Jordan's Personality

[Hobo4President]

I liked Jordan as a player and a person, I don't mind if he is arrogant because it is generally true what he says.

[Typhoon20]

That HOF speech was the best speech ever.
From the heart and to the point.

[Mr Excitement]

i actually give props to MJ during the hall of fame speech. dude was telling the truth.

you know what they say: the truth hurts.

at least jordan was not some fake ass person trying to be nice and giving out fake ass speech during that hall of fame.

[KayDee35]

The media reports of the speech are way off. MJ's HoF speech allowed for a great insight into a highly competitive and driven guy. His insecurity and desire to prove others wrong were just as much a part of what made him great as his talent.

MJ had to know he was frozen out during the All-Star game but he wasn't going to give those guys the satisfaction by acknowledging it.

Although MJ likes to claim that he always knew he was better than others, you can tell that he had his doubts and needed to keep proving this 'fact' to himself and others. His mention of ticket prices was another way of reminding everyone, including himself, just how great he is.

[writerman]

Jordan was/is an incredibly arrogant totally narcissistic a-hole...

And don't give me that stuff about that's what you need to be to be a winner--John Havlicek has more rings than Jordan, and he was never a jerk like MJ....

Bonds? Any record he set should be expunged bt MLB...I detest Pete Rose, but if he's to be denied the Hall, Bonds should never be allowed to get within light years of the place...also, it's sickening that McGwire is back in the game in ANY capacity...

[XxIronChainzxX]

But the thing is lots of great athletes are well adjusted human beings. Humble doesn't mean not being confident or proud of your accomplishments.

But underrating your own achievements in public doesn't mean you don't feel you're better than others, or that you'd avoid throwing it in people's faces if they rubbed you the wrong way. That being said, we don't really know much about the lives of pro athletes, but NBA wise, generally unstably competitive guys (e.g. Larry Bird) tend to have pretty messed up personal lives.

[XxIronChainzxX]

And don't give me that stuff about that's what you need to be to be a winner--John Havlicek has more rings than Jordan, and he was never a jerk like MJ....

John Havlicek played on a stupidly stacked team when he started his career. His first 6 championships came on a team that featured 3+ HoF players excluding him. He won his first championship in a 9 team league.

You absolutely can't compare what Jordan did with what Havlicek did, since the league itself was entirely different, and even if you faced comparable talent at your position more often in the 60s, the Celtics where still a stacked team relative to the rest of the league for their time.

Jordan had one HoF player on his team. Comparatively, when Havlicek won in '74 and '76, he had Dave Cowens, who was an absolute beast, and he managed to only win with Cowens twice despite playing together until his retirement, never having played in more than a 22 team league at his peak.

So I absolutely would not count Havlicek as a winner in the same sphere as Jordan. You can't compare the Celtics 10 team league championships with Jordan. I think it's a lot easier to win in a 10 team league even when there are legitimate HoF players on all the other teams, just based on your playoff structure and the fact that you're not surrendering garbage positions to other team's elites.

So let's stop venerating the past.

[Prop]

the personalities of famous people i've never met and will never have a relationship with are very important to me.

[Ayt]

Bonds and Jordan both beat me nearly to death in an alley, but they are still my two favorite athletes in their respective sports.

[Ferulci]

I don't know why people are still making a big deal about his speech. I thought it was great and he definitely thanked everyone that he needed to thank. Didn't he mention Scottie Pippen in the first line of his speech?

this.

[Ayt]

Defend MJ flying out those two people and why that was necessary.

He did it out of kindness and generosity.

[Striders]

I don't know why people are still making a big deal about his speech. I thought it was great and he definitely thanked everyone that he needed to thank. Didn't he mention Scottie Pippen in the first line of his speech?

That was one of the first things I mentioned, and of course that got ignored. He even defended Isiah in that speech.

What's interesting is that after the speech, he also came out and said, Lebron and Kobe definitely have the potential to be greater than himself, and they'll carve out their own name in basketball history. He probably sympathizes with them for having to constantly be compared to him.

[bobCatNation]

Michael Jordan doesnt have to be nice to anybody. That said, he has done many nice things, charities, make a wish etc. Theres no point in using a facade when talking about what fueled him to greatness, because everyone would smelled his BS from 1000 miles away