What The F*** is Michael Jordan Wearing?

I like Mike but his wardrobe is pure WTF. Like these jeans:

This is sort of the opposite of the NBA fashion nerds.

Jordan vs. LeBron

I watched this video the other day:

I'm grateful to Bill Simmons for covering my main thoughts about this video so well in his piece about "LeBron's playoff irrelevancy". Which are:

1. "Jordan never would have done THAT." The THAT in question is not bringing it in the playoffs. Taking your foot off the pedal in the playoffs is just not done if you're supposedly one of the top players in the game.

2. "We made so much fuss about LeBron these past two years and he's not even the most important dude on his own team." LeBron might be the better pure player, but Wade is a leader and winner.

The Heat may go on to win the title this year and for six or seven years to come but unless something changes with LeBron's approach to the game, he'll never be as great as Jordan was. There's more to being the best than just talent.

Michael Jordan advises LeBron James

Cleveland's response to LeBron James' boner of a Nike commercial has more heart, but this mash-up of the LeBron commercial with a previous Michael Jordan Nike commercial is an absolute masterpiece.

Michael Jordan's final shot

After the Chicago Bulls won their final championship of the Michael Jordan era, David Halberstam wrote this fantastic article for the New Yorker about Jordan's final season, final game, and final shot, a jumper over the sprawling body of Bryon Russell.

The crowd, Jordan remembered, got very quiet. That was, he said later, the moment for him. The moment, he explained, was what all Phil Jackson's Zen Buddhism stuff, as he called it, was about: how to focus and concentrate and be ready for that critical point in a game, so that when it arrived you knew exactly what you wanted to do and how to do it, as if you had already lived through it. When it happened, you were supposed to be in control, use the moment, and not panic and let the moment use you. Jackson liked the analogy of a cat waiting for a mouse, patiently biding its time, until the mouse, utterly unaware, finally came forth.

The play at that instant, Jordan said, seemed to unfold very slowly, and he saw everything with great clarity, as Jackson had wanted him to: the way the Utah defense was setting up, and what his teammates were doing. He knew exactly what he was going to do. "I never doubted myself," Jordan said later. "I never doubted the whole game."

When NBA history is written, my guess is that no one will be able to top what Michael Jordan accomplished on the court (Bill Russell, possibly, aside). He was a fantastic athlete and possessed the focus and discipline to make the most of his physical gifts (by which I mean he had the pathological need to completely and totally dismantle everyone else on the court: opponents, teammates, officials, etc.). Basketball is full of mostly-one-or-the-other players: Larry Bird, for example, was not particularly physically gifted but more than made up for it in discipline and Shaq is an amazing athlete but lacked a certain focus at times. Oh, you'll say, but what about: 1. LeBron (might be more talented than Jordan but is missing the necessary clinical insanity that Jordan had) or 2. Kobe (slightly less talented and driven, but might make up for it with longevity).

But to be fair, the shot against Russell was not the final shot of Jordan's career. After that article was written, in 1998, Jordan returned to the NBA for two lackluster seasons with the Washington Wizards. His last NBA shot was a free throw in the final two minutes of a meaningless 107-87 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Acting on the orders of his coach Larry Brown, Sixers guard Eric Snow fouled Jordan so that Jordan could score some points and leave the game on a high note. The Wizards fouled shortly after and Jordan left to a standing ovation. The intensity that propelled Jordan to such great heights early in his career also drove him to retire too early (twice!) and then come back after it was too late to put an odd sort of question mark on an exclamation point of a career. (via jb)

Michael Jordan's 23 most memorable moments

Michael Jordan is set for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend and in honor of the best player ever, ESPN is counting down with video of his 23 most memorable moments.

Michael Jordan beat 1-on-1

At one of Michael Jordan's basketball camps back in 2003, the NBA star was beaten in a game of 1-on-1 by John Rogers, the CEO of a Chicago investment firm. See also LeBron James getting beat at HORSE.

Update: Rogers also regularly hoops it up with Barack Obama.

The next Jordan

TrueHoop's Henry Abbott makes a list of all the "next Michael Jordans" that have come into the NBA in recent years. Harold Miner! I haven't thought about that guy in years.

Michael Jordan's son Jeffrey has beaten him

Michael Jordan's son Jeffrey has beaten him at basketball and, surprise! Michael's not too happy or proud.

MATT LAUER: When I beat my dad in golf for the first time, there was no one happier about it than my dad. It didn't please-- thrill you that much?

MICHAEL JORDAN: No. Not at the moment.

(via truehoop)

Comedian Aries Spears does awesome impressions of

Comedian Aries Spears does awesome impressions of LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and Jay-Z. Here's a shorter bit of him doing Michael Jordan and Shaq. (via zach)

Sam Anderson articulates his hatred for Kobe

Sam Anderson articulates his hatred for Kobe Bryant. "Since he's a Jordan-like talent, Kobe clearly thinks that he's entitled to the Jordan mythology, but he doesn't have any of Jordan's charisma or imagination."

Very unflattering (and excellent) article about Michael

Very unflattering (and excellent) article about Michael Jordan, written during his second (third?) comeback with the Washington Wizards. (via truehoop)

Scott Nelson produces a "tribute brand" called

Scott Nelson produces a "tribute brand" called MIKE that's an homage to Michael Jordan, Nike branding, and shoes. After looking at his products (photos and interviews here and here), I'm amazed Nike hasn't sued him back to the Stone Age. Nelson's site is mike23.com.

In addition to the James Frey thing,

In addition to the James Frey thing, we've got people digging into the identity of the secretive writer JT LeRoy (a denial). And True Hoop's Henry Abbott is trying to figure out who William Wesley is...a powerful NBA figure who came out of nowhere and appears to not have a job or any direct influence on anyone or anything but goes to fights with Michael Jordan and has LeBron James on speed dial.

Charley Rosen's picks for all-time best NBA shooting guards

Charley Rosen's picks for all-time best NBA shooting guards. Not surprisingly, Jordan tops the list.