Six for Six

Let me start this by making sure I am clear. Michael Jeffrey Jordan is the greatest player I ever had the please of watching play. This is to halt some of the inevitable hate that is going to come my way. Now, let’s dispel some myths.

Michael Jordan won his championships by competing against the best including Magic and Bird. This is patently false.Yes, the Bulls beat the Lakers for their first championship in 1991, but this was a fading Lakers team that lost James Worthy and Byron Scott during the Finals to injury. That’s two/fifths of their starting lineup lost in the Finals. I know that injuries are part of the game, but the Lakers were at the end of their run. Magic Johnson and the Lakers owned the 80’s with five championships out of eight Finals appearances. Larry Bird and his Celtics had three championships out of five appearances, including winning one  and losing two vs the Lakers. Lakers and Celtics had their battles, but by the end of the 80’s Larry Bird was plagued by injuries and soon into the 90’s Magic had to retire early due to his illness.  Let’s not forget that the Detroit Pistons, who were the Bulls biggest rivals in the East, were without Isaiah Thomas due to injury before the playoffs.    During the Bulls first run of three championships, Jordan went through Ewing’s Knicks all three years but never faced Isaiah’s Pistons. In fact, of the Bulls six title runs they faced the Knicks four times and Reggie and the Pacers once. They’re path wasn’t paved with legends, just great players. Of course in the NBA Finals the Bulls beat players like Barkley, Malone, and Gary Payton. All legends in their own right. The teams were nowhere near as perfectly constructed as the Bulls though.

So before you randomly select brand levitra , read these reliability tips. Weak erection is preceded by diseases or side effects of medications or any lifestyle disorders, and above all what can I gain by quitting smoking? The answer to all these questions is here. on line viagra Premature ejaculation is deemed to be premature if it occurs anywhere between 30 seconds to 4 minutes into the act of sildenafil online without prescription foreplay or sexual intercourse. The drug comes in different dosages 25mg,50mg,100mg,130mg,150mg & some companies also it in 200mg per viagra cost in canada tablet. The Bulls won nothing without Jordan. Technically true, but this is a lazy argument people make. Scottie Pippen was a few plays from taking the Bulls to the NBA Finals without Jordan. It is nonsense to say that the Bulls were not great teams minus Michael. Then they added the greatest post defender and rebounder in the league in Rodman. Of course they were going to dominate.

Michael was just as hated back in his day as the most hated players today. This is somewhat true but that was a different era. We live in a world today of reality television and 24 hour news cycles. Where every single person has a voice and a blog. Where every single move you make or syllable you utter is dissected  by people all over the world instantly. We live in a world that everyone has a camera and nothing is secret. So we find out about players going to clubs and partying and infidelity. We have more media which means that media members are trying to make a name for themselves by breaking a story, any story. In Jordan’s era, the NBA was just beginning to explode on television and the media was nowhere as rabid as today. They knew to stay in line or they would not be allowed in the locker rooms around the players. The NBA was just a fraction of the global phenomenon it is today. The internet was a non-entity. Do you believe if Jordan were scrutinized the way today’s athletes are, that the pressure wouldn’t effect him? The questions about the partying. Questions about the women. The Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith types speaking about Michael Jordan’s every move before, during, and after every game. Jordan was a mentally strong individual but he was also stubborn. Michael would not back down from any reporter and this could have been a trying exercise.

Michael benefited from being the face of the NBA at a time when they began to expand globally as the old stars faded away. In 1991 the NBA moved to NBC after nearly two decades on CBS. The NBC partnership was a huge success and the driving force in their popularity. Michael and the Bulls dominance in the 90’s was the catalyst. People tuned in to see them win and root for them to lose. Michael became a global icon by being the best at what he did for a long period of time. His excellence is unmatched and adding the era he did it in, it may never be matched but it does not mean we should create myths around Six for Six.