Yahoo Sports recently published an absurd piece about Michael Jordan.
Following the conclusion of “The Last Dance” on ESPN, Leander Schaerlaeckens wrote the headline, “Michael Jordan reminds us who he really is with ‘The Last Dance’ — and it’s not someone you want to be like.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Yes, that’s a very real headline and the article is just as outrageous as you might expect. He wrote the following about the six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls:
Imprisoned with an ego that towers even higher than his talents and accomplishments, Jordan seems to exist without self-awareness. Which is what makes the above snippet so revealing. Somewhere in there, he knows there is something for him to justify, behavior for him to excuse.
Yet the documentary goes to enormous lengths, hours of them, to make all of it, the bullying, the belittling, the punching of teammates, fine and dandy because they won a half dozen titles. Even Steve Kerr says he’s now OK with Jordan’s unprompted sucker punch to his face. Jordan never really reckoned with his flaws, and doesn’t want to now either.
I encourage you all to read the entire piece. It’s worth your time. We could all use something to laugh about these days and this piece from Schaerlaeckens is pure comedy.
Are we sure we even watched the same documentary he did? I saw a very different Jordan. I saw a man who battled the weight of the world on his shoulders, carried his teammates to greater heights than they ever could have gone to alone and won six rings along the way.
Yes, he punched Steve Kerr in the face after Kerr hit him in the chest. I love how Schaerlaeckens characterized the punch as “unprompted.” Again, what series did he watch?
Steve Kerr, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson talked about the time MJ punched Kerr in the eye #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/mLzv7BCPDq
— Blue Wire Podcasts (@bluewirepods) May 11, 2020
Here’s the reality of the situation, and apparently, we all need to hear it again. Winning doesn’t come easy. It just doesn’t.
Michael Jordan understood and accepted this. He pushed people to get on his level. Last time I checked, this is America.
When did pushing the limits and forcing people to become better all of a sudden become a bad thing? How is that someone you don’t want to be like?
If this doesn’t motivate you to be great, I don’t know what will. “Winning has a price, leadership has a price… ‘The one thing about Michael Jordan was he never asked me to do something that he didn’t ****ing do.” pic.twitter.com/sEt4eE9nTz
— Zeke Healy (@ZekeHealy) May 11, 2020
If you don’t want to win or you want to roll the dice on doing it a different way, then do it. Nobody is stopping you.
Michael Jordan did it his way and it worked out damn well. That much is for sure.