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Why do we Love/Hate Kobe? "He Ain't One of Us"

Are Black Athletes Going Pro Too Early

life of Ballers?

A.I. Took M.J. to Lunch

The Gree-Oh

MichaelJordan will always be an above-average basketball player. So it’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be able to get it on with these new young bucks in the game. But I will say this, his ass will be rusty for awhile. And speaking of rust and Jordan’s supposed invincibility, the last time he came back to the game, all that I can remember is Allen Iverson (fresh out of Georgetown University) breaking Jordan’s ankles twice with the same crossover move on the same play before he breezed down the lane and went about his business, untouched, for an easy lay up. And the sports news played that shit that night a million times on every channel. And every time I watched it, I came to the same conclusion while shaking my head with a cheesy-ass grin on my face.

I said, “Got damn Allen broke Jordan’s ankles! Twice on the same damn play! . . . Got damn!”

I mean, I had to give my props to Jordan’s tape man that night for wrapping his ankles tightly enough where he could still walk off the court without needing crutches. And I remember Nick Anderson, who still played for Orlando back then, pickin’ Jordan’s pockets in the last seconds of a playoff game to seal a crucial victory for the championship-bound Magic. And I still remember the playoff game against the New York Knicks when little old John Starks dunked in Jordan’s mug off of a power move down the right baseline. Now that was some shit to see right there.

“DAMN! Jordan got dunked on by li’l-ass John Starks!”

Aw’ight, aw’ight, let me stop hatin’ on that brother. Michael Jordan is still the man, and the kids are still rockin’ his shoes. But I don’t know if they all wanna “be like Mike” anymore. Personally, I never had a craving for overdogs. I like underdogs. So Jordan was a lot more likable to me when he first beat Magic Johnson’s Lakers back in 1991. But I can’t fake and say that I don’t remember Jordan breaking Byron Russell’s ankles on that last play against the Utah Jazz. And sure, it was an offensive foul. Jordan shoved Russell’s ass to make room for his shot. But the refs were too busy watching the shot to see whether Jordan could work his greatness on the game again. And when it did fall, the refs decided, “Fuck it. This is how it’s supposed to end.” So they never called the foul. But let’s break down Jordan’s comeback now.

First of all, Chicago still had a tight squad together with a lifetime, underrated Scottie Pippen still there. And with all the flack that Pippen took when Jordan left the first time over whether Pippen could win a championship without Jordan, I asked myself the question, “Could Michael have won six championship rings without Pippen?” . . . No! So please don’t start dreamin’ about no sorry-ass Washington winning a championship with a rusty-ass Jordan by himself. Please! Don’t take it there. If those ah . . . Wizards even make the playoffs, that’ll be enough of a spell to make me a believer again. But a championship? . . .Next subject.

I also remember Los Angeles Lakers rising star Koby Bryant, the imitationist, trying way too hard in his first all-star game with the big dogs to go one-on-one against the Air Master, and failing miserably. But now, Koby has matured into his roll, and Jordan will be no match for him. It’ll be similar to the young Mike Tyson fighting Larry Holmes at the end of his career, for a crushing fourth-round knock-out by the youngster. But the young cat people like to talk about the most with Jordan in mind is the new Air Doctor, Toronto Raptors star Vince Carter. However, Vince Carter needs to tighten up on his defense and his 48-minute intensity. That brother tends to take vacations on the court, and Jordan definitely won’t allow that. And then we look at Tracy McGrady of the present-day Orlando, who can look even better than Koby, sometimes. But McGrady has never had the challenge or luxury of playing at the same level on competition as Koby to throw down on a consistent basis. And all of these young squads are four times better than the Wizards.

So although the media and sports fans are all over this new Jordan comeback, and although he will still be able to put his thing down, I’d like to wait and see if he can take Washington magically to the playoffs before I can get excited about this. In the meantime, I’d like to propose that we start putting together a highlight video package for the new leading star of the game, and the most fun to watch; Allen Iverson and the Broken Ankles of the Crossover, coming to all video stores near you!

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