Michael Jordan was the NBA superstar who appeared at the right time to propel the league to new heights.
Everybody knows when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came to the NBA in 1979 they help elevate the sport–they were the 2 best players on the best teams. Multiple times the Lakers and the Celtics met in the NBA Finals.
In 1984, when Jordan was drafted, the NBA needed new stars to take over from the Magic and Bird show. Jordan became the savior immediately. He was in the slam dunk contest in 1985 and lost to Dominique Wilkins. In 1986 Jordan scored 63 points in a playoff game against the Celtics.
The NBA league exploded with the emergence of Jordan. He was great for the increase in player salaries, players were now getting lucrative basketball shoe deals and television rating went through the roof. Players like Shaq and Iverson had shoes named after them because of the popularity of the Air Jordan’s.
The dunk contest meant something because Jordan and Wilkins would compete yearly for the title. The two were great scorers who also happened to be great dunkers. Last weekend’s dunk contest was filled with bench players that nobody really knew.
The problem with Jordan’s success was that the NBA marketing was geared towards individual players instead of teams. Now games were be marketed as Jordan and the Bulls against Isaiah and the Pistons. The team aspect slowly eroded.
Many fans knew that Magic and Bird won their championships because of their teammates–not only because of them. People knew Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish were also All-Star and Hall of Fame players.
The Bulls team was all about Jordan. Scottie Pippen’s role during their 6 NBA Titles wasn’t appreciated enough by the fans and the media. He never received any big commercial deals and was not mentioned as one of the great players in the NBA. The media would always refer to the team as Jordan and the Bulls.
I blame the media for creating the selfish attitude that many players have now. Everybody believes they are ‘Da Man’ and no one wants to be second fiddle to anyone. Unfortunately, this has now gone to the extreme with 1 player taking twice as many shots as their teammates. Every good player believes they should be highest paid player on the team.
The quality of the team game concept is non existent; sharing the basketball and thanking your teammates for their contribution to victories is minimal. Many small-market teams were destroyed because the second best player didn’t want to be Pippen or Robin to Batman. The Orlando Magic team cornerstones’, Shaq and Penny, feud was over shoe commercials that pitted the players against each other. Shaq left through free agency and the Magic still haven’t recovered. The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Stephon Marbury was upset after Kevin Garnett got a twenty-million dollar-a-year deal. Timberwolves had to trade Marbury. The Raptors’ franchise hasn’t been the same since Tracey McGrady didn’t want to play with his cousin Vince Carter because he wanted to be ‘Da Man’. Tracey McGrady left through free agency.
The Celtics were able to merge 3 aging stars to win a championship. It worked because at that point in their careers it was more important to win a NBA title than to score a lot of points. Garnett, Pierce and Allen made 2 NBA finals appearances and won an NBA Championship with the Celtics.
The Miami Heat players took a slight pay cut to be together and won a championship. LeBron, Bosh and Wade are working well together again this season.
Some players understand now that it takes a very good team to win an NBA Championship. An individual who shoots and scores a lot isn’t enough to win a title. Bryant was reminded of that lesson when he forced Shaq out of Los Angeles Lakers so he could be Da Man. Kobe didn’t win another title until Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum joined him and Derek Fisher.
The social media discussions to decide who’s a better one-on-one player between Kobe and Lebron are irrelevant. This also a negative aspect of Jordan’s rise to fame because Magic and Bird always talked in terms of NBA Championships they won not who was better one on one. Basketball is a team game. Kobe’s Lakers won’t make the playoffs this year. We shouldn’t care.
The NBA organizations need to go back to building very good teams–not have a franchise player who is being paid maximum contract while the team only wins 30% of their games.
What is your take on Jordan?
Enjoy your day!
The Gambit 