
Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building (2013) - sergeant3
http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/Michael-Jordan/michael-jordan-not-left-building
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dude_abides
This being HN, my first reaction was that this article was about the famous
machine learning professor (who unfortunately shares his name with someone way
more famous than him), until I realized the domain is espn.go.com :)

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rasengan
I was all excited thinking he was coming out of retirement to play ball. :(

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at-fates-hands
Quite possibly the most self centered, self serving egotistical a-hole EVER.

I have plenty of stories about him, but the HOF speech was a peach. Instead of
thanking his family and teammates for helping him achieve his records, he
turned his speech into a bully pulpit, admonishing his fucking high school
coach for not selecting him for the varsity team and other people he flight
slighted by his entire career.

Sure he has a ton of money and is one of the NBA greats, but it all came at a
cost of his dignity and character. I'm actually quite happy he's a miserable
failure as owner, it serves him right.

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myronbolitar
He's the greatest basketball player ever. He's the most competitive athlete I
know of. He's an athletic genius.

Similar to the stories of Steve Jobs berating colleagues, employees, rivals,
etc. there are anecdotes about Jordan doing the same in his field.

He's not known as the Greatest Human Of All Time...he's the Greatest
Basketball Player Of All Time.

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practicalpants
It's not unanimously accepted that he's the greatest basketball player of all
time. You have to take into account things like the illegal defense era (his
era), which made it easy for superstars to shine. Tracy McGrady, for example,
admitted his points per game average went from 32 to 22 overnight because of
the introduction of zone defense.

Likewise, the NBA has become vastly more competitive and international since
Jordan's prime, i.e. greater demographics competing to enter, overall raising
the mean athletic ability.

Jordan is clearly a great, but one among others, like Kobe and LeBron, neither
of whom are actually A-holes like Jordan.

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irishcoffee
Jordan is the best. There really isn't a debate. Kobe and Lebron would tell
you this without batting an eye.

Kobe and Lebron are both giant assholes. I'm not sure how you don't agree with
this. Do you not follow sports news? Jordan is also a giant asshole. He is
just far enough removed from playing the game that people forget about how he
redefined/saved the NBA, they only judge him on the past 5 years.

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practicalpants
I strongly disagree with your characterization. MJ has even said he wasn't
sure who'd win him vs. Kobe.

There is plenty of debate. Don't forget the league-wide diluting effects of
the '89 and '95 expansion drafts, something I neglected to mention. People
really do underestimate how less competitive Jordan's era was than today (but
many fans do get it).

I'm a longtime NBA fan, and I follow basketball news regularly + compete in
bball fantasy leagues.

And no, Kobe and LBJ are not assholes on Jordan's level. Jordan is notorious
for being an asshole, unlike the former two.

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bhaumik
Update on the Bobcats (for those interested):

They've rebranded to the Hornets, attracted some great talent (Al Jefferson)
and have put together a solid team. Today, he teared up accepting the
"Charlotte Business Journal's Business Person of the Year" award after being
criticized so much for his decisions as an owner.

[http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12205207/michael-jordan-
ge...](http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12205207/michael-jordan-gets-
emotional-winning-business-award)

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ritchiea
They're still bad, they've lost 8 more games than they've won (17-25) in the
lesser NBA conference and wouldn't make the playoffs if the playoffs began
today. The NBA is not starting a company, you can't identify needs and produce
a solution for them. You have to wait around to be able to draft or sign or
trade for elite players. Few basketball executives are good at this, it's
extraordinarily difficult and involves a lot of luck if you are outside of a
major media market. But there's really no evidence Jordan is doing any better
as an owner/exec.

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adventured
They'd be the 8th slot if the playoffs started today.

[http://espn.go.com/nba/standings](http://espn.go.com/nba/standings)

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kaonashi
Not sure if intentional, but it reads rather like Glamorama.

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kooshball
Great article. The title should reflect that it's from 2013.

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sctb
Thanks, updated.

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FLUX-YOU
>As he reaches his 50th birthday, MJ is still looking for one more ass to kick

He can start with kicking his attitude into shape.

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frozenport
>>they hate us cause they ain't us

He is still making tons of money

