The Last Dance: In Praise of One Lone Gold Hoop Earring

I'm the biggest MJ fan on ILH but yeah I'm with Barkley on that too. You'd hope that MJ would hear Barkley's recent comments about their falling out and extend a hand to Barkley, but I'm not holding my breath.

i was just reading about it this morning. that sucks :(

i imagine it’s not uncommon though? switching from sport to commentary & being called on to give some hard opinions about friends & fellow teammates etc. maybe moreso for barkley bc he never pulled his punches anyway

i am okay with anybody in the entire world not being friends with charles barkley; he seems like he would get infuriating quickly

Barkley's words are more hurtful than he seems to realize. He focuses on how he said the people around Jordan are bad and not Jordan specifically. But in doing that, he's painting a picture of MJ as a clueless dupe. It's the sort of criticism that probably causes more turmoil and second-guessing within the org than just saying "Jordan made this or that terrible pick/decision, and they need to recover from that."

ultimately, Barkley is either right or wrong about it. if he's right, i'm probably on his side. but if he was trying to craft a middle ground soundbyte that allowed him to do his job and not hurt his friend, I think he failed.

where is the info re barkley feud

https://youtu.be/vGAY_pKRelQ

I read Chuck's autobio 10 yrs or so ago and he came off WAY differently than he does on TV. I'm guessing he's much different person than most ppl judge him to be.

the golf swing hitch is an affectation

guys don’t make me tell my Charles Barkley was a dick to me where I was a teenager story on here for like the fifth time, but yeah in sum chuck is an actual insensitive dick

https://youtu.be/vGAY_pKRelQ

― Morton Koopa Jr. Sings Elvis (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, May 7, 2020 4:13 PM (fifty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol i actually love this

Was trying to let MJ off the hook for being a dick by thinking he just got worn down by the constant scrutiny and infamy, that he developed it as a defense mechanism. But then there's that story from that great long article several years back (I'm blanking on the author. I can picture him. Name starts with W?) about him on a commercial shoot early in his career where he put his finger into every donut in a box just so the crew wouldn't have any, because they didn't deserve HIS donuts.

ok it's Wright Thompson and I mangled that anecdote:

"Back when they used to shoot a lot of commercials, Jordan's security team would wait for him in his trailer while he was on set. A woman named Linda cooked Michael's meals, and he loved cinnamon rolls. She'd bake a tray and bring it to him. When it came time to film, he'd see the guards eyeing the cinnamon rolls and he'd walk over and spit on each one, to make sure nobody took his food."

idk i wouldnt really want to eat food that i spit on

that's why you have no 'chips

damn was wondering why at least now i know

goon has got zero #MambaMentality

fuck its true

i posted that wright thompson article a couple days back. was pretty eye opening for me when i read it as i never really followed MJ the person before.

he'd see the guards eyeing the cinnamon rolls and he'd walk over and spit on each one

just an alpha dog marking his territory

I think it was eye-opening for most ppl. He's so guarded, there wasn't that sort of behind-the-curtains look at him before afaik.

cinnamon rolls are for NBA game CLOSERS

where is the info re barkley feud

This is the piece I came across:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29140010/charles-barkley-see-long-riff-michael-jordan-ending

Barkley's been one of my favourite interviews for years, even only as a casual basketball fan. I thought he was very eloquent in the documentary, saying that for the first time in that final series he had to accept that there was a player better than he was (after a game where he played great and it still wasn't enough).

I find his love for the humble homemade cinnamon roll a bit charming. Probably made Linda feel good anyway.

cinnamon rolls are good

This article gave me a lot of goodwill towards Barkley, well worth a read

https://amp.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/12/14/lin-wang-charles-barkley

Just realized why I misrembered that anecdote. My friend once brought me donuts at work and stuck her finger in one just as a gag lol.

Jordan in that Phoenix series might have been the peak Jordan.

Has anyone watched the Rodman 30 for 30?
I started it but it seemed v corny so i bailed.

it was okay! covers a lot of the same ground but is clearly filtered through Dennis' sensibilities and focuses more on the life after basketball than during.

ok serioulsy what is going one with that security guy flipping coins w MJ?

is that a real person? He looks like a Safdie bros walk-on. Hoping he gets his own episode because...wow

― Yanni Xenakis (Hadrian VIII), lundi 4 mai 2020 14:22 (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Eheh, that was such a great moment.
I also like the idea of MJ listening to W. Houston's first album on repeat... so gangsta !

https://youtu.be/42OzpZB0bqA

5 hours of MJ highlights in sequential order

ah, that's fun!

yeah I appreciate seeing all the white dudes with perms (80s Doug Collins, auerbach, security dude)

albeck

Something I didn’t appreciate at the time was how much of Jordan’s greatness is ballhandling. None of the other guys in the greatest shooting guard discussion had handles like that. It was like trying to guard a 6’6” Iverson.

Isn't Steph in the greatest shooting guard discussion? Because his handles are as amazing as his shooting stats.

he’s a point guard

yes, but in a league where distinctions like these are increasingly irrelevant

michael broke a few ankles

Two more eps tonight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJOBlWvxVA

I was watching this highlight reel of Jordan's All-Star appearances yesterday. 1) It wasn't quite the hands-off shooting practice 20-25 years ago that it is today--the 2003 game-winner was very contested; 2) two or three of his most spectacular plays were feeds from Isiah Thomas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G89qHy8vcac

yeah I caught a replay of the 98 all star game last week and those dudes were balling from the opening tip

Scouting report early on for MJ was he can't dribble with his left, so force him that way. But his 1st step was so insanely quick that it didn't matter, he'd still blow by elite defenders going right.

The 2003 all star game feels like 7 years ago to me

re: mike’s handles and that first step it’s really insane, there are so many highlights where he’s got his back to the basket and there’s like 3 or 4 guys on him and all the sudden he’s at the rim

pic.twitter.com/2C1QE5TJOR

— Htims R.J. (@mike_jonsey) May 11, 2020

jordan saying he was planning on retiring before his dad died

omg, the payton video is just so violent
did i see r kelly guarding dennis on the space jam pickup court?