This blog post is my opinion about a few things that were discussed
during October 9th’s class period.
First off, I know the question is will Kobe be the next Michael Jordan,
and my answer to that is, “Kobe is the closest person statistically”. If anybody wants to compare stats, rings,
championships, ability to close and win games consistently and etc, then Kobe
Bryant is the person to look to. On the
other hand, there is a guy named LeBron James that averages around the same
numbers as Michael, maybe a little better, he has many endorsements, his own
shoe line through Nike (just like Michael has) and also has a great image off
the court. So off the court and along
with some of his abilities on the court as well, I would say LeBron can
possibly be the next MJ.
When we discussed the slide about the “Role of a Black
Athlete”, I agree with Steph Loomis when she stated in class, “that athletes
should not have to play active roles in political issues, but it would be nice
if they did because so many people look up to them.” There is no way in the world Michael Jordan
should have been criticized because he did not play an active role; it is his
choice if he wants to do anything.
Lastly, I commented on Aaron’s post saying this as well, but
personally I think that if the 2012 USA team and 92 Dream Team played against
each other, the 2012 Team would edge out with a win. I think this because the athleticism today is
on a whole different level than it was at back in 1992, along with the fact
that nobody has an answer for LeBron James (due to his strength, speed,
quickness, basketball iq, and etc). I am sure that many people think otherwise,
but that is my opinion.
-Turea Moore
-Turea Moore
Your opinions on who is closer to being the next Michael Jordan make a lot of sense. If one was talking about the next Michael Jordan as a whole on and off the court, it would be Lebron James. It would be Lebron for the reasons you said such as his image and how he has a lot of endorsements. Like you said he also has his own shoe line through Nike. Many say Lebron may become the first billionaire athlete. Many believe that he even went to Miami in order to better make this happen. In my opinion Lebron may one day be the first billionaire athlete. He may also one day be the next best thing to Michael Jordan. As to being better than Michael Jordan, we will never know.
ReplyDelete-Tim Love
For awhile, I think Tiger Woods was predicted to be the first billionaire athlete. If the "Decision" is the worst decision that Lebron makes, I would say his image will be rehabilitated sufficiently to make this happen.
DeleteDr. Spencer
I completely agree with what you said by way of what Steph said. I don't think that an athlete; white, black, or any other race should be critiqued for not being outspoken about their political views. Some people are not that involved, and just flat out do not care about what is going on in politics. I am not a big follower of politics and I do not expect my favorite athletes to be just because they are famous. That is just stupid to ask someone; no matter who it may be, to be something that they are not.
ReplyDeleteDerek Zyski
I agree that athletes in general should use their voice more often. Not by telling people who to vote for or anything of that nature, but by telling them to vote and by setting good examples.
ReplyDeleteNext you say that LeBron could be the next Michael Jordan, which I do agree with. The thing I think is holding him back unlike Jordan is his image. I disagree with you that LeBron’s image is great. In my opinion I think his image is horrible, many people I know strongly dislike the Heat because of him. The way he went about the decision and his personality make me believe he will never be Jordan.
While the 2012 Olympic team does have an advantage athletically they do not have they same skill level as the real dream team. The big men on the 1992 dream team, Malone, Ewing, Bird, Robinson, and Barkley would have a field day on Tyson Chandler and whoever they threw in there. That to me would be the biggest difference in the game.
Josiah Blevins
I agree with a lot of the points that you made. I also think athletes don't necessarily realize how big their voice off the court really is when they're a superstar and role model. When talking about the dream team and the 2012 USA team I believe that the dream team would win. They had 11 Half of Fame players on their roster. However, I see the arguments on both sides where either team could win. I think Michael Jordan said it best on his comments responding to Kobe Bryant on the dream team, "Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them."
ReplyDelete-Brett Creamer
I agree with your point that the closest to Michael Jordan right now is LeBron James, just because of his fame. But I would have to disagree with LeBron having great off the court image. His decision is arguably one of the most infamous sporting events in the past ten years. This decision spited Cleveland fans again and LeBron quickly became the target of criticism in the NBA. He does have high marketability and people are beginning to come around and lay off LeBron, but the past two seasons, his name alone has drawn negative reactions all across Ohio.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Hetrick
I agree with you that Lebron is closer than Kobe. Kobe is Kobe in his own way and it seems like Lebron has the charisma and on-camera personality that makes him similar to Jordan. I don't think people would've tuned in as much to see Kobe make his decision about free agency than Lebron with his. However, there will be and only is one MJ and no one can ever compare to that. In regards to the role of the black athlete, if Jordan does or does not want to do something it's his choice and people need to respect that and not put any thought into it. However, if he does say that he's going to do certain things, or at least attempt to, then I do believe that he should live up to what he says he's going to do. But any role with politics or picking a certain side is just ridiculous. I commented on Aaron's blog about the 2012 vs. 1992 team and I believe the 92' squad pulls it out because they're and equal balance of great post players and perimeter/slashing scorers; as well as great defense. I believe the 2012 squad relies too much on the jump shot and that will be there downfall.
ReplyDeleteNate Dudzik
I think that Kobe is still closer to Jordan than Lebron is because Kobe is more well known around the world than he is. Both of the guys are still a long way away to what Jordan was but I still think at this point Lebron needs a few more championships to be able to make a case. You are spot on with your opinion of Jordan getting into political affiliations. Since the population is normally about half-half, democratic and republican, if he would have taken a side then the other side believers may have had something against him. I just saw a democratic add and Morgan Freeman is the voive in it and I lost a little respect for him because of it. It is best for popular athletes to stay away from politics as much as possible. As far as the dream team to the 2012 team, I agree with your thoughts on this as well. Athetes now are just nuts in terms of what they can do. But I guess all we can do is argue it since we will never get an answer.
ReplyDeleteBY: RJ Hefflinger
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRJ:
ReplyDeleteI would definitely need to disagree with you when you say that Kobe is still closer to Michael Jordan than LeBron. I would have to say that LeBron is WAY more well known that Kobe is, for reasons both positive and negative. LeBron is the most polarizing athlete possibly of all time, and it seems that everyone has an opinion of him. People either love LeBron or hate him. He gets way more media attention than Kobe Bryant does, and literally every single thing LeBron does is scrutinized. In these cases LeBron is more similar to Jordan than Kobe is.
-Kevin Meyers
I agree with you that Kobe is statistically the next MJ. I don't think there is anything else that you can look at when comparing basketball players, unless it's their style of play. I don't think that Lebron James should be in the talks right now about being compared to MJ. Yes he does have a couple regular season, All-Star MVPs and one Championship now, but he needs a whole lot more of rewards to be compared to MJ. He's also has a different style than MJ, which makes it hard to compare them together. Kobe Bryant has the same style as MJ and basically the same numbers. So in my opinion the only NBA player that should be compared to MJ is Kobe, not Lebron. With the political issues, I don't think that athletes should do anything that they don't want to do. They shouldn't be forced to do something that is out of their will, and I don't think they should be criticized for it. I think people should be happy with what athletes are doing outside of the court and they shouldn't get too greedy and upset if the athlete doesn't do something that they want them to. Lastly, since I was talking a little bit about Lebron early and since you said how no one has an answer for him, I don't like the generation he came up in. Meaning, when you look at how MJ played, the refs hardly ever called fouls for what would easily be fouls today. Lebron can get touched and they'll call a foul. MJ would have to work for his points and be physical to earn his points. Lebron is stronger, fast, and quicker, but I would like to see him play with the refs the MJ played with.
ReplyDelete-Kody Burlingame
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Kobe statistically is closest to MJ. One thing that should be remembered when comparing Kobe and M.J. is that Kobe came to the NBA right out of high school while M.J. spent a few years at North Carolina. That immediately gives Kobe an extra 3-4 years in the league. When comparing them I thing it could be a little misleading to compare their career numbers. Rather, their stats should be compared based on their age. For instance compare Kobe's stats with M.J.'s stats when they were both 30 years old to get a better understanding of whether or not Kobe is the next M.J. I also feel that off the court Lebron is the next M.J. because of all of the endorsements he has, as well as the way he conducts himself off the court. I also feel it is unfair to compare Lebron to M.J. statistically because they are not the same type of player. M.J. was primarily a scorer, whereas Lebron can do it all: scoring, rebounding, assists. Lebron can take over a game with just his rebounding and assists. In my opinion I think Lebron has a chance to eclipse Jordan because he is bigger, faster, stronger, and is a much more versatile player than Jordan was.
ReplyDelete-Derek Brewer
Article Written by Turea Moore. Sorry Dr. Spencer, I was re-reading the comments again and just realized that I didn't mention that I wrote it.
ReplyDelete-Turea Moore
I agree that Kobe is the closest to compare to Jordan and that Lebron is close as well. But, Lebron has affected his image and is not as popular as he once was, which may hurt his legacy and how people compare him to Michael. Kobe has a great image even though he was accused of rape, but people forget about that, which makes him a teflon athlete comparable to Jordan. I also don't think athletes should be required to take an active role in political issues. It is there decision whether or not they speak out about something and shouldn't be forced to do anything. By taking a stand on political issues they run the risk of their image being hurt because politics is a very touchy subject in society.
ReplyDelete- Jacob Beverly
I agree with you that because Kobe is statistically faster than Jordan. I think, they are basket ball players but their style or play's looks different. Also, we can say Kobe is fist and next Jordan in the statistically but, who people can't say about who's first because who people's point of views are different. Thus, I guess everyone can do argue about it since we will never get an answer.
ReplyDelete-Junho Song-