The last dance

Lavender Room
1

Straight up gangster. When Magic and Bird say he’s the best, he’s the best. What a legend. Man it would be something if you could cross the sheer athleticism of Lebron with MJ…

Great to relive some of those moments. For the youngsters among us, or those that think that Bron compares. Please tune in.

And yes, it was made with him, so won’t have the critical stuff. But man he was something else.

Him and Gretzky at the same time…now I feel old. The only way I can describe it to the youngins is if a Pakers fan would root for a bears player, or a Yankees fan would root for a Red Sox player. He was that transcendent. You didn’t like the team, you hated the team, but you rooted for him.

2

Lebron is maybe the sixth or seventh best player in the league at that time since he is so mentally weak and teams played defense. His whiny bitch act would get an Oakley clothesline or Laimbeer forearm shiver.

3

Seeing Jordan play at the Stadium was surreal. Just amazing. Place was rocking loud and he just torched the opponent. And MJ while a minor deity was also seemingly down to earth.

4

I hated the bulls, bigly. I still love Jordan. Not too many players that did that. For sure MJ and Wayne. Others include Barry, Bo, Mario and very reluctantly Kobe and Peyton. Very few people do shit that nobody else can do…

5

I remember when he dropped 63 on the Celtics in the Garden as a rookie in a playoff game. Bird famously said after the game “That was God dressed as Michael Jordan.”

6

Walked past an Atlanta hotel one evening and noticed big crowd gathered at two buses next to it. Out walks MJ and the crowd roared approval as he waived and grinned.

7

I absolutely loved this and can’t wait for next Sunday. Will be rewatching this week as well considering all my free time.

Nostalgia and sports are two things right up my alley and this fits the bill perfectly. I thought the OJ documentary a few
years back was awesome as well but I was too young to remember half of it. This one is right in my wheelhouse.

The posters, the jerseys, the little beret hat, the shoes, the tongue. And all this fame accomplished with no internet. Just
good old fashioned marketing, a bit of cable TV, and an epic sportsman.

I will never forget being at nightclub where they had a big projector up showing the last game of the final championship
and seeing Jordan breakdown in the melee after the win and thinking something along the lines of “this is an incredible
feat that I am witnessing”

Man that feels like a lifetime ago…

8

I remember when he dropped 63 on the Celtics in the Garden as a rookie in a playoff game. Bird famously said after the game “That was God dressed as Michael Jordan.”

Point of order that it was his second season. That was the season he missed 64 games due to a broken foot in the third game of the season. When he came back for the final 15 games he was only allowed to play seven minutes per half. Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season. Then he went off on the Celtics in the playoffs. Not that it mattered much as the Bulls got swept.

There was a long segment of episode 2 last night that was devoted to his second season.

9

I remember when he dropped 63 on the Celtics in the Garden as a rookie in a playoff game. Bird famously said after the game “That was God dressed as Michael Jordan.”

Point of order that it was his second season. That was the season he missed 64 games due to a broken foot in the third game of the season. When he came back for the final 15 games he was only allowed to play seven minutes per half. Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season. Then he went off on the Celtics in the playoffs. Not that it mattered much as the Bulls got swept.

There was a long segment of episode 2 last night that was devoted to his second season.

Cause the rest of the East was garbage! Out of the 8 playoff teams from the East, 3 had losing records. The Cavs, Pacers, and Knicks won even fewer games, but that was also the time when 8 out of 11 East teams made the playoffs. Talk about a regular season not mattering. 3 West playoff teams also had losing records…

10

This takes me back to being a kid
.

11

It’s awesome. I loved him then. Still do. Can’t wait for the next episodes.

12

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

13

How would you like to be Jerry Kraus this last 2 Sundays? Geez. Any one check on him lately?

14

How would you like to be Jerry Kraus this last 2 Sundays? Geez. Any one check on him lately?

He’s dead

15

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

all that said…

magic is the best that ever was, and he sealed it in his rookie year. game-6, in philly, jumps center, drops 42, 15 and 7.

he is probably the only guy in the league who could’ve made the Hall playing any of the 5 positions.

16

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

all that said…

magic is the best that ever was, and he sealed it in his rookie year. game-6, in philly, jumps center, drops 42, 15 and 7.

he is probably the only guy in the league who could’ve made the Hall playing any of the 5 positions.

I loved Magic - well… I loved Bird and the Bird vs. Magic matchups, came to really appreciate Magic and his game later in life - but where Magic and Bird were on the same level (I can even acquiesce that Magic was probably better than Bird… and damn that hurts to say…), Jordan was another level.

Granted, Magic could play any position, but that doesn’t mean he could dominate anyone and everyone like Jordan could. And did.

I get being a homer, but ya gotta look at it with open eyes all these years later… Jordan was just other-worldly.

17

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

all that said…

magic is the best that ever was, and he sealed it in his rookie year. game-6, in philly, jumps center, drops 42, 15 and 7.

he is probably the only guy in the league who could’ve made the Hall playing any of the 5 positions.

False

18

Hmm… So… I remember watching Jordan play and thinking he had a gear (from the perspective of athleticism) that put him a level above anyone else playing around him at the time, but… I also got that same feeling with Lebron a few years ago, Kawhi/Durant/Antetokoumpo/Westbrook within the last couple years, etc… Has anyone ever quantified any of the quantifiable things about all of them? Obviously, FG% etc… are going to be functions of the style of basketball that was played during the era (add in hand checking and James Harden might not even be a superstar now… take away illegal defense and Jordan’s isolations become way less valuable), but… things like straight-line max-speed, FT%, some evaluation of leaping ability, etc…?

I say this because I REMEMBER seeing him motor away from people on break aways, but… even in my mind he doesn’t seem to eat up as much court as Simmons when he has a full head of steam or Lebron from 2015… There has to be some data on this, right?

19

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

all that said…

magic is the best that ever was, and he sealed it in his rookie year. game-6, in philly, jumps center, drops 42, 15 and 7.

he is probably the only guy in the league who could’ve made the Hall playing any of the 5 positions.

I loved Magic - well… I loved Bird and the Bird vs. Magic matchups, came to really appreciate Magic and his game later in life - but where Magic and Bird were on the same level (I can even acquiesce that Magic was probably better than Bird… and damn that hurts to say…), Jordan was another level.

Granted, Magic could play any position, but that doesn’t mean he could dominate anyone and everyone like Jordan could. And did.

I get being a homer, but ya gotta look at it with open eyes all these years later… Jordan was just other-worldly.

if you’re asking who is the best SCORER in the history of the game, jordan probably. score at will? MJ, wilt, kobe, lebron. best finisher? MJ probably. but if you’re going to give me 12 of the same, like the basketball version of 12 doloreses (westworld) then i maintain it’s magic and that’s the only way i think it makes sense when you’re trying to pick the best basketball player ever.

there’s a number of things he’s not. but he ticks more boxes than any other player ever. he’s routinely considered the best point guard, he’s still the average assists-per-game leader, but the reason he’s the best single player ever is he could play all 5 positions on offense and defend all 5 positions.

20

Somehow the Bulls made the playoffs with a 30-52 record and MJ missing 75% of the season.

And when he DID come back, the Bulls were in Tank-Mode

I over the part when they took him out, with 12 seconds left and a playoff spot on the line, because they KNEW he’d go for the wins vs. a better draft pick

When Paxton hit the game winner, he was like “Can’t blame me for that!”

all that said…

magic is the best that ever was, and he sealed it in his rookie year. game-6, in philly, jumps center, drops 42, 15 and 7.

he is probably the only guy in the league who could’ve made the Hall playing any of the 5 positions.

I loved Magic - well… I loved Bird and the Bird vs. Magic matchups, came to really appreciate Magic and his game later in life - but where Magic and Bird were on the same level (I can even acquiesce that Magic was probably better than Bird… and damn that hurts to say…), Jordan was another level.

Granted, Magic could play any position, but that doesn’t mean he could dominate anyone and everyone like Jordan could. And did.

I get being a homer, but ya gotta look at it with open eyes all these years later… Jordan was just other-worldly.

if you’re asking who is the best SCORER in the history of the game, jordan probably. score at will? MJ, wilt, kobe, lebron. best finisher? MJ probably. but if you’re going to give me 12 of the same, like the basketball version of 12 doloreses (westworld) then i maintain it’s magic and that’s the only way i think it makes sense when you’re trying to pick the best basketball player ever.

there’s a number of things he’s not. but he ticks more boxes than any other player ever. he’s routinely considered the best point guard, he’s still the average assists-per-game leader, but the reason he’s the best single player ever is he could play all 5 positions on offense and defend all 5 positions.

You failing to note Jordan being the best defender in the league is all I need to know.