Jordan Rules the Basketball World

Courtesy of Getty Images: Michael Jordan wins the 1988 Slam Dunk contest over Atlanta Hawks Dominique Wilkins

I have heard so many good things about the new documentary of Michael Jordan's The Last Dance. I was able to check out the first episode last night, and will be watching the rest of the episodes in the days ahead. Oh, wow, I have to say watching the first episode brought back a lot of memories from when he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls as the 3rd pick in the first round from North Carolina in 1984 to the game winning shot against Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA Basketball Championship game. It's amazing how one shot can put you on the map for stardom, but that shot did. Jordan was always a hard worker, never fell into the wrong crowd, kept his mouth shut, and from episode one, "played each game like it was his last." There were a lot of side stories in this episode such as Head Coach Phil Jackson's ongoing saga with Bulls management and GM Jerry Krause. I think the Bulls could have won more than six championships (1991, 1992, 1993,1996, 1997, and 1998) if Krause would have just let Jackson coach and not interfere with the players.

As a kid, I lived in Goldsboro, NC for three years from 1987-1990. Goldsboro was about an hour and a half drive from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill campus. The legend of Jordan at UNC was still fresh in people's minds there in Goldsboro even three years after he left college for the NBA. My neighborhood friends and myself would spend hours and hours on the basketball court trying to be Jordan, trying to dunk over each other. I even had the small grip, medium size UNC Tar Heel blue and white basketball.

Now over the years, and even now as an adult, there has been many great basketball players such as Clyde Drexler, James Worthy (played with Jordan at UNC), Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Dominique Wilkins, Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, and the late great Kobe Bryant. All these players were good in their time, and all played with Jordan except for James, but none came close to the talents of Jordan. Jordan just had that 'it' factor. In 1,072 games, 13 seasons with Chicago and two with the Washington Wizards, Jordan averaged 30.1 points a game, shot 49.7% field goals, and 83.5% from the free throw line. This is unheard of these days. He made half of all the shots he took as an NBA player.

I have heard so many comparisons of LeBron James to Michael Jordan. Not sure if this was just the age of these people that probably never saw a game that Jordan played in. "James hands down is better than Jordan," they would say. "No way" I would say. Yes, James is a great player. Put Jordan's prime years up against James's prime years and there is still no comparison. Jordan would put James in the dust. Just my view but I think that view holds true to a lot of fans.

I am very interested in watching the remaining episodes of The Last Dance.

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