We all have heard or witnessed players not knowing when to hang-it-up. Holding on to those distant memories of NBA relevance, it really is disgraceful behavior.

Well apparently being regarded as two of the top five greatest to ever play the game isn’t enough.

Now Michael “Air-less” Jordan and Ervin “Disappear-already” Johnson are doing their best to keep you under the impression that LeBron James is less a competitor as they were.

In offering p their opinion on LeBron James‘ decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and join the Miami Heat, they are showing their bitterness of old age and fans sentiment that James is the greater talent.

Whatever decision that LeBron did or could have made served absolutely no relevance to the lives or legacies of Jordan and Johnson. The accolades and awards can’t and wouldn’t have been erased, regardless of what James does in a Heat uniform.

A simple “no comment” would have done a lot of good for all parties involved.

However, they weren’t man enough to take the high road, or do the admirable thing. They rather have everyone willing to listen, have a seat and get a full bowl of their ego-driven rants.

And for what, to offer a healthy and insightful insight on the matter, or to let fans know that they are no supporter of LeBron James?

 Well of course it’s the latter portion of that question. If they say it isn’t, their liars.

The last time Jordan helped someone? It had to be when he sent his nanny on an all expense paid vacation for destroying all the evidence of him cheating on his wife.

The last time Magic dished out an assist? Had to be at the All-Star game he was rewarded with for trying to give his wife the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Still can’t believe fans did that.

 Air Jordan and Magic Johnson could have easily supported James and no one would have questioned why.

After all, it was James who made the ridiculous statement that the NBA should retire the number 23, in honor of Jordan. He also said, on his draft night no-doubt, that Magic Johnson was his basketball idol and the player he most patterned his game after.

With James making to headline statements that did everything to build up the legacies of those two, they elected to take the opposite approach in regards to him.

In the classless fashion that is often associated with Jordan but rarely with Johnson, they chose to further push James out on that limb of cowards, knowing he was anything but. To think, Jordan just said he would never have teamed up with Magic. Looks like the two are doing a pretty good job of running a two on one, fast break against James.

 

Jordan isn’t being honest with you.

There is a very distinct line between not asking for help and not wanting it. The line isn’t so identifiable when you compare not asking for help and not needing it.

Jordan wants you to believe that he didn’t need help when he was a player, that he didn’t seek, and desire it. He wants you to believe that he would have stuck-it-out with the Bulls organization had help never arrived.

That isn’t remotely true and if it was, it wouldn’t be because he was a greater competitor than James or because he was more loyal.

See Jordan got a lot of help before entering his fourth season (87-88). The Chicago Bulls would add two of the top 10 NBA draft picks to their roster. They were the fifth and tenth picked in the draft, but let’s just ignore all the formalities and call them Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant.

If you didn’t know, they would go on to become NBA All-Stars and finished their careers being regarded as two of the top five best players in their class. They also would finish third and fifth in career points from their draft class, second and fifth in career rebounds, and fourth and seventh in career assist.

Talk about being handed the keys to the kingdom.

But like I said, they arrived as rookies as Jordan was preparing to enter his fourth season. By the time Jordan would be entering his eighth year, Pippen and Jordan would have four years under their belt (three as starters).

It just so happened that in those four years leading up to his eight year, the Bulls would win 50 plus games in 3 of the seasons and capture a title in his eight season. Before the eighth season, it is important that you know that this club had been to the Eastern Conference Finals two consecutive years. They went six and seven games versus the Pistons before finally getting past them in their third meeting.

So as you can see, like Jordan, James gave seven great years of competitive play and 100% loyalty. Doing everything he could to get that club over the hump. Like Jordan, he failed to capture a title in his first seven seasons. And now entering his eight season, he is presented with a very strong possibility of playing for a title with two players from the same draft class, anyone noticing the parallels between the two…irony-101.

It’s amazing how people quickly forget that James did something that Jordan didn’t do, he guided a club to a Finals berth in only his fourth season, beating the same Detroit franchise that prevented Jordan from doing so for three consecutive seasons (1988-90.) They weren’t calling him a coward or a traitor then, and damn sure shouldn’t be calling him one now.

 So like I said, Jordan isn’t being honest with you.

Now let’s say that Pippen and Grant had never arrived, and that Jordan was still the one man show that he was over his first three or four seasons. Let’s even agree with him when he said he would have stayed and not joined any other star players.

Stop laughing!

I know you know Jordan was envious of Bird, Magic, Thomas and many others for having All-Star teammates. Heck, even his good buddy Charles Barkley was afforded the luxury of playing with Moses Malone and Julius Erving in his first two seasons (spent his third with just Erving.)

He saw that those guys were considered better than him because they won. No one cared that they “didn’t do it alone.” You would have to be a complete fool to think that Jordan didn’t understand the benefits of teaming up with guys who kicked his butt religiously.

He had already proven his individual dominance over the league and that he could do things that no other player did.

So if he would have stayed, it would have been out of ego. I’m not talking about the healthy Grant Hill kind of ego. I’m referring to the 2003-2007 Kobe Bryant kind of ego.

If Jordan would have stayed, it would not have been out of loyalty to the Bulls organization or respect for the good it would do the NBA, this is a guy that wore his own attire to a NBA All-Star event people, how quickly ye forget.

He would have been compelled to stay because Chicago was his home. Not meaning place of birth, but instead a place of acceptance. The people of Chicago tolerated his brash cockiness and need to individualize himself from his club, as well as the rest of the NBA.

Chicago was the home he felt he built. It was where he achieved the majority of his recognition and accolades at. It was what he was associated with even though he tried to make sure it was “Jordan and the Bulls” instead of “the Bulls and Jordan.”   

Basically, it was every bit apart of the “Jordan Brand” as his signature tongue swag.

Jordan didn’t care about winning as much as he would like you to believe, if he did, he would’ve noticed how Magic, Bird and Thomas utilized their teammates while taking them for their assistance.

No, Jordan was only concerned with whether people viewed him as the better ball player. That’s what fueled that fire he so often talks about if given an ear to listen.

It’s as simple as that, and this isn’t an opinion. This is fact from years of listening to him talk and watching him grow as a player.

But you can believe whatever diluted fantasies that Jordan is trying to sale you, this is one sports fan who’s fully aware of what is and what isn’t.

Magic doesn’t have a leg to stand on

In the case of Magic Johnson, I really can’t say why he bothered to comment on the matter. He has always appeared to be a supporter of LeBron James, even going as far too occasionally calling him better than fellow Laker Kobe Bryant. I guess it’s nothing more than him wanting to feel apart of the moment and further people’s foolish thinking that Magic is a better player than James.

Magic never had to deal with the burden of being or feeling alone. When he first entered the NBA, he came to a team with the best player in basketball on it, Kareem Abdul-Jabar is what most of us know him as. And three years after that, James Worthy would be brought in and spend the remaining eight seasons of Magic’s career.  

So Magic isn’t even in a position to grasp how James should have approached his situation, he is the last person that should be commenting on a matter so foreign to any situation he’s ever been apart of.

He was spoiled as a player and has been spoiled in his afterlife away from the court.

He has never had to go seek help, it’s always been given to him or come knocking at his front door.

I’m appalled at his immaturity and am extremely sad to say that I was once a fan of his.

This is one time he should have looked away before he decided to pass his two-cents.

 

Conclusion

With the way today’s society is so easily to go with the negative perception on things rather than seeing the positive, one should always view things with an objective view.

But that’s not the kind of fan we have become. We no longer respect the game, nor do we appreciate it for all it is entirely. We have become fans of single players, failing to realize that this is a game of 12.

No one man is above the team.  Never has been and never will be.

But Jordan and Magic want you to believe they were. They want you to think they would have rather done it alone, rather than have a fighting chance.

Well, they’re liars…no one is that stupid.

If they really cared about winning, they would have considered every possible solution that would have resulted in being the last man standing. It’s what being a competitor is all about, fighting the good fight in the terms of fair play.

Well LeBron is doing that. He intelligently viewed all possibilities and went with the situation that best presented him a chance at winning.

Same as Jordan and same as Magic…

And most importantly, same that any of us would.