James Lu: Week 15 - Air Jordan

 Some call him the greatest basketball player to walk on Earth: others simply call him the Greatest of all time. The legacy of Michael "His Airness" Jordan is something one has to witness to understand. 


His greatest years were on the Chicago Bulls, where he would lead his team to six championships in just seven years and cement his legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time. He would retire for a second time, ending his career on perhaps the greatest high an athlete can achieve: on top of the world and undefeated 6-0 in the NBA finals.

Yet Michael Jordan would return to basketball after his second retirement: the midnight years of his career would now be beginning, a injury filled and depressing two years. Most people do not consider these miserable two years as part of Jordan's legacy, for an ailing and old superstar doesn't bode well with the nearly superhuman stories we are told. This begs the question: why do people not remember these two years?

It has much to do with the stories that were told about him, the things he did, and the simple fact that people like to forget unsavory stories about their favorite winners. Considered perhaps one of the most competitive people of all time, Michael Jordan was absolutely ruthless to both his teammates and his opponents, leading to infamous stories about his killer attitude and work ethic. His ability to put the basketball into the basket was absolutely untouched, and his ability to shock the crowd into cheers was unprecedented. He was, and is rightly considered to be the Greatest of All Time, or the GOAT, for his basketball prowess.

This greatly contrasted with what he did on the Washington Wizards: barely put the basketball in the basket. While he was still perhaps the best player on that team, basketball is a team sport, and he could not do it alone or with his supporting cast. His legacy of basketball would not match his actions in the Washington Wizards, and most would just forget his years in Washington out of a desire to remember Jordan for his years in Chicago. 

Our memories are eroded with time, but also because of the people we want to remember. If we remember somebody who was universally disliked, it is more likely than not that the person will be hated more and more in the future. For people with positive legacies like MJ, the opposite is true: bad stories will eventually be forgotten, with just the good remaining.

1st MJ photo from

2nd MJ photo from

3rd MJ photo from


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