Having just discussed the bad about Michael Jordan (and his Charlotte Bobcats), I thought it fitting to make like Matchbox Twenty and get "Back 2 Good." (Re)Jumping off with Jordan returns. Finally.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. America has been introduced to the world of cute British babies thanks to YouTube. Nearly six million people follow (and have the privilege of reading) Ashton Kutcher’s astonishingly generic “thoughts” and “musings” via Twitter. (Follow me! If I get to double digit followers I will do something appropriately crazy and (probably not at all) entertaining/worthwhile.) Facebook lets you network and look at friends pictures and…play Farmville…and stuff. But most importantly, sports message boards eliminate the need to travel to the local sports bar to engage in a passionate, mostly ignorant debate comparing LeBron to Kobe to Kevin Durant to Michael Jordan to that eleven year old phenom who definitely has the inside track on becoming the number one pick in the 2018 NBA draft and will probably break every record in the history of basketball. A far more interesting debate would be determining how many WNBA All-Stars Dwayne Wade could defeat by himself, but that’s just a personal opinion (the answer is three, by the way).
Message boards give internet users both the platform and anonymity to spout their outrageous opinions without consequence. And while that delusional Knicks fan who thinks Danilo Gallinari is the greatest young prospect in the NBA will remain faceless and avoid the heaps of scorn he rightly deserves, those types of player comparisons and discussions are part of what makes basketball unique and so enjoyable to follow. Only the quarterback position in the NFL lends itself so completely toward balanced debates about competing rivals and the greatest players throughout history. Bill Russell’s battles with Wilt Chamberlain put the NBA on the map in the 1960s and remain one of the classic sports rivalries of all-time. In today’s sports world, the Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James argument threatens to explode ESPN basketball chats on a daily basis. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson forged a lifelong friendship while battling for titles in the 1980s and Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant flipped that traditional script while feuding their way to three championships together in the early 2000s. Hakeem Olajuwon measured himself against David Robinson while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fought valiantly against male pattern baldness. Has Tim Duncan firmly put Kevin Garnett and Karl Malone in his rearview mirror as the greatest power forward of the modern era? Nearly every great player has had a contemporary to challenge them, to push them to a higher level and reach that rarified air where mere mortals dare not ascend. Nearly every great player remains linked with a peer and/or rival years after retirement. But not Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan stands alone atop the basketball world.
“Ricky Bobby: You can’t have two number ones. Cal Naughton: Yeah, cause that would be eleven.” –Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
No comments:
Post a Comment