Jordan Deserves LeBron's NBA Proposal

CLEVELAND - LeBron James, basketball prodigy extraordinaire, mentioned last week that he will switch from uniform number 23 and start wearing his Olympic number 6 next season and hopes that the NBA will follow his lead and retire the number league wide in honor of Michael Jordan.

Many have scoffed at this idea.

James, 25 next month is in his 7th NBA season. During his still ascending career, he has both met and exceeded the sky high expectations placed on him after a stunning and highly publicized high school career. Jordan, the recently enshrined basketball Hall of Famer has been widely considered the greatest NBA player in history for at least the past 12 to 15 years. With a pro career that was both legendary and globally pioneering, Jordan achieved an ethereal status that no one ever has in the history of the sport. It is because of that fact, not to mention MJ's omnipotence even in today's game and the way he changed the way business is conducted and pro athletes are marketed that makes LeBron's idea a no-brainer.

No one deserves it more than Michael Jordan.

Naturally, the idea has been met with a lot of criticism and resistance. Many in disagreement readily acknowledge Jordan's epic accomplishments but feel that the greats that came before him are either just as deserving or even more so to have their uniform numbers retired. An NBA player has never had his number retired, but Major League Baseball's Jackie Robinson, an exceptional player and the first African-American to play in the majors during the modern era had his retired more than 40 years after he played his last game.

Jordan retired for the third and final time six years ago.

Here's my take: the NBA's logo is a silhouette of former L.A. Lakers great Jerry West. Without question, West was an awesome player and was known as Mr. Clutch for his penchant for late-game heroics during his 14-year career. However, West was far from being the most prominent member of even his own era. He won just one NBA title and no MVP's, while Bill Russell racked up 11 NBA titles and 5 MVP awards. Wilt Chamberlain won 11 rebounding titles, 7 scoring titles and 2 NBA titles. Oscar Robertson was the only man in history to average a triple double over an entire season and cumulatively, he averaged one for his first five seasons combined.

Wow.

The point is, each one of those guys were far better choices to be bestowed the honor of being the logo. If it were a racial issue (those days were very uneven racially), Bob Cousy or George Mikan were more accomplished than West. Hell...Celtics coach Red Auerbach would've been an awesome choice given his mystique and iconic presence in leading Boston to 9 league titles.

For people to say Jordan is undeserving because of others like Chamberlain and Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Larry Bird completely ignores the merits of the guys that should've been the logo over West. Plus, MJ popularized the game to such a degree that folks became fans of him that didn't even like or care about sports...and then they became basketball fans (that's how I became a hoops fan). In today's game, LeBron and Kobe Bryant are the two most obvious spawns of Michael's awesome trailblazing. From his demeanor and fire on the court to his perfectly crafted image off it, these guys were heavily influenced.

Watch an NBA game today and look at Jordan's mannerisms, iconic Jumpman logo and often references to him all over the place. To paraphrase LeBron, when one thinks of fly kicks, game winning shots and high scoring performances, you think of Jordan. Plus, the man was a winner and a money player in the crunch on both sides of the ball.

This is a debate and it shouldn't be. Commissioner Stern; retire Jordan's number 23 all across the NBA. Even if it means setting a team-by-team mandate to do so.

Considering what MJ continues to do for your league, you owe him at least that much.

HIV Was Blessing In Disguise For Magic Johnson

CLEVELAND - Earvin Johnson was the quintessential basketball player; dedicated, hard-working and mindlessly gifted. To his fans, he seemed to do everything right. But after a dozen incandescent seasons in the NBA, the legendary point guard was forced to retire with a deadly disease.

It may have saved his life.

Today marks the 18th anniversary of Johnson's stunning, sports world shattering announcement that he'd contracted HIV, the virus that causes the deadly AIDS disease. Because of this fact, he declared that he was retiring immediately from the Los Angeles Lakers, the team he piloted to five NBA championships during the 1980's. For the man long nicknamed "Magic," this was a disappearing act that no one was prepared for, nor wanted to see.

Standing at a podium at the famous Great Western Forum, a very somber Johnson broke the unbelievable news that was apparently born out of his careless promiscuity. The 1991-92 NBA season was barely a week old, and the Lakers were set to defend their Western conference title. They were defeated just five months earlier in the NBA Finals by the Chicago Bulls and were clearly one of the favorites to advance to the '92 Finals.

Until Johnson's announcement.

In the immediate aftermath of Magic's disclosure, the media frenzy reached a fever pitch. Discussions of the AIDS virus pervaded television and print media for weeks thereafter and Johnson was castigated for his brazen and irresponsible sex life. Still, others were sympathetic to the basketball hero's plight and the virtual certainty that he'd be dead within five years.

He stayed very much alive.

A special exception was made for Johnson's retired status and how it related to the 1992 NBA all-star game in Orlando. NBA commissioner David Stern allowed Magic's name to be on the ballot in fan voting for the "mid-season classic." In spite of a few protests of Johnson's participation, he not only played in the game, but dominated and authored several highlight plays. In the closing moments, he defended his buddy Isiah Thomas and supernova Michael Jordan one-on-one and "forced" them both to miss jumpers. Then, the iconic point guard drilled his third and final 3-pointer on the other end to punctuate a surprisingly sharp performance. He wound up with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists and of course, the game's MVP award as his West squad spanked the East, 153-113.

That summer, Johnson traveled with the U.S. men's basketball team to Barcelona, Spain to help them compete for an Olympic gold medal. That squad, famously dubbed "The Dream Team" had been selected in 1991, prior to his knowledge of his virus. Of course, the Dream Team dominated en route to the gold medal and Johnson began to turn his focus on more pressing matters than basketball.

He became a very visible and famous spokesman for AIDS awareness and founded the Magic Johnson Foundation, which mainly helps combat HIV. He has been the keynote speaker at countless conferences about the disease all over the world and helped influence legislation on seeking a cure.

Johnson briefly dabbled in pro basketball again in the mid-1990's. After aborting a comeback in the fall of 1992, he actually served as head coach of the Lakers for 16 games in the 1993-94 season which ended in a putrid, 5 wins, 11 losses. In January 1996, he returned to the court as a much heavier, slower 36-year old power forward for the final 32 games of the season. After L.A. got bounced easily from the '96 NBA playoffs, he re-retired for good.

During the past dozen years, Magic has become a shrewd and versatile business magnate. His endeavors have elevated his net worth into the hundreds of millions and, with included help from his gig as NBA analyst, maintained his contemporary visibility and relevance.

In the end, that very dark day in Los Angeles two decades ago ended up being the spark that fueled not only a mega empire, but also national education and government cooperation for this horrible disease called AIDS. Kudos to Johnson for turning a huge negative into an even more gigantic positive.

He remains a champion.