Jordan Abducted!
Whatever alien power that has stolen Michael Jordan should return him. Now. Anytime I’ve ever talked to Jordan, he’s been the model of what an athlete should be. A Jordan post-game press gathering was more conversation than interview. Jordan was gracious and patient, his answers in complete sentences (a rare commodity these days) well thought out and smart.
That’s why aliens must have kidnapped the real Jordan.
The real Jordan is too smart to consider a comeback in the NBA.
The real Jordan is perhaps still stretched out just beyond the free throw line, hitting the winning shot against Utah in the NBA Finals. Arm extended, wrist turned down, the follow through saying “that’s good.” I can see it in my mind. Whoever this Jordan impersonator is obviously doesn’t remember that. It was one of the great moments in any kind of championship history.
The real Jordan wouldn’t tarnish that by saying at 38-years-old he might return to the NBA because of the “challenge.”
Challenge?
To do what?
The real Jordan already has six championships, the respect of the entire sporting world, an Olympic Gold Medal, the mantle as the best basketball player ever, and was named Athlete of the Century.
What kind of challenge would the real Jordan want?
He’d want to be a front office wiz. Somebody who put together a team, molded them and found a coach who could teach them the things he knows. And win a championship. Trying doing that with the Washington Wizards. Now that’s a challenge!
The real Jordan knows that at 38, he’ll still be a dominant basketball player, but players like Iverson, Carter and Kobe are dominant players too. He knows that he’d be more susceptible to injury. He’d see Mario Lemieux come back after 3 ½ years off the ice and know that Mario’s team was already good and just got better. Championship caliber better. Not NBA every-body-gets-into-the-playoffs-better, but rather Stanley Cup contenders better.
The real Jordan sees the tough defensive play he used to display in his mind and smiles. He recalls the warrior mentality he brought to the game. He knows that if he were to say he might come back, it would cast a shadow over the NBA Playoffs. The league is just emerging from the real Jordan’s very long shadow, and he knows he would diminish the league as it is with talk of a comeback. He understands how one player cannot carry the entire league forever, that something else about the game has to be attractive or it will just go away.
The real Jordan knows it’s time for him to compete in business and on the golf course, not on the hard court.
That’s why aliens must have taken him somewhere.
They have the real Barkley too.
They can keep Charles.
Just send the real Michael back.
