Is Michael Jordan Planning To Start A 50 and Over League?

Before he and his class were inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, Michael Jordan served basketball fans and his admirers with a speech highlighting the individuals and events that provided fuel for the internal drive leading him to become one of the greatest athletes in sports history.  His speech, which was often funny and at other times raw and biting, but always grateful if not gracious, offered us a fascinatingly candid glimpse of that competitive edge which put fear in opponents and put out teammates who did not possess the will nor desire to match his intense need to win.

Michael spoke to us in a way that promises to confound many who don’t understand what it takes to be, or what it is to be great at something that you love and appreciate with all your heart.  He probably disappointed those who thought he should have been soft and graciously corporate immediately before riding into the sunset so that his memory could be neatly packaged and shelved in their minds, only to be dusted off for sports anniversaries and cross-generational comparisons to the next anointed G.O.A.Ts.

If we listened closely, however, we heard Michael tell us that his passion was borne from a burning childhood desire to prove that he belonged, whether it was amongst his competitive siblings, or on the cover of Sports Illustrated with teammates as a college freshman or mentioned in the same breath as the stars who preceded him, like Isiah Thomas, George Gervin, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson who he respectfully named.  We also heard amongst the laughter and remembrances, that his childlike passion for the game still lives within him and that he is not prepared to be separated from the game and buried beneath accolades and idol worship.  He is still alive and maintains a desire to compete and to prove he belongs.  Michael said,

We are left to ask ourselves whether he was kidding or teasing us.  Is he preparing to pull a George Foreman and pop back into his sport at 50 to challenge an older Kobe or join LeBron in his prime, perhaps in New York, to win a 7th championship?  Or maybe, Michael and his body will remember how hard it was as a Wizard with waning magic to compete with the younguns, most of them with the work ethics of spoon-fed children.  Maybe he will settle into his dream to be an owner and instead of joining the NBA, he will come back only to promote his new 50-years old and over league of former NBA and college stars who still have enough game to entertain an audience.   Perhaps he has figured out that if people are willing to watch a declining (darn near reclining) Shaq play sports he has no business playing, people will surely accept watching former stars play on a shorter court for a shorter period of time; perhaps we will even accept gimmicks like trampolines to help our stars regain the hops they once credited to the shoes they wore.  Or even better, the teams would be comprised of former female stars too, perhaps giving a boost to the women’s game in the O Double G (Old Guys and Gals)Summer League.  I’d watch Cheryl Miller outshine her brother Reggie,  Magic and Dr. J any day.

Hey Michael, I’m not laughing.  Old Mature people need old mature role models too.  I can barely dream of being LeBron these days, but if you come back, I could still dream of being like Mike.  It should be a little easier for me in three years, shouldn’t it?

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PART 2 of 3

 

 

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CONGRATULATIONS MJ, Jerry Sloan, David “Admiral” Robinson, John Stockton and Ms. Vivian Stringer

CONGRATULATIONS MJ, Jerry Sloan, David “Admiral” Robinson, John Stockton and Ms. Vivian Stringer

AND

REMEMBERING AND THANKING MY BROTHER MICHAEL JACKSON

As I watched the television, stunned and moved at the elegance of the Michael

Jackson memorial in Los Angeles, I, like millions around the world, was struck with an inexplicable sadness. After days of Jacko overload, I took solace in hearing about the Michael Jackson I grew to know for five decades.  I needed to hear Brooke Shields publicly recount her friendship with Michael which at the time the press portrayed as bizarre piling more freakish imagery upon both former child stars.  I needed to hear Barry Gordy reaffirm my connection to the young Michael who made the little girls  scream and run around our classroom looking for the closest thing to Jermaine and Michael they could get.  I needed to hear Stevie talk about how much he loved Michael. And I needed to hear Magic Johnson remind me how important Michael’s excellence was to our own efforts to perform whatever task was our calling to the best of our abilities.

Al Sharpton started to put Michael’s role in our lives into the historical context it will eventually fall.  Within the framework of this era, Michael was more complex than strange and probably more troubled than dangerous.  But he brought to the table a magnificent energy and a light which most of us cannot find within ourselves even with the most “normal” of lives.  As one fan put it, MJ was extra-human, not superhuman.  The fact remained that he was human.  In his music, dance and film artistry Michael clearly wanted to force his human frailty to submit to the will of a higher power and to express that energy in pure love. It is the image of Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, among others, he grew up with. In the confusion and anger of the 60’s, it was the major message which would guide ideals of equality of justice.  “Love,” agape Love was at its base.

I have never met Michael.  I have never touched Michael, but he has certainly touched me from the first time I begged my sister to braid my hair at night so that I could have a big fro like The Jackson’s in the morning to the multitude of times I spent alone contemplating life to the background sounds of “Man In The Mirror,” “You Are Not Alone,” or “I Am Love.”  Or the many great parties where Michael’s soundtrack had us dancing into the late night, a respite from the daily grind of study or work.

I want to write a better piece; something more fitting of Mr. Jackson in that it should help those who don’t get it, but want to, to understand exactly what his life and death mean to his legion of followers, fans and listeners.  But for this space and this moment, I will share that as a black boy, the eldest of 8 children, growing up in the Midwest, not too far from where Pre-Gloved-One lived, the Jacksons set a standard for many, including large families.  Large families, a vestige of agrarian society, was still common in the Midwest back then.  How our parents did it, I still have no idea. But what I do understand is that as the Jacksons succeeded and Randy and Janet and Rebbie joined the spotlight, they showed us that success was attainable and that participation in the whole of society, not just a segregated spot in the world, was possible.  Equally as important they showed us that people, including families could work together.

Finally, where I was blessed to grow up, music and sport were intertwined whether we had the radio on the concrete sidelines or not. If you were a baller (not necessarily a good one), you always had a ball (football, softball, basketball) in your hands. And sometimes, usually against parental rules, you played with the ball to the blasted sounds of the Jacksons, James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic. The Jacksons and Michael in particular were an integral part of helping us establish a style and a rhythm to how we played the game. It is hard to explain but Magic was absolutely truthful about how Michael impacted his game, although it was always rumored that Michael could not play a lick.  Still, as kids, our connection to the Jacksons was complete when we knew they would all come together to form a team as pictured above.

I don’t remember whether they actually played anyone.  I vaguely remember rumors that they were supposed to play the Sylvers (a short lived popular family group) and the Osmonds. It probably never happened, but it touched our imaginations, informed our vision of ourselves and further reminded us that they were a part of our family.

So it is with some sadness, but with great respect and gratitude for the body of work Michael Jackson has left us, that I refused to fight the tears that streamed down my face as I watched millions from all over the world celebrate my brother.

Peace and blessings,

LIVES