The Best to ever play becomes a Hall of Famer

When I was a little boy all I did was play basketball. Everyday at school during recess, when I came home in the drive way, and every weekend. I would live for the Sunday afternoon games on NBC when #23 took center stage. Michael Jordan was an idol to me. His combination of talent, competitiveness and that sheer willingness to win was so fun to watch. That was the difference between Mike and other players in the league, he just didn't want to beat you, he wanted to destroy you, to embarrass you in front of everyone that was watching. He was the greatest competitor of my childhood era and I wanted to be just like him.

You can see this picture at: www.posters57.com/images/Michael-Jordan.jpg

During time outs, or half time of his games, I would go out in the drive way and try to emulate his exact moves. I copied his shooting techniques, his dribbling moves, and I would also lower my hoop to 6 feet so I could try to do the same slam dunks. Unfortunately, the thing I copied the best about Michael, was sticking out my tongue, and the only thing that resulted from that was bloody teeth marks and lose of taste buds!

You can find this picture at: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/halloffame09/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=JordanSpeech-090914

I watched his induction into the Hall of Fame and it was the culmination of his career. All those memories came back to me as I watched him cry and embrace the honor. There will never be another Michael Jordan, and I am going to love to tell my children about him, just like my father told me about Larry "the Legend" Bird!