MJ is headed into the Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend. ESPN is counting down with the top 23 Michael Jordan moments.
When I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was lucky enough to have a membership one summer to The Multiplex health club. This is where the Bulls used to practice before they built their own practice facility.
And once I had the chance to rebound for MJ after practice. He’d often stay late and just shoot around. Sometimes he’d let the local kids rebound for him. One time I was just there by myself so he motioned to me and I started rebounding. I felt so honored. And the guy didn’t miss.
Sometimes he’d play a little fake one-on-one with you too. He’d never ever let you hit a basket though. He loved rejecting you and talking trash. It was all in great fun, of course.
The thing that always blew me away about watching Jordan, Pippen, Horace Grant, and Oakley up close was just how fast they were. These guys were giants, but they moved faster and reacted faster than any humans I’d ever seen. Light years faster. It was a whole new level.
Anyway, I’ll never forget those moments. Good to reminisce.
Hey, even at 46 he’s still got the fade away:
Brian
on 10 Sep 09Oh man, I miss him still. I haven’t been into the NBA since 1998.
Jamie Tibbetts
on 10 Sep 09Damn. All I ever got to do was give Pippen a container for condiments at Fuddruckers.
Adrian Holovaty
on 10 Sep 09Wow, Jason, that’s an awesome experience.
The best I got: I waited in line in a parking lot for two hours for Horace Grant to sign some basketball cards, but he left just before it was my turn. :-(
Michael Baehr
on 10 Sep 09Used to run into them all the time at Ron of Japan. Dunno what it is about that place and basketball players. Probably still the case!
Chad Jaggers
on 10 Sep 09Jason, that sounds like a great experience. Jordan stood for excellence and demanded excellence of everyone around him. He lifted everyone around him to greater heights.
Joel Sutherland
on 10 Sep 09To be fair to the defender in the video: Jordan travels on two of those. Watch his pivot feet.
Michael Nielsen
on 10 Sep 09Those ESPN videos are great. Watching them gave me the same kind of goose bumps as watching Roger Federer or Diego Maradona at the top of their form. Over and over again, they do things that seem impossible. Plays that no-one else would even attempt, they make look routine.
Steven Tan
on 10 Sep 09Now I am jealous. He is one of the greatest sportsmen and being able to talk, rebound and one-on-one with him is definitely something to treasure. Basketball is missing something without him on the court. :)
PJ Hyett
on 10 Sep 09Those were some magical years. I feel fortunate to have been able to go to a few Bulls games to watch them in action.
Philip Arthur Moore
on 10 Sep 09Watching MJ play still brings a lump into my throat, most likely due to a mix of nostalgia and admiration for the man. He was my childhood Zeus.
Fred
on 10 Sep 09Go Pistons!
Chris
on 11 Sep 09That blatantly obvious push to the back of Bryon Russell (with the refs swallowing their whistles) to clear space for a critical game winning shot in the championship series vs. the Utah Jazz took Jordan from hero to villain status in my book.
But I’m just a bitter Jazz fan. :)
Steven
on 11 Sep 09MJ Had class I used to watch all there games. The game I respect him for was when he was sick and played like a champ.There is no talanted player like him in the game today.
Brade
on 11 Sep 09Cool story… Nice to see he made the kids earn it (i.e. not score at all ;)
This discussion is closed.