Best Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete in basketball history. During his brilliant career, Jordan won 6 NBA Championships, earned 5 MVP awards and was selected to 12 All-Star games. Michael’s talent and personality transcended into the very lives of his fans. He single-handedly paved the way for off-the-court athlete-endorsements – a billion dollar industry today! And this is why.

And James wants to lead a movement to get every player who wears No. 23 in the league to give it up as a tribute to Jordan.

“I just think what Michael Jordan has done for the game has to be recognized some way soon,” James said. “There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade if there wasn’t Michael Jordan first.

“He can’t get the logo, and if he can’t, something has to be done. I feel like no NBA player should wear 23. I’m starting a petition, and I’ve got to get everyone in the NBA to sign it. Now, if I’m not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it.”

James said his mind was almost made up, but the more he talked, the more he sounded like he was about to make an impromptu marketing shock wave.

“If you see 23, you think about Michael Jordan,” James said. “You see game-winning shots, you think about Michael Jordan; you see guys fly through the air, you think about Michael Jordan; you see fly kicks, you think about Michael Jordan. He did so much, it has to be recognized, and not just by putting him in the Hall of Fame.”

Going to No. 6 would be a natural, and James would have to inform the league by March to change jerseys by next year. Jordan himself changed jerseys briefly during his career, to No. 45, and several years ago, Kobe Bryant went from No. 8 to No. 24, so it has been done.

No. 6 is James’ Olympic number, and he has worn it in Cavs practices over the past two years. But it has other special qualities to him.

“My second-favorite player was Julius Erving, and he wore No. 6,” James said. “I wore 32 in high school because Dr. J wore it at first. My first child was born on Oct. 6, it’s my Olympic number, my second child was born in June.”

Michael Jordan’s thank you list went well beyond friends and family.

There was the coach who cut him. The player who dissed him. The media who doubted him.

Anyone who ever provided Jordan with motivation to become a better player – perhaps the greatest one ever.

Jordan recalled all of it Friday night, when he joined David Robinson and John Stockton, a pair of his 1992 Dream Team teammates, and coaches Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer in a distinguished class enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

“The game of basketball has been everything to me,” Jordan said.

Jordan insisted during a press conference that the weekend wasn’t just about him, but he was clearly the star before a crowd that included former teammates Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

“He makes one big shot and everybody thinks he’s kind of cool,” Stockton joked. “I don’t get it.”

Jordan cried before beginning his acceptance speech, then entertained the crowd with memories of any slights that inspired him to get to basketball’s birthplace:

This wasn’t a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria. He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down. This was a night to leave behind the petty grievances and past slights – real and imagined. This was a night to be gracious, to be generous with praise and credit.

“M.J. was introduced as the greatest player ever and he’s still standing there trying to settle scores,” one Hall of Famer said privately later.

Jordan didn’t hurt his image with the NBA community as much as he reminded them of it. “That’s who Michael is,” one high-ranking team executive said. “It wasn’t like he was out of character. There’s no one else who could’ve gotten away with what he did tonight. But it was Michael, and everyone just goes along.”

Career highlights and awards

• 6× NBA Champion (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)
• 5× NBA MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998)
• 14× NBA All-Star (1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002–2003)
• 6× NBA Finals MVP (1991–1993, 1996–1998)
• 1× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1988)
• 10× All-NBA First Team Selection (1987–1993, 1996–1998)
• 1× All-NBA Second Team Selection (1985)
• 9× NBA All-Defensive First Team Selection (1988–1993, 1996–1998)
• 1985 NBA Rookie of the Year
• 1985 NBA All-Rookie Team
• 3× NBA All-Star Game MVP (1988, 1996, 1998)
• 2× NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner (1987, 1988)
• 2x Gold Medal Winner in the Olympics (1984,1992)
• NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
• 1× NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion (1982)
• 1982 ACC Freshman of the Year
• 1× ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year (1984)
• 1× USBWA College Player of the Year (1984)
• 1× Naismith College Player of the Year (1984)
• 1× John R. Wooden Award (1984)
• 1× Adolph Rupp Trophy (1984)
• 1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
• 2000 ESPY Athlete of the Century
• 1990s ESPY Male Athlete Decade Award
• 1990s ESPY Pro Basketballer Decade Award