From: vreddy@das.harvard.edu (Venkatesh Reddy)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Subject: Re: Jordan >= Magic && Bird
Date: 26 Aug 92 14:12:38 GMT
Article-I.D.: das.1992Aug26.141238.25108
Organization: Aiken Computation Lab, Harvard University

In article <1992Aug26.124147.2437@brtph560.bnr.ca>, markham@brtph600.bnr.ca (Andrew Markham P205) writes:
|> In article <5598@igor.Rational.COM> msmiller@Rational.COM (Mark Miller) writes:
|> >
|> >It's an insult to a great player that people keep this "Bird would have
|> >been a nobody if he wasn't white" crap going on.
|> >
|> >I look at it this way: if you had to show a 5 second clip to capture the
|> >essence of Bird, Magic, and Jordan the Jordan clip would be a slam,
|> >the Bird and Magic clips would be amazing no-look passes to teammates.
|> >And I think THAT says it all.
|> >
|> >	-MSM
|> 
|> Give me four clips to sum up Michael Jordan...
|> 
|> Clip one:  During a game at Utah, Jordan forces a switch to get Stockton on 
|>     him.  He gets the ball in the post and *BOOM* jams on him.  On his way 
|>     back up the court, a Utah fan is screaming at Jordan, "Why don't you pick 
|>     on somebody your own size!!!"  The next time down the court, Jordan dunks 
|>     on the Utah Jazz center, 7'0" Mel Turpin(?).
|> 

oooh... powerhouse Mel. How impressive. Perhaps we should ignore all the
in-your-face plays Magic did throughout his NBA career.

|> Clip two:  Jordan goes into the lane looking for a dunk during the Knicks-
|>     Bulls playoff series this year.  On his way up, Ewing and the X-man
|>     both come in to ruin his fun.  Xavier practically cross-body blocks him
|>     and Ewing is hanging on his arm.  Jordan can't finish the dunk but still
|>     manages to drop the ball in the bucket (YESSSSSSS, and it counts).  The
|>     play ends with Ewing and McDaniel both falling to the floor with Jordan
|>     standing over them shouting at them (obviously congratulating them for 
|>     such an effective defensive play ;^)
|> 

Wow. Mike made a nice play. That's not unheard of. I suppose a nice play by
Bird and Magic IS unheard of?

|> Clip three:  Patrick Ewing gets the ball in the low post (some time during 
|>     the mid-80's), turns around for one of his patented baseline jumpers, 
|>     and has Jordan throw his shot into the stands.
|> 

It's a good thing Magic never blocked any shots. He may have been worthy to
pray at the Jordan statue they will surely put to cover up his square foot
of wall space at the HOF. And I suppose they should get another one to cover
up the meager space Bird will get too.

|> Clip four:  Game One, Championship series vs. the Blazers.  After making
|>     the fifth of his 5 3-pointers during the first half, while heading
|>     up the court Jordan looks at Magic, and simply shrugs his shoulders 
|>     suggesting the quote, "What can I say?"
|> 

The ability to hit 3-ptrs. Good thing Bird didn't have that. Otherwise,
Protland would have lost that great game in the regular season... Oh Wait!
They DID lose the game. Hmmmmm.....

|> Purely poetic.
|> 
|> Obviously everyone has their own opinion about who the greatest player is,
|> and my vote goes to Jordan.
|> 
|> As for quotes, how about these...
|> 
|> Bird, "Michael Jordan is God disguised as a basketball player."
|> 
|> Magic (in response to Arsenio Hall's question, "Who is the greatest 
|> basketball player you have ever seen?"):  "Michael, Michael, Michael."
|> 
|> IMHO, we won't EVER see another Michael, Larry, or Magic (just like we
|> haven't seen another Wilt, Kareem, Oscar R., Jerry W., etc...).
|> 
|> -- 
|> Andrew W. Markham (markham@bnr.ca)
|> Bell Northern Research, Inc.

Oh please. Just because you found 4 great plays by Jordan? There are a million
of them out there by Bird and Magic... Oh, but wait... they don't count.
True, you are intitled to your opinion, but I don't see anywhere that you 
point out WHY Jordan is better than Bird. Personally, I think all 3 are great,
and considering that they all play differently and that some are better than
others in various areas (Jordan in inside scoring, Bird and Magic in the passing,
Bird in the 3 ptrs., etc....), there's no clear cut one is better than the other,
and 4 little clips that can be countered with 4 clips from Magic and 4 clips 
from Bird aren't gonna do it. Fine...your opinion is Mike... but don't 
belittle Bird`s or Magic's accomplishments by brushing them off. They deserve
the credit that they earned, and (not directed toward you), I am sick of
hearing people say that Larry would have been a nobody had he been white,
and I am sick of hearing people say Magic and Bird got lucky by entering
the NBa when they did or they would never have been legends. Perhaps you
should go back to the 80's and watch these two play before making these
statements... 

-- Venk --