Last week in class we discussed Michael Jordan's hall of fame speech. It was considered controversial and writers claimed that he put down others. The speech inspired me in a different way. Micahel was talking about people in his life that motivated him. He talked about getting cut from the basketball team in high school and wanting to prove to the coach that he made the wrong decision. Michael even talked about getting inspiration from being the only starter on North Carolina's basketball team not to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was a freshman. He said that he wanted to prove everyone wrong that said that he was only a scorer and never could win an NBA championship. Michael said that he just wanted to prove that he belonged with Bird and Magic. I think it is a great example for anyone about how to think. It is not just for basketball, but anything in life. Michael wanted to be the best and he used everything he could to motivate him to play at the highest level. I loved when he talked about how Bryon Russell trash talked to him when he was retired and how he got his revenge in 1998 in game 6 when the Bulls won the NBA title. I disagree with the media that he is bitter and was petty during his speech. He was just being honest about the way that he thought. In my opinion 95% of basketball is mental and I don't think that Jordan's will, determination, or competitiveness will ever be matched. When you combine that with his athleticism he is the greatest player of all time.
I agree with you Scott that Jordan's speech was not a speech attacking all of his doubters in his life but I think what he did was tell us everything that motivated him to become who he is. We have always wondering what pushed Jordan but we never really knew and on that night Jordan told us all what made him tick. He did say it in a joking way at the people who did did doubt him, like his high school coach and the people who didn't put on the SI cover, just kinda of hey you said I couldn't do and he was just letting them know he did. I found nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with his way of thinking. People have many different reasons for doing things and he was just honest about wanting to prove that he could make it. You do also have to consider that in the past, Jordan wasn't always so honest with the press. He was more reserved. So this probably came as a shock to people just because they weren't used to seeing him be so honest. However, maybe the reason that he was in this case is because of the pressure he faced to be more "human" with the press. Now he's being critized for it.
ReplyDeleteI wondered how I would have felt if I had heard his speech without having the filter of knowing what so many writers and others had said about it. I wonder what people who were there thought about his speech. I'm glad that Jordan didn't just give a "sanitized" version of what everyone else wanted him to say. I need to go back and listen to it again. Thanks for sharing your views on what he said, Scott.
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