Endangered Hoops

So as of today, Michael Jordan is now 48 years old. Forget the indifferent arguments that he could still play today; the man is old. And he’s getting older. Creating some type of MJ tribute almost never works and that’s mostly because the man has been the focal point of an unimaginable amount of post tributes. I still remember watching the time leading up to his second retirement in 1998. As a slight showcase of how iconic he really is, we stopped school to watch his retirement. When SportsCenter brought those old “Jordan Moments” out, I was there leading the 6th grade class in a unified homage. I still have the tapes.

But sooner or later, he will reach a point – if he hasn’t already – where he no longer resembles what we want him to. For now, we will continue to look back in the past at the expense of the future. Normally, running with such talk is stupid. But since today is February 17 and since today is another born day for the Greatest Athlete of All-Time, I will allow it.

Lets head back to Sports Illustrated – I’m sorry about the redundancy – to bring a nice story on His Airness from the fabulous Frank Deford…

Even allowing that we might overstate the point, it is not uncommon for the most memorable of our athletes to reflect their times. Certainly, the Babe was at one with the Roaring Twenties, just as Jackie Robinson perfectly represented the grand societal advances of the postwar years, and as Ali and Billie Jean so symbolized the turmoil of their period. Likewise, Michael Jordan is not merely so extraordinary for what he does. He also has been the right, best athlete for us now, for this relatively serene and altogether prosperous fin de si�cle, when the United States rules alone, as much superculture as superpower.

Read the entirety of the story here…

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“I know one thing: If I was a coach, I’d let someone else shoot a layup before I let him beat me,” West says. “I’d have everyone guarding him.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6MXVAauq9s&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1]

Mark Heisler recently wrote an article in the L.A. Times about the true measure of Kobe’s clutch factor. And while Bryant never makes it easy or equally easy to love or digest, his ability to rise just one step above the comp during the final seconds of a game is almost without parallel.

You can’t throw a stat together and say that makes clutchness. You always can’t throw a compilation video of game winners together and say they make clutchness either. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan have created quite an archive, yet it seems like somehow Bryant is surpassing them.

JA Adande asked Phil Jackson about this after that first crazy buzzer beater against Miami. Their conclusion was Jordan and Bryant were 2 separate birds, albeit perched on the same tree.

As the mileage piles up on his knees, you see him force up a lot more contested jump shots– box scores show a lot more 9-24 nights than they do 11-17 nights– but, in those final few seconds, no one is as deadly. Comparing that ability to MJ is different: Money would spend the whole fourth quarter cutting open his opponent’s hearts. Kobe? He takes bad shots, screws around with the ball, but then all of a sudden it’s a late game situation and everyone knows that ball is going in.

People love to talk about Kobe’s confidence and his belief in himself. Money had that too, except he knew how to control it. If he was having a bad shooting night, he got in the post and worked to get himself to the free throw line or a short bank shot. If Kobe misses 3 or 4 from deep, he still doesn’t hesitate. That makes for great made-for-TV moments, not great percentages.

It’s that same gunslinger, Book of Eli-mentality that is the Lakers’ double-edged sword in the fourth quarter. Whereas MJ picked his spots, every LA possession in the finals moments of a clutch game end up in a Kobe shot. And more often than not, it’s over at least one defender and not any closer than 18 feet from the hoop. Not exactly the best way to go about getting Ws. Jordan got Ws because he was smart. Kobe gets them because he is relentless.

Kobe’s creativity seems to drive out of his relentless approach to winning time. It’s never a question of if he will shoot it, even if someone’s open. It’s going up. This season, Kobe has hit 6 game-winners. That is beyond incredible. Miami. Milwaukee. Sacramento. Boston. Memphis. Toronto.

That gift he has, the way he seems to zero in and focus on exactly what he needs to do during the final possession of games, has saved LA numerous times this year. And if they have any chance of repeating, Kobe is going to have to be extra special the rest of the way.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKDyV404HXs&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1&border=1]

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In honor of his induction into the Hall, MJ gets the special treatment. I don’t think I ever grew up under the impression that this man wasn’t God. Without MJ, my life would be a 180. I would’ve been a WR, sweating every day, trying to be the next Randy Moss. It would’ve been gloves and cleats instead of Spauldings and Js.

MJ was ball growing up. It never registered with me that there were 29 other teams. Chicago was all that mattered. Since he retired, I’ve been searching for a replacement cus that void is still there. Every time I watch videos on youtube or look at all my old basketball cards, it brings back childhood: one-on-one games in the backyard to 50, 6 am morning calls for Sportscenter, the 301, the 4th grade. I will miss you MJ.

(thanks to hoopsencyclopedia for making these incredible mixes)

A lot talking heads want to proclaim Mike as something short of what he was because of his Hall Of Shame speech. Contrary, Mike was all that. Arrogant. Self-absorbed. Could he fly? In his mind, he was never the passenger, drove the A to heights no one ever thought would happen. To someone like me? He was just the perfect blend. What other leaning, double-pumping J look so wet? Hell, I probably would’ve kissed him on the cheek if I ever met him. He made a weight-lifting, rap-digesting, six-pack loving man like me gay. Just for a moment though. When he hit that shot against Utah, the crossover on Mr. Russell, the spank and the splash, I was gay. When he was clutching that ball on Father’s Day, rocking the bred 11s, I was gay. And millions of kids growing up were in love with him.

That ferocity, that self-drive and that maniacal approach to winning are characteristics I’ve tried to emulate forever. I want to be the best at whatever I do. No one better to study than the greatest athlete God ever created.

So Kobe, this is my shout-out to you. You want to have billboards in Barcelona? You want to be on Wheaties, on little girls’ myspace pages, sitting on the tongues of everyone in every barbershop in the world? You are going to need every bead of sweat, every five-foot pull-up better be done with max efficiency. You have to be greater than the machines that make cars, smarter than every Harvard graduate. It is going to take something better than liquid fuel. You might have to have surgery, get cougar muscles put in your legs.

Because MJ is God around here. You are struggling to make that climb and oh, what a long climb it’s going to be. 4 titles at 30? Feels more like 1 at 35. That’s how bad people want to see you fail. 81 won’t do it for you. All-time scoring leader won’t be the key. 6 titles? Nah, you are going to need more than that. So you better be in the gym, and Ron Artest better be with you. You better give Phil some of that ‘feel-young again’ medicine. This mission won’t work by yourself. This ain’t Troy and you ain’t Achilles. MJ is eyeing you too. Remember that. He is watching too, knowing his end marks the beginning…

Sorry y’all I got fired up watching some youtube clips. Haha- peace and love to Tha Family.

Happy Holiday to all today and much respect to all the veterans. I’ve been just lamping today, not doing much…perfect timing for some youtube.

Little bit of what I’ve been watching today (some old rap videos and of course, MJ):

It’s crazy to see a young Money, before the Jumpman, before he was dropping 28 a game in his ROY season. You can see the work he has done on his J over the years; it looks pretty bad in this video. His form isn’t too smooth. Dope video.

This is just a classic song. Off Heavy Ds Blue Funk, you had everything on here. The catchy hook, a dope boom-bat beat. Of course, Guru & Biggie & Busta Rhymes add to this joint. I actually hadn’t heard this song for a few years before stumbling on it today. But that hook will never avoid me.

One of my favorite remixes of all-time. I threw this on here just cus I love Big’s verse. Enjoy.