I mention this only because, during the entire time we owned those seats, Michael Jordan dwarfed every other player who walked through that tunnel, even Larry Bird. And I am a Celtics fan. Certain superstar athletes resonate with a crowd, and you can't really describe it unless you have seen it happen, unless you were there. The sight of MJ emerging from that tunnel, the way people's expressions instantly changed, the sounds people made ... you don't forget those things. Ever.
He was a walking EF Hutton commercial. Remember those ads, when somebody would say, "My broker is E.F. Hutton" and everyone else in the room would freeze? That was MJ. Seeing him that close disoriented just about everybody. People unhinged. I'm not kidding. People unhinged. This was "Beatles-in-the-'60s"-caliber shit. He melted everyone within a 20-foot radius.
My father Richard, who is a Boston Police officer (23 years), could flash his badge to get me in the locker room at the old Gaahden when he worked details for games. On a fabled Wednesday, January 23rd, 1989 was one of those nights. It was really the only time I recall seeing Michael and Larry play on the same court. Bird�s Celtics won convincingly, but it didn�t matter. The Bulls were still a young team with a budding superstar named Michael Jordan. I rushed down to the railing after the game, but my friend John and I missed Michael barely. We ran over to my dad, who was detailing the fabled parquet, and pleaded to him to get us in the locker room. He gladly obliged and snuck us in 20 minutes after the game, and as we were in the back, there he was. All 6�6� of him, bald headed and all, answering questions from reporters. My father went over, shook his hand, Michael then asked us how old we were, and then gladly signed autographs for us as headed back to the showers. As he left, he shouted to my dad, �Hey Rich � make sure to remind them they better do good in school, otherwise I want my autographs back!� We laughed, and heeded his warning. I was only 7 at the time, and you don�t remember that much at that age, but I recall that like it was yesterday, and I smoke weed! That's how much of an impact #23 had on all sports fans, and you can argue even in American popular culture in general.
I write this because tonight is MJ�s last game ever in the NBA (or is it?) in Philadelphia versus the Sixers. It wasn�t till last week while watching a Wizards-Celtics game on TV that I finally realized how much greatness this guy has brought to the realm of sport, and how it is going to end. Even at age 40, old and worn out on a shitty team, Jordan still possesses what an old Boston columnist named George Frazier dubbed as duende -- that charisma, that Eastwood-like swagger, that sense of self-importance that can't even really be defined. yes, he doesn't have the physical attributes he had at 24, but his cerebal play on the court is astonishing to watch. Quite simply, MJ swallows up the room. When he enters the building, he immediately becomes the most important person there. You can't take your eyes off him. HE IS the most famous person on the planet. And he knows it, just like Evan Marriot knows his 15 minutes of fame is at (Hours:minutes:seconds) 14:59:59.
Remember, when he first announced this comeback, we were haunted by the possibility that "MJ, Part Three" would resemble Elvis Presley's final Vegas comeback in the mid-'70s. The perversely absorbing "Fat Elvis" stage as I dub it, highlighted by those ghastly sequin suits, constant burnouts on stage from drug and booze bingeing every night, a grotesque pot belly, sunglasses bigger than the Unabomber�s, and a goofy bouffant hairdo George Constanza would be proud of. We worried that this would be "Caddyshack 2," "Another 48 Hours," "Ali vs. Holmes," "Rocky 5," "Beverly Hills Cop 3," and "Godfather 3" -- all rolled into one.
And has it? Well, not as bad as Elvis, but close. His 2 years in Washington have been a disaster. It is a phantom memory, like Bobby Orr finishing his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, or the MTV Guns N Roses reunion without Slash and Axl Rose�s face full of BoTox. It has been quite sad to see the best basketball player, ever, on a real shitty team. He didn�t even make the playoffs his two years there. What I am going to remember from this tenure with the Washington Wizards, running pick and rolls with Christian Laettner? His airball at the buzzer in 2001 at his first game back in Boston versus the Celtics? I don�t think so. IF anything, Jordan's erratic play was been caused by lousy teammates and subpar conditioning. Forget about his advancing age for a moment; after suffering broken ribs this summer, he hasn't been able to work himself into NBA shape yet, much less Michael Jordan Shape. He also doesn't have a supporting cast who can carry him for extended stretches, the way Pippen, Kukoc and Rodman carried him during those final three years with the Bulls. You might as well get the light-stick thingy from �Men in Black� that erases you�re memory, because MJ�s time with Washington - this never happened.
When you think �best playoff shots, ever�, you think of �Michael�. You don�t even say Michael Jordan, it�s �Michael�. Especially the jump shot over Craig Ehlo in the 1989 NBA Playoffs � most thrilling game ending shot in a basketball game, ever. The only thing that topped that buzzer beater in sports was Vintateri�s game winning kick Super Bowl XXXVI. This guy�s duende, his charisma, even carried on to the opposing team. He was that intimidating. He was that focused. And like WWF�s Triple H, he was �just that damn fucking good.�
My friend John and I still giggle and buzz like schoolkids, remembering the night we met �Michael�. The feeling I still get when I hold that picture is so electric that it gives me goosebumps just to describe it. Even at times watching him now, you still feel the �experience�. The commercials, the glory, the shoes! How he single handedly made Nike, Inc. an American icon. How he took the Bulls from a fledging franchise to one of the most storied in sports. How he carried the NBA on his back after Larry and Magic left like Zeus made Atlas carry the world on his back for the majority of his 13 year career (it was actually 15, but we forgot the last two years, remember?), and made basketball become the second biggest sports in the world behind soccer. This guy was �da man�, and you know what, I am going to miss him. There are very few people in your lifetime that you know or meet who are just larger than life � and Michael Jordan was one of them.