There are a few things that I have learned in my college years. You do not mess with Greek gods because they tend to have nasty tempers and you do not mess with Henry VIII if you're his wife.
But one thing my diploma won't tell me is that Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA player of all time.
That fact, I already knew. Craig Ehlo, Bryon Russell, and scores of other hoopers know it as well.
Could it have been that Space Jam was an awesome feat of cinema? Perhaps. Could it have been his endeavors into America's pastime? Not as likely.
See, Jordan and I go way back. Air Jordan's were my first pair of shoes as a rug rat. He crept back into my consciousness with the aformentioned cinematic brilliance and he made me a Chicago Bulls fan, if only for a time. I even had a T-shirt with the years of his titles.
I wanted to control him in video games to dominate my friends because his attributes in virtual reality had no peer.
His attrbutes, in reality, had no peer.
He took over when games were on the line and more often than not, he delivered victory. Jordan drained a runner over Ehlo that still makes the poor guy scratch his head to this day. We can debate if he pushed off to create space from Russell.
But what can't be debated is that he is the greatest player of all time. As Kobe and LeBron creep into that discussion, it bears noting that Jordan retired and came back. He also had a disappointing foray in baseball.
Imagine what he could have done with those years. The world will never know. We have to be satisfied with chalking one up to the Jordan mystique.
Besides, I don't hear many people saying they want to mimic the mamba or koronate the king.
People still want to be like Mike.
