Jordan and LeBron

This is a tiny side-light of a story, the way I see it, in light of training camps opening, midseason in baseball, and the British Open. Honestly, I'd love to be writing about one of those things instead of this, but here I am. Why? Partly, I can't help it. Partly, because I know I'm right about this. Mostly, because I listened to ESPN radio and Eric Kusilias talked like an idiot about Michael Jordan's comments regarding LeBron James's recent move.

MJ's comments basically went along these lines (and I'll use quotation marks, even though this isn't a direct quote):
"In hindsight, I wouldn't have done anything like that. I wouldn't have called up Magic and Bird and try to join a team together... We were on the Olympic team together, and there was no animosity... I wanted to beat those guys."

I remember a few key phrases (perhaps not verbatim), so that's what I'll comment on. On the radio, Kusilias was making the argument that this makes it sound like MJ won his titles all on his own, when, in reality, he had great players around him. True. However, THAT'S NOT EVEN RELEVANT!! He says it's a small difference for him to join Wade rather than the other way around-- I see that as the WHOLE difference. Basically, I think that Jordan is right. Would he have wanted Bird or Magic on his team? Of course. But would he have stooped to the level of colluding with those players to join him so that he could get their help? No. Here's the reason:

James doesn't have the killer instinct of MJ. That's the thing. Jordan thought (read: KNEW) that he could win a title, even without the help of those guys. Did he need SOME help? Of course. But not the best players in the game. Look at Kobe. Call it arrogance, but he said he didn't need Shaq. When he had the chance to bolt to Chicago, he didn't. You absolutely have to give Kobe Bryant credit for one thing, if nothing else: he knows that every move he makes will be scrutinized, and that the tiniest little thing could impact his legacy forever. James is clearly not as image-conscious as Kobe, or Mike. We all thought he was. We were wrong.

Second, everyone is analyzing this Jordan statement from the perspective of MJ vs. James: who's better? What about the real way Jordan was probably thinking-- as person with a management perspective on the game of basketball. Here's what I mean: If players start colluding, and that becomes a big thing for free agents to do, it's bad for the other management in the NBA. However, if the greatest of all time comes out and calls you out for that, guess what? All of a sudden, image-conscious players may not be so willing to do that. So let's talk about this honestly. Yes, Jordan was knocking James as a player. That's clear. But let's not forget that there's more to MJ than just the player these days, and this may just be a sighting of MJ The Executive.