Archive for the ‘Michael Jordan’ Category

20 years later, we finally get to watch the Dream Team lose

Posted by Trey Kerby under Michael Jordan, Olympics on May 09, 2012

This is great news, you guys. A game we’ve long heard about but have never seen is going to see the light of day. We’re actually going to get to watch the Dream Team lose to a bunch of college players. For realsies.

From the New York Times:

The footage, nearly 20 years old, shows the Dream Team doing something they never did at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona: losing. They faced a group of top college players that included Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley, Penny Hardaway and Chris Webber, who vowed: “I’m not going to be intimidated.”

The never-before-seen coaches’ tape is part of a documentary, “NBA TV’s The Dream Team, presented by Right Guard,” that will be shown on the league’s network on June 13. In part, the footage shows Webber gleefully jamming and Hurley easily slicing through the Dream Team defense.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for this. I’ve read about it so many times, heard so many differing stories and am just stoked that we’re going to really get to see it, thanks to a USA Basketball camera that happened to be taping the scrimmage. So great. Can’t wait. Other rhyming words.

Not only that, the documentary is also going to have footage of what pretty much all the Dream Team says is the greatest game they ever played in.

The documentary also has tape — from USA Basketball and NBA Entertainment cameras — of a far more famous pre-Olympic scrimmage: Michael Jordan’s team against Magic Johnson’s in Monte Carlo.

Yes. The fabled Monte Carlo scrimmage, on our televisions. This is just great. It’ll be like seeing tape of The Beatles’ first performance with Ringo at Hulme Hall, only this is real. Even if this documentary is chock-full of Scottie Pippen and Magic Johnson fighting each other to mispronounce words, it’s going to be amazing.

Getting to see a bunch of legends in their primes — plus a bunch of young guys who would eventually become All-Stars beating them even if Chuck Daly did kind of throw the scrimmage — will be awesome and I don’t care if you disagree. June 13, hurry up and get here.

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Video: ESPN’s awesome ‘The Other Michael Jordan’ commercial

Posted by Trey Kerby under Michael Jordan, Score Video on Apr 16, 2012

One of my best friends from college’s best friend growing up was a kid by the name of Michael Jordan, who grew up three blocks from the United Center during the Bulls dynasty. I haven’t heard from that Michael Jordan in six or seven years, but I have to imagine this is pretty much what his life has become.

(via PBT)

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All-Star memories: Michael Jordan’s last hurrah

Posted by Mark Deeks under 2012 All-Star Weekend, All-Star Memories, Michael Jordan, Washington Wizards on Feb 26, 2012

The All-Star weekend of 2003 featured one of the better slam dunk contests ever. Save for a tame effort by Richard Jefferson — in which he managed the rare feat of doing an elbow dunk that didn’t involve use of an elbow — it was a high caliber affair that culminated in a showdown between 2001 champion Desmond Mason and 2002 champion Jason Richardson, both pushing the other to produce their A-games, crescendoing beautifully with J-Rich’s final clincher:

The All-Star game itself was not half bad, either. The first and thus far only All-Star game to go to double overtime, it saw 300 total points scored, an in-his-prime Allen Iverson doing what an in-his-prime Allen Iverson did at All-Star games, and an in-his-prime Kevin Garnett dominate proceedings on his way to the MVP trophy. Shaq faced off with Brad Miller for the first significant time since Shaq tried to kill him, an amusing in-game report spoke of Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce’s outrages at playing so few minutes, Yao Ming looked woefully out of place on his way to two points and two rebounds, and the close finish saw the game’s very best turn up the intensity and play at something resembling their very hardest. It was good fun to watch, right down to the Zydrunas Ilgauskas experience. Even the 52 turnovers were aesthetically pleasing.

However, this was all secondary. The weekend wasn’t about Iverson, nor Garnett, nor Richardson, nor the surprise appearance by Kool and the Gang. This whole night was about a player who, on talent alone, barely deserved to be there. (And no, that person wasn’t Yao.)

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Spike Lee hooks Barack Obama up with a custom Jordan package

Posted by Trey Kerby under Barack Obama, Michael Jordan, Shoes on Jan 20, 2012

Apparently the new thing in basketball shoe marketing is giving Barack Obama a pair of shoes. First it was Under Armour and Brandon Jennings hooking Mr. President up with some of unreleased shoes. Now it’s Knicks fan/movie director/gigantic jersey enthusiast Spike Lee giving Obamdawg some special Jordan Spizikes.

Here’s Spike:

These Are The Spizikes Made By Michael Jordan For Michelle&Barack W/ Wood Engrained Presidental Seal [...] President Obama Is A Huge Bulls And Jordan Fan.Here He Holds His Gift Of Spizikes From MJ Himself.

To be fair, these aren’t exactly 1-of-1, specially designed by Michael Jordan shoes we’re talking about. They’re actually the “Bordeaux” colorway that comes out this February, but now they have a fancypants wood box engraved with the presidential seal and Michael Jordan’s autograph (photo after the jump) which has to be exclusive to the president, as directed by MJ himself. Or at least that’s what Spike Lee is leading me to believe and I totally trust him.

That being said, still pretty awesome. It’s not every day the best basketball player ever sends an Oscar-nominated director to deliver personal gift to the most powerful man on Earth. I’m not sure that these shoes and their box will go next to Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, but you have to agree this is cool.

Not to mention, since this is shoe is going to be released to the public, you can have the same shoes as the President of the United States of America. Imagine the laughs you can get from telling your friends that you’re wearing Obama Jordans. That alone might be worth the sticker price.

But be warned — I’m guessing Michael Jordan’s not going to send one of his famous buddies to hand deliver your pair. Can’t win ‘em all.

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Here is the new Air Jordan 2012

Posted by Trey Kerby under Michael Jordan, Shoes on Dec 16, 2011

Sometimes it is weird for me to think that I am exactly as old as the Air Jordan signature shoe line, but I guess that makes it easy to keep track of my age. At least until they switched to the yearly numbering system, post XXIII. Now I have to do all that silly subtraction to figure out how many one dollar bills I should be getting in a card from my grandma. Anyway, that’s a long way of saying images of the newest Air Jordan, the 27th edition of the world’s most famous signature shoe, have leaked. That’s them up there.

As you can see, they definitely take style cues from a couple of older Jordans. The clear inspiration is the XI — something that you’ll see in a lot of Jordan signatures this year, whether it be the Melo M8 or the CP 2′Quick — with the patent leather midsole, but I also see a little Jordan II with that angular line that cuts around the upper. And just like with the Fly Wade 2, the color blocking on these is pretty drastic, which makes things easier to see on TV. Smart, even if it kind of makes these look like basketball wingtips.

Tech-wise, you can see Flywire running through the midsole. Not surprising since Jordan Brand’s top designer is on record as saying they’d be incorporating some of Nike’s leading technologies in their signature shoes this year. Along those same lines, there’s a detachable bootie, just like in the Kobe VII. Not sure if you can wear them by themselves, but if you can, you have all your AquaSox needs taken care of. There’s also removable insoles that give you your choice of cushioning, but those were in the 2011, so no big whoop.

At first glance, I’m not crazy about the 2012. They’re nice, but that line that cuts across the upper kind of makes them look a tad bit late-90s to me. That being said, in person, with the premium leathers and the fact that the past two years’ shoes have been excellent for playing in, I’m sure they’ll be great. And hey, if you don’t like these, just buy the Conchord 11s, which are literally the best basketball shoe ever and release in a week.

A bunch more snaps down below. Let’s hear what you think in the comments.

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Video: This little kid loves Michael Jordan highlights

Posted by Trey Kerby under Michael Jordan, Score Video on Dec 13, 2011

This is like listening to Magic Johnson’s commentary during the 1992 NBA Finals.

(via Outside the Boxscore)

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Michael Jordan has money stacks bigger than you

Posted by Trey Kerby under Michael Jordan, Ostentatious Displays of Wealth on Nov 18, 2011

I’m not sure if Michael Jordan fell asleep while he was playing cards with his bros, but it sure looks like it. And if we’re being honest, the idea that MJ could fall asleep at some guy’s kitchen table after two straight days of gambling with big face hundreds isn’t that far-fetched.

The amazing thing is that if if this was 1997, he’d do this then drop 38 against the Knicks the next day. Now though, it probably just makes him super cranky which leads to him submarining labor negotiations.

Old age is the worst.

(via Unathletic)

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