MJ should get his own day at the Hall of Fame

"Why me?"

That has to be what all of them are thinking. David Robinson. John Stockton. Cynthia Cooper. Don Nelson. The Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2009 will be announced Monday, and all the other candidates must be thinking: "Why do I have to share what should be the greatest day in my career with him?" None of them will ever say it out loud, but they'd be something other than human if they weren't feeling that way.

MJ certainly isn't your ordinary Hall of Famer.
That "him" is special, though. In fact, he's more than special; he's beyond that. What that "him" has done is something no one else has done, before or since. He eclipsed damn near everything that everyone else has accomplished in the game. That old saying, "No one remembers who comes in second"? Well, no one remembers anything anyone else did if he or she played or coached during the Era of Jordan.

And that's just a fact we all have to live with. A fact the other players and coaches who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Michael Jordan in September have to live with. The same fact they've had to live with for most of their careers.

At this point, hasn't it become a little unfair? Unfair to them? Unfair to the game?

It's like, "Damn, can we please catch a break?"

Which is why the Hall of Fame -- if it really cares about players and being true to transcendence of the game -- should induct Jordan alone.

Solo. By himself. With no one else.

That would be the fairest thing to do, for all involved. The distraction of MJ and the overall pageantry surrounding Jordan will be too great for any of the other inductees to enjoy themselves. For the others to get the attention and respect they deserve, Jordan must not be around on their day. Not in the crowd, not in the state, not even passing through. If he is (and he will be), for the others, it'll be like a bride getting upstaged on her wedding day … by her own mother.

And it's no one's fault. Not the game's, not the other players', not Mike's. It just so happens that these other Hall of Famers' day fell on "his" day. Jordan might have forced himself to be that great, but he didn't force the world to love him the way it did, which always made it impossible to love anyone else to the same degree when in his presence.

And therein hibernates the other reason MJ should go in solo -- the more important and relevant reason: his basketball beingness. Even if we were to throw the concept of his effect on others out a 25th-floor window of the Royal Suites of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, it still makes total sense to give Jordan his own day. Of all the athletes who have ever played any sport, he deserves that.

I'm not saying that Jordan is greater than the game of basketball. I'm just being honest about everything he did and how he changed, elevated, sustained, supported and practically financed an entire league. Nothing would be more appropriate. After playing most of his career in a league that paid him way less than market value (Jordan's salary, for all but two seasons of his career, was $4 million or less), it seems like the least that could be done to single him out.

It would be a long-overdue, classy and befitting way to simply say, "Thanks."

But no one is that forward thinking. No one wants to take into total consideration what Jordan has done and what he means to the game. True, Wilt Chamberlain was just as great in his day, and he didn't go into the Hall alone. Same for baseball and Babe Ruth. (And soon enough, golf is going to have this problem with Tiger Woods.) But even among those legends, MJ is different. And that needs to be recognized. Because as much as Jordan's getting inducted to the Hall of Fame is about basketball, his total contribution to the game and to the entire sports world is so much more than that. So much more than any other athlete can claim.

This, we all know. It's just time for those who are about to enshrine him to act like they know it, too.
[Edited 4/7/09 9:34am]

I disagree 100% with the author. Hell, if I went into the HOF, for every year for the rest of my life I would be proud to say Michael Jordan was in my class.

And the author IS making the point that Jordan is bigger than the game of basketball. Of course, he's wrong.

Jordan did a lot for basketball, but he didn't do as much as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Before those guys came around, the NBA Finals were shown on tape-delay after the 10:00 news.

Graycap23 said:

Not more than Ali's.

Solo act? Hell no. Wilt was the greatest of all time, and he didn't go in alone.

RodeoSchro said:

I think Ahmad Rashad wrote that piece. He's a Jordan butt-boy(along with Spike Lee).

uPtoWnNY said:

That lil gerbal that works 4 ESPN wrote the piece. I forget his name.

uPtoWnNY said:

Good point.

Jordan won 6 championships. Bill Russell won 11. Even if Jordan hadn't been banned...errrr, played baseball for 2 years and won those years too, he'd still be behind Russell.

Jordan was a great player, maybe the greatest ever, but you're right - whoever wrote that piece is a jocksniffer of the highest degree.

Graycap23 said:

There's another, similar, article by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

http://sports.yahoo.com/n...&type=lgns

I have 2 think that the others going in with Mj will be short changed in a significant way.

Graycap23 said:

Nah. With the possible exception of David Robinson, none of the other inductees would be the "premier" inductee in any other HOF class.

I think the author's name is Scoop Jackson.

One thing's for sure, the NBA needs ITS OWN HOF. The other 2 major sports have their own, why doesn't the NBA?

MuthaFunka said:

??

Graycap23 said:

It's just the Basketball Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. The NBA needs their own Hall. A cat like Walton wouldn't be in the NBA HOF but he'd still be in the Basketball Hall of Fame. I say take all the current NBA members in the Basketball Hall of Fame and start the NBA Hall of Fame and then go on from there.

MuthaFunka said:

I agree with u.

RodeoSchro said:

Banned? What did Jordan get banned for?

Nikademus said:

Gambling?.....

Graycap23 said:

That's what I always hear from folks in sports media. Supposedly, Stern was worried Jordan's gambling(and the people associated with him) would hurt the integrity of the league. Is it true, who knows?

uPtoWnNY said:

Ahh, ok.

RodeoSchro said:

I agree that magic and bird paved the way for jordan just as kareem and dr.J
did for bird and magic. I don't think jordan was bigger than the game as
some people suggest. Magic was just as big for the game as jordan and would
have won more titles if his career wasn't cut short.

phunkdaddy said:

If Jordan is "bigger than the game" it's not because of anything he did on the court, necessarily. Rather it was all the endorsements and such that made sure everyone knew who he was, what he did, and what underwear he was wearing while he did it. People who aren't into sports at all (like me, for example) know who Jordan is and what he's done.

Getting the most endorsements shouldn't get you a place all by your lonesome in the hall of fame tho.

.
[Edited 4/7/09 20:39pm]

Basketball's still a team sport. Jordan is an awesome player and has been celebrated as such for decades, but inducting only him would be way over the top.

uPtoWnNY said: