MJ's disappointing HOF speech..

[flaco1801]

i saw most of the speech and i'd have to say i dont know what the uproar is about.... i never watch b ball.. mj is and was competive, and thats what makes him stand far above the others... and thats what makes the good from the greats... he said nothing wrong, he was honest...i guess people dont understand the truth anymore...

[33bird]

Flaco-you're in the minority bro. All the reporting on it from websites to Espn to yahoo, to NBA players and his own teammates, say he screwed the pooch on that speech. I think the majority of the people thought it stunk. I'm one of them.

[CollectGU]

Substitute the word 'actions' for 'speech' and 'Rose' for 'Jordan' and you've given us a perfect description of Pete Rose.

Minus the Hall of Fame part of course...

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com

Many of these special players are some of the most insecure people in the world, never feeling they are good enough, always feeling they can do better, no matter what they accomplish. It is what drives them ( not all of them but many, just look at Arod) from being simply great to that next level.

[sportscentury]

I watched/listened to MJ's speech again and thought more about his life, career, and approach to the game. I've softened my take on his speech and enjoyed it more the second time around. I also spoke to someone who spent some time with him at the induction weekend and have the sense that MJ was really good to him, which was nice to hear.

[flaco1801]

thanks for the compliment greg... sportscasters and former players are not whom i aspire to be likened to... ive met far too many and dont hold them in the highest regard, even the nice ones are not very inteligent. there is not enuf space to place all the names, but 2 come to mind quickly koosman and dykstra... playing ball all my life ive played with many atheletes who had no passion and desire, they just played the game. jordan was just enlightning those who choose to learn where his competiveness came from... too many players just going thru the motions...ordinary ballplayers equals ordinary speeches... learn from the special ones, hes not perfect,but he doesnt deserve the negativity. thats my take..

[sportscrazy13]

This is the type of speech I expected from him. That's what you get from the mind of the greatest basketball player to ever lace them up. Best part of all I got from his speech is all the old MJ haters... they hate him even more now.

[mmonte4]

IMO, if you look at MJ's speech in a negative light you just don't get it. There was something that made MJ great, and separated him from everyone else. In his speech, he gave us all candid insight into what it was.

Take a look at what PTI cohost and Washington Post writer Michael Wilbon wrote about the speech:

http://views.washingtonpost.com/worl..._thats_mj.html

[BorchertField]

I'll leave it with this: MJ might have been the greatest basketball player ever to grace his city with a natural born superstar leader.....but he is the Barry Bonds/Pete Rose of basketball. His character flaws were deep.

While Jordan's speech was indeed pathetic and petty, you can't compare him to that scumbag Rose. He might have been a gambler, but I'm not aware of him actually breaking the rules of his sport.

[oakesc8855]

They saved the worst for last-not the best. Did you guys see it? Stocks, Sloans, and Robos were great. They gave everybody credit for helping them get to the HOF. It was more about others than themselves. Then MJ comes up and disses about everyone from his high school teammate for making the team when he didn't, to Dean Smith not putting him on the SI cover, to Doug Collins not wanting him to play during the off season, to Krause taking credit for the Bulls championships, to Reinsdorf trying to protect his investment during his 2nd season, to Bryon Russell for talking trash to him, to Pat Riley for telling his players not to eat with him on game days, etc. etc. Was real disappointed. Hardly mentioned his family, other than it's gotta be tuff to be my kids. Mentioned no teammates other than Pippen once and tons of his teammates were there: I saw Kukoc, Kerr, and even Rodman. He even said shit in his speech. Man, everybody knows you're the greatest Mike. It's time to back off the me, me, me, and give others some credit. There's a nice article about this on yahoo sports. Dude rips apart his speech. Saying MJ was the only player that could ever get away with all the things he said. He's a cruddy husband, cruddy father, and a cruddy GM. I think he's lost without the contest competition and fanfare. Real disappointed. What did you guys think?

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you, I might have some bias thought as you probably do as well...I'm a huge Jordan fan, and thought the speech was great and how he used all of the things that he talked about as fuel to the fire, because when you are the best you sometimes have to find something to give you the desire. The only thing he really talked negativley about was Krause which he never got along with and I agree with some of the reasons why they didnt get along and I also dont think its fair for you to say he's a cruddy father, although I imagine he is a cruddy husband as he cheated on his wife and his run at GM hasnt been so great yet but he is with a young building team.

[Moustache Gang]

Posters,

I see most either loved or hated Mike's HOF speech. My own opinion is that it was very unprofessional. Look at most HOF speeches and the awardee usually gives thanks and gratitude toward God, family, coaches, players, mentors and others who had a profound impact on their lives and their careers.

All I know is if I made the Dads Hall of Fame, which I probably never would, but I am giving it my best shot, at my induction speech I would pay thanks to all those who helped me raise a great family, assisted me in contributing to my community and society, and I would pay high tributes to my loving wife and three kids who mean the world to me.

I really believe MJ's speech was self-centered and unlike most speeches of other men and women who have been inducted into a HOF.

I fully agree with Rick Reilly's entire Article below from ESPN Magazine.

Mark


Updated: September 16, 2009, 9:13 PM ET
Be like Mike? No thanks


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By Rick Reilly
ESPN The Magazine
Archive


Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images


Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame talk was the Exxon Valdez of speeches. It was, by turns, rude, vindictive and flammable. And that was just when he was trying to be funny. It was tactless, egotistical and unbecoming. When it was done, nobody wanted to be like Mike.



And yet we couldn't stop watching. Because this was an inside look into the mindset of an icon who'd never let anybody inside before. From what I saw, I'd never want to go back. Here is a man who's won just about everything there is to win -- six NBA titles, five MVPs and two Olympics golds. And yet he sounded like a guy who's been screwed out of every trophy ever minted. He's the world's first sore winner.



In the entire 23-minute cringe-athon, there were only six thank yous, seven if you count his sarcastic rip at the very Hall that was inducting him. "Thank you, Hall of Fame, for raising ticket prices, I guess," he sneered. By comparison, David Robinson's classy and heartfelt seven-minute speech had 17. Joe Montana's even shorter speech in Canton had 23. Who wrote your speech Mike? Kanye West?



Not that Jordan's speech wasn't from the heart. It was. It's just that Jordan's heart on this night could give you frostbite. Nobody was spared, including his high school coach, his high school teammate, his college coach, two of his pro coaches, his college roommate, his pro owner, his pro general manager, the man who was presenting him that evening, even his kids!



"I wouldn't want to be you guys if I had to," he said as they squirmed in their seats.



He even mocked his own brothers, calling them maybe 5-foot-5 and 5-6. Actually, they're about 5-8 and 5-9. Michael was the one blessed with the height gene, not the tact one.



Jordan had decided that this was the perfect night to list all the ways everybody sitting in front of him had pissed him off over the past 30 years: Dean Smith, Doug Collins, Jerry Reinsdorf, Pat Riley, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, George Gervin and Jeff Van Gundy. It was the only one-man roast in Hall of Fame history. Only very little of it was funny.


Jordan owes a roomful of apologies. But it'll never happen. I know firsthand. He once told me, "You know you don't get no apologies in this business."





He was like that Japanese World War II soldier they found hiding in a cave in Guam 27 years after the Japanese surrendered. The only difference is, Jordan won! What good is victory if you never realize the battle is over?


This is how Jordan really is, I just never thought he'd let the world see it. His old Bulls' assistant coach, Johnny Bach, told me early on, "This guy is a killer. He's a cold-blooded assassin. It's not enough for him to beat you. He wants you dead."



I covered his entire career and saw examples of it throughout. Saw him break Rodney McCray in after-practice, $100 shooting games, humiliate him until McCray lost his stroke. Watched him race his car up the shoulder of Chicago interstates just because he didn't have the patience to wait in traffic. Heard how he'd kept his friends confined to his hotel room at the Barcelona Olympics so he could play cards -- and keep playing until he won. For Jordan, it was never enough to win. He had to have scalps.


Now here he was, in Springfield without a filter or a PR guy to cut him off, while his staff must've been covering their eyes. And suddenly, it hit you: Michael Jordan is the guy who gets up at the rehearsal dinner, grabs the mike and ruins the night.



The thing Jordan doesn't understand is, it doesn't have to be this way. Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls and gave one of the greatest speeches in the history of the Hall of Fame. "Folks!" he hollered. "You don't get elected into the Hall of Fame by yourself! Thank you number 88, Lynn Swann! Thank you, Franco Harris! Thank you Rocky Bleier! What I wouldn't give right now to put my hands under [center] Mike Webster's butt just one more time! Thank you Mike!" He thanked linemen, tight ends, everybody but the ushers.



Had Jordan been in his shoes, he'd have said, "Hey, Steve Kerr! Remember when I kicked your ass in that fight?"


Jordan owes a roomful of apologies. But it'll never happen. I know firsthand.



Before his second comeback -- with the Washington Wizards -- I was the first out with the story by a month. Jordan and his agent, David Falk, denied it, said I was crazy, practically said I was smoking something. Then, after a month of lies, Jordan admitted it was all true. I saw him in the locker room before his first game back and said, "You wanna say something to me, maybe?"



And he said, "You know you don't get no apologies in this business."


So I wouldn't hold your breath.



They called it an "acceptance" speech, but the last thing Jordan seems to be able to do is accept it's over. In fact, Jordan hinted that he might make yet another comeback at 50.



I just hope Comeback No. 3 doesn't come with a speech.


Because then I'm really screwed.