Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2009

Pretty good company being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight:

Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and Vivian Stringer.

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/feature/index?page=halloffame09index

Yes... pretty good company for sure.

But Jordan's speach was brutal... full of self gloat and axes to grind... and very little respect paid to those who deserved mentioning.

I loved him as a player... the greatest basketball player ever... but not much to respect since his last championship.

I see what you're saying petro it was probably inappropriate.

All the same I found it fascinating to see what motivated and still motivates a great player.

I did not feel he showed enough respect for Dean Smith.

Here's a link to what one reporter thought of his speach... I swear reporter crawled into my skin and totally read my thoughts.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Av.OSyElNJCe4FrObIT0hAS8vLYF?slug=aw-jordanhall091209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I think Jordan showed enough respect he just acted him self nothing else

So what, he may have had a few axes’ to grind…big deal…he’s the greatest player ever and perhaps he wanted to enter the HOF on his own terms, just as the way he played the game…like unknown 2009 said, he was just acting like himself…. cut the man some slack…and find something else to gripe about.

Ya he did act like himself unfortunately he is an a-hole,a great player that lacks class.

He even brought the player that made his high school team instead of him and made reference to him as "this is the guy that beat me out"what an ass.

Magic Johnson should take Jordan aside,when Jordan isn't drunk,and show him about respecting others and stop kissing his own picture.

Jordan was correct in saying that he feels sorry for his kids,I feel sorry for Jordan's kids,he is going to be an even bigger embarrassment the older he gets and his kids have to deal with this crap.

I personally liked the speech, I thought he gave respect where it was needed. Its just a matter of understanding his sense of humor.

Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed his speach... it was funny and entertaining.

But after it was over... I started to think how silly it was that he made greater reference to Bryon Russell and Jeff Van Gundy instead of his own teamates.

Jordan should've paid more tribute to Phil Jackson... Remember... JOrdan never won anything until GM Jerry Krause hired Phil to be the head coach.

Jordan didn't even mention players like Rodman, Kukoc, Kerr, Harper. They were all there sitting together "as a team" for his support.

Also thought what Jordan said about his kids was absolutely brutal and disrespectful... I'm sure it wasn't intended but it certainly came out that way.

In the end... it was his spotlight - his moment - he earned the right to say whatever he wanted to... and so he did.

And you and I have the right to critique it... and IMO... his speach was a shallow and self centered. Kinda like his personality.

All the other inductees showed grace and humility... understanding and expressing that many people influenced them to stardom and that it's necessary to pay tribute to those people... Jordan missed the boat on that and will never be able to get that moment back.