"I would never say that Michael Jordan thinks of himself as a god, but in his followers' eyes he has become the Exalted One. Commercials that focus on his ability to fly and walk on water have done nothing to dispel this perception, and the media have played right along. In an interview, MJ was asked to whom he was going to bequeath his mantle when he retired. He calmly replied, 'Anfernee Hardaway seems to be the most worthy prospect.'
It is taken for granted that MJ has an exclusive patent on greatness. No one questions the assumption that the mantle of superiority belongs to him alone-to keep or to pass on as he sees fit.
Team sports, by definition, involve teamwork. Players do different things, but each makes their special contribution to their team. All are working towards one common goal. How anyone decides to value a player's importance to the team is a subjective matter.
Can we agree that Jordan plays a position in a team game? He wouldn't qualify as the greatest center, nor is he the greatest ball handler, or the greatest at many of the other things he does on the court. Going one-on-one against other top players, I don't see him consistently coming out on top.
Jordan is obviously forgetting that he is a guard, and if he had to guard some of the guys who play the center position, he could be in trouble. Think back to what happened to Dr. J, for example. He wore the 'greatest' laurels in his time just as MJ does today, yet Kareem completely annihilated him in a one-on-one match. (So what does that make Kareem?) It's my belief that the same thing would happen if MJ were to go one-on-one against certain of today's quality players. He could be destroyed.
Every contemporary game is recorded and stored on a master tape in some television studio, and probably on video tape in thousands of homes, as well. Unfortunately, we earlier players were not recorded in this way, and consequently we are not able to show today's young whippersnappers what we were capable of doing.
We have never really had a chance to let people see just how great some of us were during our prime. It could be that the 'ooh's' and 'aah's' given to Michael each time he makes one of his electrifying plays would pale in comparison if today's fans could see the great Elgin Baylor do his thing, or watch Connie Hawkins in one of his miracle drives (and I could go on, of course).
It's all relative, in any case, and 'great' is only a relative term. A player can look different when he is playing with (or against) different teams. Michael, for example, looked far from the greatest when he played on the 1992 Olympic team. At that juncture, everyone thought Charles Barkley was by far the best. Playing with today's Chicago team, MJ may be the greatest, but he might not appear to be so great if he were playing with the Sacramento Kings. And wha tif he had been drafted by Boston, and had to play in the shadow of the already-established Larry Bird? Under those circumstances, would he still have become the great MJ we know and love?
Anyone who follows sports is aware of the advantage of having a superstar on your team. Those benefits become increasingly crucial in the later moments of a game when everything is so very important. It's the nature of the game that if the ball is given to your superstar, any calls that are made are apt to go his way. Everybody wants to go to heaven-even the referees (who are well aware of where their interests lie). So, if your superstar is looked upon as the Divine One-almost as a second coming-you have a superstar player who is even [i[more[/i] intimidating, and harder yet to make a call against.
I recently watched Jordan get away with flagrantly dressing down another official, an offense which every one-even the chicken-shit announcers-agreed should have resulted in a technical. But this technical would have put him out of the game: so, of course, it was not called. This man is the the man!
My object in talking about Michael's becoming so god-like is not to bring him down. I just want to point out that when someone has that type of power and produces that kind of effect during a game, the result can turn out to be a minus for basketball instead of a plus. Michael's ability to get the better end of every call diminishes teams sports in general. This is not Michael's fault; he is doing his thing, and is not responsible for the actions of others-or is he? Has he, or has he not, earned the right to those respectful calls?
We have heard many times that Wayne Gretzky was protected by WhA teams: he was not thrown up against the boards as much, nor did he receive the kind of treatment that Gordie Howe and other big stars had to endure during their careers. Is there a parallel between the way Gretzky's treated and the Michael Jordan Treatment Syndrome?
I don't believe that it is good for any sport if one player is placed above the rest, not in what he is able to do, but in the treatment he receives. Michael has proved that is able to do almost anything he sets his mind to. Adding gifts of fire to his already burning flame is not only unnecessary, it's a rotten shame.
Respect for Michael's awe inspiring talent (which is hyped by unbelievable media attention) has placed him in an exalted position that produces a kind of fear response in his opponents. You see, even basketball players know that it's improper (even blasphemous) to take the Lord's name in vain; so you, as a player, damn sure don't want to be the one knock Him on his Royal Ass. And just in case you are not buying what I am preaching, tell me when you last saw anyone take MJ down when he drove the lane?
So, how would you play the great MJ, Wiltie? I'd play him like Moses did with our real God: I'd meet him at the summit.
You have to meet Michael at the summit. When he comes gliding and sliding through the basket for one of his famous dunks, you have to put somebody on him. Even my favorite, Sir Charles, who has almost more heart than the real God Himself, let's Michael slide through. As for other players, I can't account for their reluctance. They surely can't be afraid that they are going to get hurt physically, since Michael weighs far less than most players who guard him in the paint.
The influence of fear factor might be understandable if it were Shaq they were meeting head-on, time after time. Shaq weighs about 330 pounds, but six-foot-seven Jordan weighs only about 197. He is actually rather skinny compared with soe of the big boys who are supposed to be covering the middle. So, why don't they hit him-perhaps even risking a flagrant foul? An occasional confrontation would cause Michael to think before driving to the basket next time.
I remember Magic Johnson's second game after coming back from his self-imposed retirement. He was playing against the Bulls in the Los Angeles Forum, and in his first drive down the middle, Rodman clothes-lined him, almost taking his head off.
That kind of thing never seems to happen to MJ. There almost seems to be unwritten hands-off rule for him. We all know, of course, that Rodman is a little bit crazy, but you can't be timid out there on the court! And no could deny that Rodman plays the game with the right kind of verve.
A defensive player actually has an advantage when guarding Michael, for two reasons: (1) the basket doesn't move, so you know where Michael is going; and (2) you know for certain that the last thing (the very last thing) that Michael wants to do is pass the ball. You know he's going to shoot it. With those two bits of data tucked away in your memory bank, the advantage is all yours-or least it should be.
In the good old days, I had to carry two and three guys to the basket with me. (They were always looking for a free ride.) But, all kidding aside, my opponents were not going to let me go in there unopposed. Even Shaq, big as he is, gets hammered pretty hard as he goes to the basket. That's the price that all the stars have to pay for doing their thing against the opposition.
You can't just let the superstars do it their own way, standing there smiling and waving at them as they go by. MJ gets enough respect and cheers as it is-and from both directions. The way the fans on both sides cheer for him makes every game a home game for Michael, no matter what arena he is in.
For the opposing team to hear more cheers for MJ than they get does not help to bring out their best. It is one thing to show respect for athletes you admire, but when they are on the opposing team, and you cheer for them, more than you cheer for your own side, that is really hard on the home team, and ego-deflating to say the least.
After the Bulls' seventy first win of the season, reporters who were surrounding Michael Jordan asked him not to be bashful, but to tell him who he thought was the best basketball player of all time. Quite seriously, he replied, "I think it's me." Now, all of us have a right to at least one vote, and, understandably, he chose to use that vote for himself. But on the other hand, he might have said, "I can speak only about the players I have actually played against, of course, and, of those players, I think I'm the best." That would have been a fairer statement, since there were a number of legendary players he never faced on the court. (And who knows what the outcome would have been in a one-on-one contest between MJ and a non-guard.)
An athlete's stature has always been established by the caliber of opponents he or she has faced. I learned the truth of his statement as I watched the great boxers who have fought during my lifetime. It holds true in basketball as well as boxing (or in any other sport, for that matter).
I would give a lot to have seen MJ play against Walt Frazier or KC Jones of the Celtics, two of the greatest defensive players of my time-or against Jerry West, a guy who could do it at both ends. And how would MJ have handled Oscar Robertson, the Big O? No one I know could have done it! If we were considering only three players of this era, Michael would fall behind two or three: Magic Johnson, or course, and my favorites, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley. When you keep in mind that basketball is a team game, we'd have to conclude that those three guys have made a larger contribution."
