In a weekend where great sporting events are happening, a call for the biggest icon in this generation, if not, all generations of sports will finally come to Michael Jordan.
While the NCAA Tournament, Major League Baseball's Opening Day, and even the 25th annual WrestleMania are receiving headlines, Jordan's name getting the call on Monday is a final culmination of a sports career and legacy that will never go away.
One can't accurately put into words the impact Jordan had on basketball, and all of sports for that matter. It all started for him at the University of North Carolina where he helped the school win a National Championship with his famous jump shot in closing minutes against Georgetown in 1982. He left school after his junior year in 1984, and his life was never the same after that.
With the No. 3 overall pick in 1984 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Jordan which his name would forever remain synonymous with the city. His skills as a basketball player were evident from the start, and then he garnered a contract with Nike that gave him worldwide fame.
In a time where scoring and dunking were as popular as the Bird-Magic rivalry, the NBA cleverly marketed Jordan which saw the league's ratings escalate even more. Sure, the Bird-Magic rivalry helped save a league that had a negative image from the 1970s, but it was Jordan's face and Nike logo that allowed the NBA to grow internationally and to highest ratings ever.
For much of his early career, many in the media criticized him for selfish play, he still averaged 5.3 assists a game. What isn't noticed is that he also led his team as a rookie in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals. By the way, no one else has ever accomplished that feat as a rookie. He would do the same thing in 1987-88.
Much of the media also link his Nike image as a downfall to fundamentals in the game today. But while he was one of the most prolific scorers ever, his all-around game is what experts noticed the most.
Jordan averaged 6.2 rebounds a game which is well above average for a guard. Jordan set records for blocked shots and he had over 2,500 steals in his career which now rank second all-time for a guard. His defensive prowess allowed him to become the first player in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year as well as MVP which he accomplished in 1987-88. Only Hakeem Olajuwon has accomplished that since which strangely enough was one of the guys chosen in front of Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft.
Jordan's name also helped the NBA ratings anytime he played compared to when he did not. In his return from his first retirement in 1993, the NBA had the highest rated regular season game on television in over 20 years when returned. The 1998 NBA Finals in which he won his last NBA Championship is still the highest rated Finals in league history. Since his final retirement in 2003, the NBA Finals has seen a rapid decline in ratings with a low of under 6.0 in 2007. Here's some of the accomplishments for Jordan....
-NCAA Championship(1982)
-Naismith Player of the Year(1984)
-Two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner as an amateur and professional(1984 and 1992). Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin are the only other players to win gold medals as both having also done it in 1984 and 1992.
-Six-time NBA Champion(1991-93, 1996-98)
-Five-time NBA MVP(1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998). Only Kareem Abdul-Jabber had more with six of them.
-Six-time NBA Finals MVP(1991-93, 1996-98)
-Ten-time scoring champion which is a current NBA record(1987-1993, 1996-98)
-Nine-time All First Defensive Team honors which is a record he now shares with Gary Payton.
-John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating has Jordan at 27.91 which is higher than any other player in NBA history. He is almost a full point ahead of the next closest player which is currently Shaquille O'Neal. Jordan also had the most seasons with a rating higher than 30 which he accomplished four times in his career according to the formula.
He helped his client firms earn more than $1 billion after his first comeback to the league in 1995. He still makes over $40 million a year in income from endorsements, and is also a large reason why player salaries in the NBA increased over time, too. Jordan made money, and helped the NBA make money. The Bulls as a team sold out their own venue and going away to play games when Jordan took the court.
No one in the history of the game had the kind of presence and image like Jordan had. Combined with legendary talent, Jordan's name drew interest everywhere he went. As a Bulls fan myself, he was larger than life like no other. He was the reason why I followed the Bulls and still do. His work ethic was why he became the greatest player in league history.
And finally on Monday, Jordan will get his much deserved call to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Jordan was much more than a Hall of Fame player.
Maybe Larry Bird was right when he said after his 67-point game in the NBA Playoffs in 1986, "God disguised as Michael Jordan." As it turned out, there ended up being much irony and truth to that statement. Perhaps that would be the best way to describe what Jordan meant to the NBA after all.
4/05/2009 06:44:00 PM
David Funk
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