Michael Jordan: The Pump-Fake King

There are a couple of things that I swore I wouldn't do when I decided to write about sports. The first one was to not play the hits. That is the thing I hate most about ESPN. They get one topic, beat it to death, resurrect it, and beat it to death again. I refuse to do that. The other one was to not be hypocritical in my opinions and feelings a player or team. This is something that has gone on far too long, and especially in one instance. The discussions regarding Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

For years I've heard people who don't like Kobe have talked about how he emulates MJ. The way he carried himself, the way he played it all was him copying Mike. They also talked about how big of a jerk Kobe is. How he talks down his teammates, how he is snarly to the media, how he is just a mean guy. Michael Jeffrey Jordan wrote the book on being that guy. Yet, you rarely, if ever hear about that. 

As much as people don't like Kobe, he has costs himself millions in endorsements by staying true to that attitude. Personally, that gains him a huge measure of respect. I'd rather a person who is a jerk be that guy 100% of the time, than act one way for the media in order to gain. Again, something that Michael Jeffrey Jordan wrote the book on. It has been painful to watch when Kobe has tried to deviate from that attitude. I don't even think he believes it when he tries to act like something other than a jerk. Yet, he gets villified and killed in the media for doing so.

MJ is a guy who is notorious for talking down his teammates. In the book "Jordan Rules", author Sam Smith chronicled the 1991 season of the Chicago Bulls. He told many stories of how Jordan was with his teammates. How he punched, and verbally abused the grown men that played with him. You never hear about that though. Let that happen with Kobe, the firing squad comes out in mass.

MJ is a guy that spent twenty years saying that he never spoke against Isaiah Thomas being on the 92 Dream Team. It was one of the most openly known secrets in basketball, but he would never cop to it until this year. He finally acknowledged on the NBATV documentary that one of the stipulations of him playing was Isaiah not being on the team. We all know that Isaiah isn't a saint at all. That isn't the point though. The problem is, why go 20 years acting like you had nothing to do with it, then admit it now? That's a sucker move to me.

For the final piece of my argument, here is MJ's Hall of Fame speech: 

The entire speech was a cluster of "that awkward moment when". From talking down his old high school coach, and having the guy who was kept on the Varsity team there to clown him. To saying "I wouldn't want to be you guys" to his kids. It was the real MJ personified. Yet, people just smiled, nodded, and accepted it because it was MJ. This article by Adrian Wojnarowski sums the night up perfectly. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-jordanhall091209

I'm sure this blog won't be received well by most. Jordan has proven to be the Teflon Don when it comes to off the court criticism. I understand and accept that. I also refuse to not voice my opinion on how I think he is off the court. Personally, off the court attitudes really shouldn't matter, yet its what people seem to bring up more often than not when comparing Kobe to MJ. 

So, next time you find yourself saying, "I don't like Kobe because he's an arrogant jerk", please remember your hero MJ, and how he is off the court. Kudos to Kobe for being that guy all the time, and not pump-faking the masses like MJ did. Stay on the floor my people, and stop being hypocritical.

I'm Jimmy L. Wilson, Jr. and I approve this message.