Michael Jordan Takes His Place in Hall of Fame

Saturday, September 12, 2009
Michael Jordan takes his place in Hall of Fame
Associated Press



Springfield, Mass. -- On the day he was officially enshrined as part of basketball's glorious past, Michael Jordan admonished those who are still combing for pieces of his DNA in the present.

"Don't be in a rush to try to find the next Michael Jordan," he said at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. "There's not going to be another Michael Jordan."

The original Jordan, the one who collected six championships and five Most Valuable Player awards, who dominated the 1990s, revolutionized the sport, redefined athletic stardom and helped turn the NBA into a global entertainment giant, was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Friday night.

Jordan cried at the start of his speech, then entertained the crowd at Springfield's Symphony Hall with stories of how opponents, coaches, and the media challenged him to become of the greats of the game.

Four other legends shared the stage: David Robinson, the former San Antonio Spurs star; John Stockton, the former Utah Jazz point guard; Jerry Sloan, the longtime Jazz coach; and C. Vivian Stringer, the coach at Rutgers.

But Jordan absorbed most of the spotlight, much as he did during his 13 seasons with the Chicago Bulls (and even, at times, in his two seasons with the Washington Wizards).

The ceremony lent some finality to the Jordan era, and perhaps the chance to formally abolish the notion of a "next Jordan," a cliched phrase that has shadowed the NBA and countless would-be clones for more than a decade.

Jordan dismissed it, in a manner that was more matter-of-fact than self-serving.

"I say that in a way that times are different, the games are different, the desire to have that type of player is different," Jordan said, before adding a semantic clarification: "People are constantly trying to find the next Michael Jordan. First of all, you didn't find me. I just happened to come along."

So much of what made Jordan a transformative persona -- the championships, the MVP awards, the breathtaking athleticism, the game-winning shots, the bright smile and the boundless popularity -- might never be matched by a single player.

Kobe Bryant has channeled Jordan's style, basketball intelligence and passion, while collecting four titles and one MVP award.

LeBron James, a gifted athlete of a bolder physical mold, is striving to match Jordan's corporate prowess and, at age 24, has ample time to build his own legend on and off the court.

Yet Jordan did more than merely dominate the game and an era. He pushed the NBA into every living room in America and inspired fans on other continents to install satellite dishes, to watch him at 4 in the morning. He turned Nike and Gatorade into corporate behemoths, and it seemed only appropriate that a banner listing the Hall's business partners included Jordan's Jumpman logo and the instantly recognizable bold G.

There probably will not be another Jordan, but he allowed that a reasonable facsimile will one day come along, if perhaps on a different palette.

"It's going to happen," he said. "And I'm pretty sure you guys are going to recognize it. If you haven't already, in due time you'll know."

Referring to Bryant and James, Jordan said, "I see some resemblance," adding: "I think those guys have strong potential to be better than Michael Jordan down the road. They're going to create their own name, their own persona."

When he was asked to name the greatest moments of his career, Jordan demurred at first but named three: the shot that clinched the 1982 NCAA championship for North Carolina, the game-winning shot in the 1998 NBA finals and playing for the Dream Team, the 1992 Olympic squad that won the gold medal. Robinson and Stockton were teammates.

Jordan even listed his two-year detour into minor-league baseball, saying, "Although you guys don't consider that to be successful, I do."

Stringer and Robinson offered heartfelt gratitude, while Sloan and Stockton -- who have both shunned the spotlight -- seemed almost uncomfortable on the stage.

Stockton, the career leader in assists, recalled his first anxious days in Utah in 1984. "I thought the Jazz would figure out they made a mistake," he said. "So I saved every cent."

There were never any such doubts about Jordan. But he brought humility to the occasion as well. Someone asked how he felt about the "greatest of all time" tag that so often accompanies his name.

"I cringe a little bit," Jordan said. "I receive it as an opinion. But for me personally, I never played against Jerry West. I never played against Elgin Baylor. I never played against Wilt Chamberlain. Yeah, I would've loved to. But to say I'm better than those people is not for me to decide."