Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Amen Brother.


But free agency was never a means to an end for James. It was an end unto itself. James, or the people around him, was convinced that he needed the whole world to hang on his future. He needed to let you know on Twitter, that "the Real King James is in the Building." But the real king was Michael Jordan, and he never needed to call himself king. As best as I can remember, Jordan never said he wanted to become a billionaire. He never hinted about getting out of Chicago so he could play with more talent. That's not to say that Jordan did not think of himself as the king -- he most certainly did. And his business aspirations were well-documented.

But Jordan had a different kind of ego. LeBron needs the adoration. Jordan needed to dominate. When Jordan ended his baseball career and returned to the NBA, he did not go on Larry King or feed speculation for months. He put out a two-word press release: "I'm back." He knew that was enough. He knew that what the world really wanted was Jordan on a basketball court, not Jordan in an hour-long TV special.

In so many ways, LeBron James should be a better player than Michael Jordan -- he is two inches taller and 35 pounds heavier, just about as explosive, a better shooter at this age and with better court vision. But if you could somehow suspend the laws of time and space and get the 25-year-old Jordan and the 25-year-old James on the same court, you would have to go with M.J., because he wouldn't worry about pregame theatrics or postgame speculation. He would spend every minute trying to rip James' heart out.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/michael_rosenberg/07/07/lebron/index.html?eref=sihp

No comments:

Post a Comment