{"id":12772,"date":"2009-09-12T18:57:38","date_gmt":"2009-09-12T22:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.IreneEng.com\/?p=12772"},"modified":"2009-09-12T18:57:38","modified_gmt":"2009-09-12T22:57:38","slug":"jordan%e2%80%99s-night-to-remember-turns-petty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/?p=12772","title":{"rendered":"Jordan\u2019s night to remember turns petty"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m a Michael Jordan’s fan .. didn’t see this coming.<\/em><\/p>\n

~ . ~<\/p>\n

By Adrian Wojnarowski<\/p>\n

SPRINGFIELD<\/a>, Mass. \u2013 The tears tumbled, flooding his face and Michael Jordan had yet to march to the microphone at Symphony Hall. He had listened to the genuine stories and speeches of a remarkable class. He had watched a \u201cThis is Your Life\u201d video compilation of his basketball genius. Everything flashed before him, a legacy that he\u2019s fought with body and soul to never, ever let go into yesterday.<\/p>\n

Yes, Michael Jordan was still fighting it on Friday night, and maybe he always will. Mostly, he was crying over the passing of that old Jordan, and it wouldn\u2019t be long until he climbed out of his suit and back into his uniform and shorts, back into an adolescent act that\u2019s turned so tedious.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down. This was a night to leave behind the petty grievances and past slights \u2013 real and imagined. This was a night to be gracious, to be generous with praise and credit.<\/p>\n

Related Video Jordan speaks on honor Jordan speaks on honor<\/p>\n

More NBA Videos More From Adrian WojnarowskiAgainst Jordan, defense never rested Sep 11, 2009 Trail of Crumbs leads Jordan to Hall’s doorstep Sep 9, 2009 \u201cM.J. was introduced as the greatest player ever and he\u2019s still standing there trying to settle scores,\u201d one Hall of Famer said privately later.<\/p>\n

Jordan didn\u2019t hurt his image with the NBA community, as much as he reminded them of it. \u201cThat\u2019s who Michael is,\u201d one high-ranking team executive said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like he was out of character. There\u2019s no one else who could\u2019ve gotten away with what he did tonight. But it was Michael, and everyone just goes along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan wandered through an unfocused and uninspired speech at Symphony Hall, disparaging people who had little to do with his career, like Jeff Van Gundy and Bryon Russell. He ignored people who had so much to do with it, like his personal trainer, Tim Grover. This had been a moving and inspirational night for the NBA \u2013 one of its best ceremonies ever \u2013 and five minutes into Jordan\u2019s speech it began to spiral into something else. Something unworthy of Jordan\u2019s stature, something beneath him.<\/p>\n

Jordan spent more time pointlessly admonishing Van Gundy and Russell for crossing him with taunts a dozen years ago than he did singling out his three children. When he finally acknowledged his family, Jordan blurted, in part, to them, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to be you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, um, thanks Dad. He meant it, too. If not the NBA, he should\u2019ve thought of his children before he started spraying fire at everyone.<\/p>\n

No one ever feels sorry for Isiah Thomas, but Jordan tsk-tsked him and George Gervin and Magic Johnson for the 1985 All-Star game \u201cfreeze-out.\u201d Jordan was a rookie, and the older stars decided to isolate him. It was a long time ago, and he obliterated them all for six NBA championships and five MVP trophies. Isiah and the Ice Man looked stunned, as intimidated 50 feet from the stage, as they might have been on the basketball court.<\/p>\n

The cheering and laughter egged Jordan on, but this was no public service for him. Just because he was smiling didn\u2019t mean this speech hadn\u2019t dissolved into a downright vicious volley.<\/p>\n

Worst of all, he flew his old high school teammate, Leroy Smith, to Springfield for the induction. Remember, Smith was the upperclassman his coach, Pop Herring, kept on varsity over him as a high school sophomore. He waggled to the old coach, \u201cI wanted to make sure you understood: You made a mistake, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever, Michael. Everyone gets it. Truth be told, everyone got it years ago, but somehow he thinks this is a cleansing exercise. When basketball wanted to celebrate Jordan as the greatest player ever, wanted to honor him for changing basketball everywhere, he was petty and punitive. Yes, there was some wink-wink teasing with his beloved Dean Smith, but make no mistake: Jordan revealed himself to be strangely bitter. You won, Michael. You won it all. Yet, he keeps chasing something that he\u2019ll never catch, and sometimes, well, it all seems so hollow for him.<\/p>\n

This is why he\u2019s a terrible basketball executive because he still hasn\u2019t learned to channel his aggressions into hard work on that job. For the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan remains an absentee boss who keeps searching for basketball players on fairways and greens.<\/p>\n

From the speeches of David Robinson to John Stockton, Jerry Sloan to Vivian Stringer, there was an unmistakable thread of peace of mind and purpose. At times, they were self-deprecating and deflective of praise. Jordan hasn\u2019t mastered that art, and it reveals him to be oddly insecure. When Jordan should\u2019ve thanked the Bulls ex-GM, Jerry Krause, for surrounding him with championship coaches and talent, he ridiculed him. It was me, Jordan was saying. Not him. \u201cThe organization didn\u2019t play with the flu in Utah,\u201d Jordan grumbled.<\/p>\n

For Jordan to let someone else share in the Bulls\u2019 dynasty will never diminish his greatness. Just enhance it. Only, he\u2019s 46 years old and he still doesn\u2019t get it. Yes, Jordan did gush over Scottie Pippen, but he failed to confess that he had wanted Krause to draft North Carolina\u2019s Joe Wolf. Sometimes, no one is better with a half a story, half a truth, than Jordan. All his life, no one\u2019s ever called him on it.<\/p>\n

Whatever Jordan wants to believe, understand this: The reason that Van Gundy\u2019s declaration of him as a \u201ccon man\u201d so angered him is because it was true on so many levels.<\/p>\n

It was part of his competitiveness edge, part of his marketability, and yes, part of his human frailty.<\/p>\n

Jordan wasn\u2019t crying over sentimentality on Friday night, as much as he was the loss of a life that he returned from two retirements to have again. The finality of his basketball genius hit him at the induction ceremony, hit him hard. Jordan showed little poise and less grace.<\/p>\n

Once again, he turned the evening into something bordering between vicious and vapid, an empty exercise for a night that should\u2019ve had staying power, that should\u2019ve been transformative for basketball and its greatest player. What fueled his fury as a thirtysomething now fuels his bitterness as a lost, wandering fortysomething who threatened a comeback at 50.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t laugh,\u201d Michael Jordan warned.<\/p>\n

No one\u2019s laughing anymore.<\/p>\n

Once and for all, Michael: It\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

You won.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m a Michael Jordan’s fan .. didn’t see this coming. ~ . ~ By Adrian Wojnarowski SPRINGFIELD, Mass. \u2013 The tears tumbled, flooding his face and Michael Jordan had yet to march to the microphone at Symphony Hall. He had listened to the genuine stories and speeches of a remarkable class. He had watched a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12772\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.ireneeng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}