Michael Jordan best ever in NBA? -
Let the debate begin anew as Chicago Bulls legend goes to hall of fame
Michael Jordan entering the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday is like the period at the end of this sentence. It -- and he -- has to be there to be proper and complete.
Jordan rightfully will take his place among the game's elite, which lends proximity to the unsolvable debate of the best basketball player of all-time.
Jordan will join other heavyweights such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson -- which, with apologies to Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and George Mikan, isn't a bad all-time starting five, by the way -- in the Springfield, Mass., building.
But the debate -- Jordan or Chamberlain; maybe Russell or Robertson? -- can take place anywhere, any time. And likely will into eternity.
"For my money, Michael is the best of all-time," said former Bulls assistant Johnny Bach, who may be a bit biased. "How could he not be?
The Michael Jordan Collection: Part 1, Part 2
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Jordan's top 10 dunks, buzzer beaters and playoff performances - (videos)
MJ Videos - (the embed feature will not work, so click the link. then click the "most recent" tab and there are more MJ videos)
Tour of the MJ exhibit -
There's a Bugs Bunny sneaker.
No joke, guys. Among the many mementos included in "Become Legendary: The Story of Michael Jordan," there's a Bugs Bunny sneaker. A big, black-and-gray "Air Bugs" kick (or was it "Hare Jordan?"), encased in Plexiglas and given prime real estate on a 40-foot-long timeline that traces MJ's rise to immortality.
Its inclusion in the "Become Legendary" exhibit, launched last month at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in advance of No. 23's impending induction, is contextualized by the fact that "Space Jam" was yet another marketing coup for Jordan, one that capped a 1996 chock full of top-shelf accomplishment: the Sherman's March to 72-10; the return to first-team All-Everything status; the sweep of All-Star, league and Finals MVPs; the fourth ring; and the all-time shhhhh to those who clucked after his comeback from baseball in Birmingham. (The copy accompanying the shoe includes the following text: "The film was a huge success, and was loosely based on events in Jordan's life." Mostly, the parts where he's tight bros with Wayne Knight.)
And yeah, that's all true. (Especially that thing about Newman.) "Space Jam" was a hit — with $90.4 million in domestic ticket sales, it's still the highest-grossing basketball movie of all time, according to Box Office Mojo. It entered theaters just before Thanksgiving, so it did end Jordan's year in a temporal sense, and sharing the screen with iconic pop culture figures like the "Looney Tunes" characters did represent another step in Jordan's expansion beyond "basketball player" and into something more akin to "all-purpose public entertainer." Fair enough, considering the exhibit's intent is to celebrate Jordan as not only the G.O.A.T., but also the nexus of modern-day athletic mythology.
MJ set the Standard -
The numbers alone secured Michael Jordan's place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls to go with six Finals MVPs, five league MVPs and an NBA-best 30.1 points a game, tied with Wilt Chamberlain.
Add the singular moments. Sixty-three points against the Boston Celtics in 1986. Six three-pointers and 35 points in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers in the '92 Finals. The jumper over the Utah Jazz's Byron Russell (push off or not) in the '98 Finals. Pick your favorite.
Plus the immeasurables, difficult to quantify, overwhelming in memory. "You take great athleticism, a highly intelligent player with an unbelievable desire to win, and you throw those all together and you have certainly one of the greatest to ever play," analyst and former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy says.
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Bulls links ...
Fantasy PGs -
7. Derrick Rose (CHI) – 2008/09 Stats: 16.8 PPG/ 6.3 APG/ 3.9 RPG/ 47.5 FG %
Rose met, and even exceeded, expectations in his rookie year and should be ready to break out next season with another year under his belt.
An explosive athlete with game breaking speed, Rose can change the outcome of a game at any point.
Rose can get into the lane anytime he wants and finishes well on the break.
Rose also provides owners with very good rebounding numbers from the point guard slot and his ability to get into the paint allows his FG% to remain considerably high.
Expect Rose’s scoring to increase substantially as he takes a greater role in the offense and the retutn of a healthy Luol Deng should get him higher percentage shots as well
Wednesday Bullets -
Omer Asik played well in Turkey's last Eurobasket game. There are those who think he'll be the Bulls' big man of the future. (Also, a lesson from the same boxscore: Every single Bulgarian player but one has a last name that ends in the letter "v.")
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Benjamin Balskus of ChicagoNow, on Derrick Rose: "Derrick has said his goal, every season, is to be the MVP. To get there he will have to learn ways of making space in the pick and roll, how to play two or three steps ahead of the action on the court. To learn that sometimes he needs to be more selfish. That defense is not about reacting to what your man does, but understanding what he is trying to do and frustrating those ambitions. That sometimes, as Dywane Wade knows so well, the shortest path to two points is not the basket but the foul line. So this season, give Derrick more than he can bear. Push him to his breaking point. Watch him struggle, get knocked down and beaten up. Trust that he will keep working hard, and that with experience he will get stronger and overcome. Bring on the Rondos and the Chris Pauls. By the end of the season Derrick should be ready."
Wade not deciding on possible Bulls contract until later -
It's Wade and See time in Miami.
All-Star guard Dwyane Wade said that he has stopped negotiating a new deal with the Heat and will likely test free agency after this season, the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday.
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Wade's name has consistently come up in conversations about his hometown Chicago Bulls. He recently bought a townhouse in the city.
"Me buying a place in Chicago, that's supposed to mean more than what it is," Wade said, according to the Herald. "I just sort of laugh at it, all the speculation."
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Random hoops link: NBA > NCAA (and all other sports) -
There’s no excuse to not watch the NBA if you’re a sports fan because it has the best atheletes in the world. Almost all of the NFL’s best athletes, including Randy Moss, T.O., Tony Gonzalez, and Julius Peppers are failed basketball players who admit that they prefer it to football. If you put LeBron at tight end for the Browns he would easily have 20 touchdowns next season. Try to obtain video of All-Star closer Bobby Jenks passing an elementry school’s fitness test. CC Sabathia will master a triple axel on skates before you find it. Don’t even think about mentioning soccer. If Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis had played soccer all their lives they would be breaking the ankles of some Portugese guys so badly it would be inhumane. In fact, France’s best athlete, Tony Parker would murder any of the national team’s midfielders in a foot race, agility drill, or strength competition. If you really want to get into it, Anderson Varejao is the best flopper in all of Brazil and Sasha Vujajic looks more like a metro douchebag than Christino Ronaldo. Once Shaq chokeslams Brock Lesnar, there will be no arguement left.
Another reason to hate LeBron -
Speaking of which, the latest LeBron to the Knicks rumor I’ve heard is that Cablevision - which owns the Knicks but not the Daily News - will circumvent the salary cap by giving LeBron his own channel. I don't know exactly how that will work but that's what I've heard.
As of today, I say there is a 90 percent chance LeBron is coming to New York ... and 100 percent chance that I won't be watching the LeBron channel.
The other big news is that Stephon Marbury has announced his retirement. Figures he would be the last to know. The rest of us thought he was retired when he watched him in the playoffs. Heck, Mike D'Antoni had him retired on opening night.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/knicks/2009/09/lebron-keeps-singing-the-same.html#ixzz0QhwhxpYY
MJ is the only athlete on earth that deserves his own channel (and I would watch it all the time: games, dunk contests, highlights, Michael Jordan's Playground, His Airness, etc)
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Check back tomorrow for the official BBS game-by-game Bears season preview/predictions!
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