Michael Jordan is back and ballin'

[ArkiStan]

haha...How did I know he'd do that?? well, cool nonetheless....I don't expect him to still have his touch, but it'll be interesting just to see how he plays. How old is he anyway?

[Jeffbx]

Are you talking about basketball, or his sex life? :confused:

[eSDee]

He's 38 I believe. I hope that he does well although I don't know if he can improve on his legend status. He ended his career in storybook fashion so I'm not sure if he has anywhere to go but down. Especially with the Wizards. :rolleyes:

[K2]

i heard that he is donating his earnings for the WTC incident

[DoPeY5007]

I am glade to see hom come back, I alwayas wanted to see him play ( I have never been to a game )


So I guess I will have to go to a Laker game :P

[irwin]

K2, yup, he's donating his entire 1st year's salary to the cause. What puzzles me is the fact that the newspaper said his 1st year's earnings would only be 1 million dollars. Isn't he supposed to be getting like 10 million a year? :hmm:

[Markel]

Originally posted by Passwird
K2, yup, he's donating his entire 1st year's salary to the cause. What puzzles me is the fact that the newspaper said his 1st year's earnings would only be 1 million dollars. Isn't he supposed to be getting like 10 million a year? :hmm:
Maybe his contract terms are $1mil for year 1 and $19mil for year 2. :rolleyes:

[attgig]

well, since he's kinda a part owner (or at least will be again after he retires AGAIN), I would think he'd be willing to take a pay cut - ESPECIALLY if it means attracting good players into Washington.

[brainsmile]

I know that players like Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and Kobe are dying to shut him down. His legacy is definitely in jeopardy.... he should have stayed retired

[pennypinch]

I think it's great. And I'm not even sure he's NOT going to do really well. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he went for 25-30 points a game, and took the 8 seed in the Leastern Conference.

Here's why:

- He can still work the Jordan Jedi Mind Trick on 90% of the league. Antoine Walker's already pooing his pants at the thought. Jerry Stackhouse is going to get worked. Kevin Garnett might LOOK like a dinosaur, but I'll bet he falls into the trap too. We all sort of assume guys like Kobe, Vince, Iverson will whoop up on him because they can run fast and jump high. But that was ALWAYS the case, except for maybe his first few years. He was always the most cerebral player in the game, and that's what made him great. Which leads me to my next point...

- He's the most cerebral player in the game. No-one got himself up mentally for every game, on the game, like Jordan. And no-one could manufacture sleights and perceived insults like him. He's legendarily neurotic.

- He was the most fundamentally sound player when he left. People wonder how he's going to guard the Garnett's and Shareef's and Shawn Marion's of the league. Simple: fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. His positioning was always textbook. Sure, he's a little slower, but he's still in the top 30% in the league, quickness-wise. He can still box out. If some guy wants to jump over his back for a rebound, said player is going to foul out very quickly because...

- He'll still get those calls. No player in the history of the league was able to get more reputation calls. Sure, this pissed opposing fans off to the nth degree, but let's face it, if anyone should get a reputation foul, I think Michael would be a good candidate. If anything, the league and officials will want to protect him as much as they can, and that'll involve lots of foul shots.

- He'll get all the shots he wants. You're telling me he's going to dish shots off to Rip Hamilton, Jahidi White, and Courtney Alexander? Gimme a break! Hello, 14-35 games.

- You practice like you play. People still talk reverently about the vintage Bulls practices: him punching out Steve Kerr, tussling with Scottie Pippin, Bill Cartwright threatening him, him menacing BJ Armstrong (and let's face it, if you knew a guy named "BJ", would you EVER stop F'ing with him?). Sure, it didn't seem like a healthy environment, but when the chips were down, the team that was best prepared for war would take the battle. The Wizards have been a team that's lacked that fire. But he'll stir the pot, raise the intensity, and that can only help one of the worst teams in the league.

I could see the Wizards winning 40 games, so long as he can maintain his health. Remember, we're all taking this injured-during-his-comeback stuff at face value. But wouldn't it be quintessentially Jordan-esque to mislead the media by faking an injury while working out like a demon at home or at a secret location?

Yes, yes it would. And the fact that we can't even know for sure that he was faking or not is the essence of why I think he'll succeed: because he'll do anything to win.

[Jihforce]

yeah, he should have stayed retired. His indecisiveness is annoying. Don't get me wrong, I like that guy, I'm a big jordan fan. (had his posters plastered all over my room in HS) but I doubt he'd be stupid enough to hog up all the shots and become a detrement to the team. Its not like he's the franchise player that the Wizards want to build around.

[irwin]

Originally posted by att gig
well, since he's kinda a part owner (or at least will be again after he retires AGAIN), I would think he'd be willing to take a pay cut - ESPECIALLY if it means attracting good players into Washington.

Jordan had to sell his share of the team to comply with NBA regulations.

[pennypinch]

Originally posted by Passwird


Jordan had to sell his share of the team to comply with NBA regulations. He divested his share. Doesn't mean he didn't make some arrangement to sell them for a dollar, and buy them back for the same price.

I mean, regardless, he stands to make a hell of a lot from this. Here's something REALLY interesting. Wouldn't it be interesting to hear him start to grouse about losing a lot, and wanting to play for a contender? Then, voila! He packages himself up with some cap fat for a young player to a contender at the deadline!

Even better, what if he sends himself to the #1 team in the East, and faces the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs! Obviously, he couldn't still be GM of the Wizards, but...

Ah, the possibilities are endless and tantalizing.

[pennypinch]

Oh yeah...

There's another guy who's still around that's 38 too. He's not doin' too bad himself.

Roger Clemens, owner of the first and only 20-1 start, is 38 years old this year.

[ArkiStan]

It's true that whether he does well or not, it's gonna be interesting just to see him go head to head against the new young talents, or the so-called "next Michael Jordans" - Kobe, Vince, etc...

[zenbooty]

As of now, he will not be playing point guard, so he will not be matching up with Kobe, Vince, or Alan anytime soon. He plans on playing shooting forward more than likely.

This whole "tarnishing his legend" crap is just that. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Dr. J and many other greats all played past their prime, and were eventually overtaken by the new generation of stars. Do any of their legends seem tarnished looking back now?

If anything, his being schooled by new players will be a help to the league, as the void he left by leaving before being toppled has contributed to the general lack of name recognition that the NBA suffered from really until just last season's playoffs. By putting himself out there to be beaten, he enables the new talent to justify and live up to the hype that the NBA dishes out on their behalf.

[Showtime]

Being a die hard Laker fan. Im still mad about the 1990 NBA championships. If only our team was healthy.........If only.....

No more of that. Michael is coming back! He can get to the finals in the weak east(sorry NY we love you but its true). Than he can be decimated by the phenom known as KOBE and our World Champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Its a huge gamble and he cant get a title so i predict a mid to late season injury cuz we know his pride wont allow him to be part of a failure. He'll sell lots of tickets(try to get seats at Staples) and will school some players (Magic schooled many when he came back), but there are a lot of players looking for payback. Iverson will wait for MJ to double and Kobe will just be Kobe(Look for him to be MVP next season). I love this game!

[pennypinch]

Originally posted by zenbooty
As of now, he will not be playing point guard, so he will not be matching up with Kobe, Vince, or Alan anytime soon. He plans on playing shooting forward more than likely.

This whole "tarnishing his legend" crap is just that. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, Dr. J and many other greats all played past their prime, and were eventually overtaken by the new generation of stars. Do any of their legends seem tarnished looking back now?

If anything, his being schooled by new players will be a help to the league, as the void he left by leaving before being toppled has contributed to the general lack of name recognition that the NBA suffered from really until just last season's playoffs. By putting himself out there to be beaten, he enables the new talent to justify and live up to the hype that the NBA dishes out on their behalf.
Shooting forward? I'd heard he was going to play rear wide powerback. :D I'm just F'in with you. For the record, I'm sure you meant to say he won't be playing shooting guard, and he'll be playing small forward. Although, you look at the Wiz, and hell, he might as well play the 1. He'd be instantly better than whatever the heck they have there now.

Otherwise, I'm in total agreement. This whole tarnishing the legend thing persists because people want to take a comprehensive look at a career, like it's a movie or something. It isn't. If anything, a professional sports career is usually perceived more like a magazine subscription. Later issues don't negatively or positively impact earlier issues.

Case in point: Muhammed Ali. Who remembers the pathetic fights when he was, well, when he was 39! I mean, I do, but only because I watched Sportscentury only a million times. But we all remember him shocking the world, Ali "boum-aiy-a", the Thrilla in Manila, and on and on.