Michael Jordan's Top 23 Moments Sep 10 2009
14 comments Latest by Brade
MJ is headed into the Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend. ESPN is counting down with the top 23 Michael Jordan moments.
When I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was lucky enough to have a membership one summer to The Multiplex health club. This is where the Bulls used to practice before they built their own practice facility.
And once I had the chance to rebound for MJ after practice. He’d often stay late and just shoot around. Sometimes he’d let the local kids rebound for him. One time I was just there by myself so he motioned to me and I started rebounding. I felt so honored. And the guy didn’t miss.
Sometimes he’d play a little fake one-on-one with you too. He’d never ever let you hit a basket though. He loved rejecting you and talking trash. It was all in great fun, of course.
The thing that always blew me away about watching Jordan, Pippen, Horace Grant, and Oakley up close was just how fast they were. These guys were giants, but they moved faster and reacted faster than any humans I’d ever seen. Light years faster. It was a whole new level.
Anyway, I’ll never forget those moments. Good to reminisce.
Hey, even at 46 he’s still got the fade away:
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14 comments so far
Brian 10 Sep 09
Oh man, I miss him still. I haven’t been into the NBA since 1998.
Jamie Tibbetts 10 Sep 09
Damn. All I ever got to do was give Pippen a container for condiments at Fuddruckers.
Adrian Holovaty 10 Sep 09
Wow, Jason, that’s an awesome experience.
The best I got: I waited in line in a parking lot for two hours for Horace Grant to sign some basketball cards, but he left just before it was my turn. :-(
Michael Baehr 10 Sep 09
Used to run into them all the time at Ron of Japan. Dunno what it is about that place and basketball players. Probably still the case!
Chad Jaggers 10 Sep 09
Jason, that sounds like a great experience. Jordan stood for excellence and demanded excellence of everyone around him. He lifted everyone around him to greater heights.
Joel Sutherland 10 Sep 09
To be fair to the defender in the video: Jordan travels on two of those. Watch his pivot feet.
Michael Nielsen 10 Sep 09
Those ESPN videos are great. Watching them gave me the same kind of goose bumps as watching Roger Federer or Diego Maradona at the top of their form. Over and over again, they do things that seem impossible. Plays that no-one else would even attempt, they make look routine.
Steven Tan 10 Sep 09
Now I am jealous. He is one of the greatest sportsmen and being able to talk, rebound and one-on-one with him is definitely something to treasure. Basketball is missing something without him on the court. :)
PJ Hyett 10 Sep 09
Those were some magical years. I feel fortunate to have been able to go to a few Bulls games to watch them in action.
Philip Arthur Moore 10 Sep 09
Watching MJ play still brings a lump into my throat, most likely due to a mix of nostalgia and admiration for the man. He was my childhood Zeus.
Fred 10 Sep 09
Go Pistons!
Chris 11 Sep 09
That blatantly obvious push to the back of Bryon Russell (with the refs swallowing their whistles) to clear space for a critical game winning shot in the championship series vs. the Utah Jazz took Jordan from hero to villain status in my book.
But I’m just a bitter Jazz fan. :)
Steven 11 Sep 09
MJ Had class I used to watch all there games. The game I respect him for was when he was sick and played like a champ.There is no talanted player like him in the game today.
Brade 11 Sep 09
Cool story… Nice to see he made the kids earn it (i.e. not score at all ;)
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