams is just silly.
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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #38 on: February 15, 2013, 08:12:12 PM »

Offline Eja117

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

LeBron, Kobe, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki.

he snubbed KG (and a ton of other players) even though KG literally played in that era at a high level. Michael Jordan is a narcissistic, delusional, emotional trainwreck of a human being and always has been. I knew that before his HOF acceptance speech, but that moment should have removed all doubt for the public at large.
And he couldn't play in Bird and Magic's era, nor Russell's.

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #39 on: February 15, 2013, 08:21:31 PM »

Online bdm860

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I'm just surprised he didn't mention Ron Artest out of fear.  After all, Artest body slammed Jordan breaking Jordan's ribs last time Jordan disrespected Artest.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=1764

Or maybe he forgot about him:

Quote
That passion has turned the third-year player into one of the league's most promising young talents. "I love Ron Artest," says Michael Jordan, who developed an appreciation for his physical style when Artest broke two of Jordan's ribs the first day the two played together last summer in Chicago. "He's got so much intensity and such drive. I wish I could have played against him six years ago."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1141436/index.htm#

Or maybe he was only talking about stars.  ;)

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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #40 on: February 15, 2013, 08:45:44 PM »

Offline Kane3387

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Man the Mavs fans LOVE it! Every Die Hard Mavs fan I have ever met always tries to convince me DIrk is better then KG and is 4th behind Shaq, Duncan, and Kobe of his era.

The Mavs Moneyball site (Dallas version on SBNation of Celtics Blog) LOVED this!

Hate to see their #3 point of their analysis on the article.

Quote
If you didn't know, Michael Jordan turns 50 on Sunday.

The greatest basketball player ever will be half a century old. Five decades. 50 years. Seems a little absurd to us normal, feeble, non-basketball GoAT people. You can only imagine how the most competitive person on the planet feels about this.

Well, Wright Thompson of ESPN.com asked and Jordan delivered. It's a mesmerizing look into Jordan and his current psyche. What he's up to. What he feels about turning 50. What he does since he can't play basketball. It's really, really great. Take 15 minutes out of your day and read the whole thing.

But there's one passage that jumped off the page, for this blog's purposes. Here is Jordan talking about comparing present players to past ones:

"JORDAN PLAYS his new favorite trivia game, asking which current players could be nearly as successful in his era. "Our era," he says over and over again, calling modern players soft, coddled and ill-prepared for the highest level of the game. This is personal to him, since he'll be compared to this generation, and since he has to build a franchise with this generation's players.

"I'll give you a hint," he says. "I can only come up with four."

He lists them: LeBron, Kobe, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki."

Awesome. Amazing. Ridiculous. Gratifying. Here's what we can take from that passage above:

1. Combined with the 2011 NBA championship and this comment, the "Dirk is soft" narrative is not only dead, it's been given lupus, buried alive, allowed to rot, dug up and shot off into space and exploded into fire.

2. Michael Jordan is a gigantic A hole. Seriously. He knows it (read the piece!) He has a yacht named Mister Terrible for goodness sakes. This man, who is so competitive he'll destroy his body playing one on one with his Bobcat players all day to quell his edge and is also the greatest basketball player we've ever known, just gave a COMPLIMENT to Dirk Nowitzki. The same Dirk that had posters of MJ on his wall when he was a boy.

3. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett. No Kevin Garnett.

The piece then (understandably) focuses on the LeBron angle, with Jordan dissecting LeBron's game. It's pretty great and like I said, you really need to check it out.

But holy (bleep). Michael Jordan thinks Dirk Nowitzki is one of four modern NBA players that could play in his era. That's pretty cool praise.

The picture of Dirk on here just looks stupid. No way he is better then KG when all he did was play one end of the court.

http://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2013/2/15/3992050/michael-jordan-says-dirk-nowitzki-is-one-of-the-four-modern-players


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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #41 on: February 15, 2013, 08:48:06 PM »

Offline BASS_THUMPER

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what?

no Scalabrine?
one on one Scalabrine would destroy jordan
good D and 3point shooting?
stomp em

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #42 on: February 15, 2013, 08:53:43 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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what?

no Scalabrine?
one on one Scalabrine would destroy jordan
good D and 3point shooting?
stomp em


MJ is lucky he never had to face The White Mamba!

Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #43 on: February 15, 2013, 08:55:19 PM »

Offline CelticConcourse

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It's just a stupid opinion.  At least 3/4 of today's league would fit in fine back in the mid-90s.

And only 3/4 of the mid-90s would fit in fine in today's league. Times are changing.

What does 'fit' mean anyway?  Jordan just likes hearing the sound of his own voice, even if what he is saying doesn't make any sense.  If that means those are the only (4) players he 'respects' then it is just idiotic.

'fit' means unable to conform to current NBA playing standards, you have to be able to play a certain type of basketball at a certain level to play... and the style of game has changed so much that many players from then couldn't play now (and vice-versa)
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Re: Jordan says only 4 guys today could play in his era
« Reply #44 on: February 15, 2013, 09:30:23 PM »

Offline Kane3387

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I understand taking shots at MJ the person. I think he knows he's an arrogant SOB. Honestly when you lived his life who knows what kind of persona you take on.

However to take shots at MJ the player is ridiculous. He is the standard by which almost any kind of greatness is measured. Such and Such or So and So is the "Michael Jordan" of Such and Such.

Larry Bird literally gave the man the greatest compliment I have ever heard one competitor give to another when he literally went biblical and said:

Quote
``I think he`s God disguised as Michael Jordan,`` Boston`s Larry Bird would say after the game. ``He is the most awesome player in the NBA. Today in Boston Garden, on national TV, in the playoffs, he put on one of the greatest shows of all time. I couldn`t believe anybody could do that against the Boston Celtics.``

That 1986 team was the greatest ever and it's why the greatest player ever lost that day. Team always beats I when it's greatness is of the same caliber. Still Bird's quote says it all. The man was coming off his third straight MVP and he called him God.

Great article below about the 63 point game and a lot of great quotes by some Celtics. Loved the quote by Jones about the bench.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-11-01/sports/8703230679_1_michael-jordan-scores-guard-scores-boston-garden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QcFCy5ZlIg


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