The Greatest Ever?
If you know me, you know I LOVE Michael Jordan. I have loved him since his rookie year. The amount of money I have spent to buy his shoes, wear his shirts, and clothe my sons in Jordan apparel is truly ungodly. I looked up to him as a basketball player, as a competitor, as a model of hard work, dedication and success. He is truly the greatest basketball player of all time. After watching his induction speech into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, there is no doubt that MJ deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I do have doubts about his success…true success. I read this article on Yahoo Sports about Jordan’s speech. Author Adrian Wojnarowski says this:
When basketball wanted to celebrate Jordan as the greatest player ever, wanted to honor him for changing basketball everywhere, he was petty and punitive. Yes, there was some wink-wink teasing with his beloved Dean Smith, but make no mistake: Jordan revealed himself to be strangely bitter. You won, Michael. You won it all. Yet he keeps chasing something that he’ll never catch, and sometimes, well, it all seems so hollow for him.
After watching Jordan’s speech, I felt like something inside of me had died. It was sad and good all at the same time. I was sad that a role model that I looked up to for so long had no meaning in his life apart from the game of basketball. I was sad that I had devoted so much of my affection to a man that loved himself more than God, more than his wife (ex-wife), more than his kids, more than his friends. I was sad that for so much of my life I had judged success by athletic dominance and material possessions. I was glad that God showed up and revealed some things to me on this night that I wouldn’t have recognized a few years ago.
The highlight of the evening for me, and from everything I have read, for most people watching the ceremony, was the induction speech of David Robinson. I have included it below. When you watch this speech, you don’t sing the Gatorade song, “I Want to Be Like Mike.” You think to yourself, “I want to be like Christ.” That is what David Robinson’s words evoke: a hope and a belief that God has something more for us…as men, as women, as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and friends. Robinson’s speech makes you realize that he wasn’t the greatest basketball player of all time, but he was the greatest husband to his wife and the greatest dad to his boys and the greatest friend and teammate that he could possibly be. That is success.
8 Comments to “The Greatest Ever?”
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UA-7672116-1
Justin: great article! I so only snippets of MJ's talk and it was strange. Until here I did not see any of DR's. A few weeks ago I almost used a quote by DR in a sermon where he said he watched MJ embrace the first championship trophy the Bulls won "as if a piece of metal would validate a life." He didn't miss the point much did he? And that was years ago! Even though I am not a basketball fan, I have always admired the Admiral for his stand, his example and his faith. Sad MJ missed out on what really counts but good for DR that he knows.
It's kind of sobering to think that Michael Jordan is just the world's greatest basketball player. How sad it must be to be limited to such a one-dimensional existence. DR is a class act and the definition of "role model."
“After watching Jordan’s speech, I felt like something inside of me had died.”
Ditto…
This was a huge letdown for me as well. I was truly baffled at his speech. He seemed so unfulfilled and empty.
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As you Justin, MJ was my hero growing up, and in my opinion the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I decided to sit down my daughter and two sons to watch this man be honored by the Hall of Fame and tell them about how much this man impacted me as a kid growing up. The sneakers, commercials, tank tops, posters, SI covers, etc….and as we sat there listening, i got that same empty feeling.
And then it hit me, i have NEVER sat down my daughter and two sons to tell them how the greatest Person ever came to earth to die for me and how that has impacted my life.
I haven't taken my autographed MJ picture down in my office…..yet. But thank you MJ, for exposing my heart and my priorities.
As a Utah Jazz fan, I will never forgive Jordan for pushing off Russell to win the series.
Wes, if you keep making comments like this on my blog, I will block you!
As you Justin, MJ was my hero growing up, and in my opinion the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I decided to sit down my daughter and two sons to watch this man be honored by the Hall of Fame and tell them about how much this man impacted me as a kid growing up. The sneakers, commercials, tank tops, posters, SI covers, etc….and as we sat there listening, i got that same empty feeling.
And then it hit me, i have NEVER sat down my daughter and two sons to tell them how the greatest Person ever came to earth to die for me and how that has impacted my life.
I haven't taken my autographed MJ picture down in my office…..yet. But thank you MJ, for exposing my heart and my priorities.