Jordan Cleverly Used Doubts To Fuel His Legend

CLEVELAND - It is officially etched in stone; Michael Jordan is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Man! How did that happen?

Seriously though. Jordan's enshrinement has been a foregone conclusion for at least 20 years given his incandescent skills, epic achievements and seismic impact on sports, culture and big business. He is the most iconic performer in hoops history, his significance is an amalgamation of Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Wayne Gretzky. In short, Michael Jordan was the biggest embodiment of all that a legendary athlete should be. He was remarkably gifted, but that skill was augmented by an incomparable drive, which birthed his impassioned work ethic. He was singularly brilliant, yet hell-bent on winning above all else, which enabled him to imbue his teammates with the requisite confidence to win at a blistering rate.

MJ won a mountain of awards and sassed his competition into submission with his polished fundamentals and superlative athleticism. He was the quintessential star leader and because of the completeness of his game and incorrigible competitiveness, he led his teams into becoming champions many times over.

Last night, we all found out how he became so excellent.

Jordan took to the podium amid a 73 second standing ovation, his face bathed in tears and his voice nearly paralyzed with emotion and served up effusive praise for Scottie Pippen, his superstar sidekick during the Chicago Bulls' trouncing of the NBA in the 1990's. Jordan also spoke glowingly of his childhood influences; Walter Davis and his presenter, David Thompson. Once the tears subsided and the pleasantries had been issued, MJ went on the attack like it was a pivotal NBA playoff game.

He mentioned early basketball rivals such as his older brother Larry and Leroy Smith, a student at E.A. Laney High School who made the varsity basketball team instead of Michael. College roommate Buzz Peterson, whom he secretly targeted to prove himself to be superior to on the court because he was voted top high school player in the state instead of Jordan.

MJ mentioned naysayers in the media, who opined that Jordan was good, but not on the level of then-current stars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. He thanked Bird, Johnson and Isiah Thomas and George Gervin, who were both in attendance for forcing him to take his game to another level after the apocryphal "freeze out" in the 1985 NBA all-star game, during Jordan's rookie year. Best of all, Jordan brought up his first meeting with Bryon Russell, which took place in 1994. Russell taunted the then-retired-and-playing-baseball Jordan by essentially telling him that he could handle him "if he ever caught MJ in shorts." Of course, Jordan un-retired in 1995, then hit a jumper over Russell to win Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals, but more famously, juked him with a crossover (and shove) and drilled a jumper to win the NBA championship a year later.

MJ also "thanked" former New York Knicks coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy for raising his competitive ire, and praised the legendary Dean Smith, his coach at the University of North Carolina as well as Phil Jackson, whom he labeled a pro version of Smith. He "playfully" derided former Bulls GM Jerry Krause (who boycotted the ceremony) and owner Jerry Reinsdorf, both of whom he has a long-standing icy relationship with. He reminded his three children that they have "a lot to live up to" and that he "wouldn't want to be in their shoes if [he] had to."

What I took from Jordan's speech was this: he expertly used the doubts, negative comments and slights (real or imagined) of many people to ignite his already fiery competitiveness. He may have seemed defiant in his words, and in a sense he was. But it was all about him basically saying, "if you ever doubt me, you'll be proven wrong." He was vengeful whenever anyone sold him short, and that was mostly because he knew how hard he worked to perfect his craft and thusly, took these slights from others as an affront to his colossal commitment. That's not arrogance, that is incredible self-assuredness based on the work he put in. He earned it...he didn't have it handed to him.

Jordan made it clear that he doesn't see himself as the greatest player in history, as he is so often called. He extended praise to his predessessors and greatly acknowledged his contemporaries, especially two who were also enshrined last night; John Stockton and David Robinson.

In the end, MJ will always be the ultimate competitor as well as the most iconic hoopster in history. He'll always dispense praise where it's due and it will be sincere.

As long as you don't underestimate or doubt him.