Congratulations to this year’s class of inductees to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Two coaches and three players were enshrined yesterday.
C. Vivian Stringer: Currently the head coach at Rutgers and owner of a pristine 813-269 career record. I don’t know enough about her career to cover it fairly; check Wikipedia for more information.
Jerry Sloan: I have mixed feelings about this guy, who seems like a jerk, and whose teams have never won a championship, making it into the Hall. On the other hand, he was a well-regarded player, especially defensively, and has a great reputation as a coach—is it fair to combine the two?
In an interesting historical note, Sloan has never won the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award. That’s OK with me because I’ve had a higher opinion of several coaches who have been active during his tenure, particularly Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, and Gregg Popovich. But it’s also bizarre because Sloan is a better coach than many of the men who have won the award in his time. Del Harris? Byron Scott? Come on.
I think Sloan’s a bit overrated as a coach; when has his team ever exceeded expectations in a meaningful way? With two (eventual) Hall of Famers for more than a decade, the Jazz made the Finals just twice. That’s not to say Sloan’s career was bad—were his teams any more disappointing than Harris’ Lakers or Don Nelson’s Mavericks or Brian Hill’s Magic? It just doesn’t strike me as Hall of Fame-level, and if Sloan had achieved his thousand-plus wins and playoff results with two or three different teams instead of just one, would he still have been enshrined? I think so, but I’m not sure.
David Robinson: The Admiral was just awesome. Maybe the most athletic true center ever, Robinson was a fantastic shot-blocker, rebounder, and scorer who could even do damage putting the ball on the floor and driving. Along with John Stockton and Michael Jordan, Robinson was part of the 1992 gold medal-winning Dream Team and the NBA’s 50th anniversary team. His career had the happiest ending: like Jordan and Stockton, he retired after the 2002-03 season, but his season ended with his second championship in a Finals win over the New Jersey Nets.
Like Sloan, though, he wasn’t the greatest of his era at his position. Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal were both probably better. I’d take him over Patrick Ewing, though. Robinson’s late-career teammate, Tim Duncan, became the best big man in the game, and Duncan flourished from a young age thanks in no small part, I think, to Robinson’s presence.
Around the time the Spurs won their first title (1999), Sports Illustrated had two cool articles about Robinson. Rick Reilly’s piece talked a little about Robinson’s charity work that also mentioned some of Robinson’s impressive career awards. Then Robinson himself wrote about his feelings on winning it all.
The NBA posted some awesome highlights of Robinson on YouTube. The second video has some great highlights of him in action against Jordan’s Bulls.
John Stockton: I tend not to give Stockton his fair credit, probably because I’ve heard so many Jazz fans overrate him in my time. He was not the greatest point guard of all time. In his own career, I’d much rather have Magic Johnson, probably rather have Isiah Thomas, and stylistically prefer Gary Payton.
Stock was, however, a terrific player, holding career marks for assists and steals. He was best known for his passing and his mastery of the pick-and-roll, but he played with focus and toughness and rose to the occasion far better than his two-time MVP teammate, the Mailman, ever did. His career shooting percentage of 51.5% is basically off-the-charts for a guard.
1996-97, his thirteenth year in the league, was the last time he averaged double digits in assists but was, in the playoffs, his breakout year. In addition to his game- and series-winner in Game Six of the Western Conference Finals, he took over at the end of Game Four of the NBA Finals to even the series (see below), though the Bulls would win the next two games. Like John Elway, Stockton discovered how not only to contribute as he got older, but to play even better than he ever had before.
Michael Jordan: Players like Bill Russell have arguments, too, but I think Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time. He was uniquely versatile, tough, creative, athletic, fearless, and determined. He had it all.
Wins? Try six NBA rings, two pairs of three in a row, all of which had Jordan winning the Finals MVP award, too. In Jordan’s last Finals with the Bulls, there were rumors Scottie Pippen would be given the award. Pippen was one of the very best players in the league and deserving of even more recognition than he got. But when an injury limited Pippen in Game Six, Jordan scored forty-five points and submitted a masterful final minute where he bent the game to his will. And, oh yeah, he won Olympic gold twice and hit a national championship-winning shot as a freshman at North Carolina. The NBA single-season record for wins by a team was 69 before Jordan played; his Bulls eventually submitted back-to-back 72 and 69-win seasons.
Stats? How about being the all-time leader in scoring average in the regular season and the playoffs? Jordan scored at least twenty points per game in each of his fifteen seasons. His career shooting percentage of 49.7% is amazing for a perimeter scorer; by comparison, Kobe Bryant’s at 45.5%. And he’s second only to Stockton in career steals.
Awards? In addition to those Finals MVPs, how about the five regular-season MVP trophies he picked up? (Should have been more.) He made the All-NBA first team ten times, and the All-Defensive first team nine. He won several player-of-the-year awards as a college junior. He was NBA rookie of the year and played in fourteen All-Star Games, winning three MVPs there.
Moments? There are too many to list, so some of my favorites: the Flu Game (Game 5 of the 1997 Finals)…his last game with the Bulls (the aforementioned Game 6 of the ’98 Finals)…The Shot over Craig Ehlo and Cleveland…the threes and the shrug against the Portland Trailblazers…switching hands against the Lakers in his first Finals…63 points against the Celtics in the playoffs his second year when he was returning from a broken foot…his game-winner over the Jazz in Game One of the 1997 Finals after “MVP” Karl Malone missed two free throws…his winner for UNC…and winning his first title after his father’s murder on Father’s Day, for starters.
Personally, I’ve seen Jordan’s most famous highlights a million times, so I decided instead to leave you with a) the NBA’s highlight package from his rookie year, and b) some of my favorite Jordan commercials. (The "Be Like Mike" song is a little annoying, but kids at school used to always sing that to me. Gotta admit I kinda liked it.)
4 comments:
I don't know if you watched the ceremony on Friday night, but it was pretty cool. I've never heard Jordan speak so candidly before. I loved seeing how emotional he was and that he wasn't willing to admit that his bball career was over. I also thought it was cool that he recognized Pippen at the beginning of his speech (I agree that Pippen deserves far more recognition than he ever received). Just like the rest of his career, I thought he was very classy and was grateful he didn't have a 5-page typed speech a la Sloan.
It's pretty sad to realize that we won't see Jordan play anymore, but it was truly a privilege to have been able to see him play. I remember going to Nugget games in high school when they were playing the Bulls and was NEVER disappointed in Jordan's performance. Best player ever.
I did not see the ceremony live, but watched a YouTube clip of his speech that, while edited, appeared to be pretty much the whole thing.
I thought it was cool, and the story about Bryon Russell was really interesting. I just thought Russell was unlucky enough to have been in the wrong place (small forward in Utah) at the wrong time (NBA Finals)...had no idea he'd tugged on Superman's cape like that! It was funny seeing Stockton's expression when Jordan told that story.
I never saw Jordan in person...you are a lucky kid.
Gotta Chime in on this one. No doubt Jordan is the best player ever, Lebron has a lot of work to do. I found some site a long time ago with the 50 best players in Basketball referencing who they thought was the best, Jordan was referenced the most by a large margin, in my opinion that makes the case.
As for Robinson, he was a class act and definitely one of the most athletic big men to play the game.
John Stockton looks rediculous when he gets excited, that's really all I have to say about him, see the video and you'll know what I'm talking about.
And the rookie Jordan tape gave me one more thing to thank Jordan for. You'll notice his socks don't go all the way up to his knees. Thanks MJ.
And thank you Mike G for the Ultimate Jordan DVDs best birthday gift ever!
LT
A Jordan post is pure LT bait, and I am glad to see you responded.
I think you can make a lot of arguments for Jordan...I believe it was Spike Lee who once said Jordan was the best because a team of five MJs would beat a team of five anyone elses. I think that's right. Who would come closest? Off the top of my head, maybe five Scotties...or five Magics.
I agree on LeBron, too, and not just because he's young...for some reason his general attitude is giving me a bad vibe lately. I kinda think he's gonna bail on Cleveland, too, but who knows.
Funny you should mention the socks, because I thought about bringing up Jordan's impact on style, with his baggy shorts or shaved head, too. Definitely was a huge influence there, too.
Those DVDs rock...I'm thinking I need to go back and watch some of the old games again.
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