Monday, July 19, 2010

Competitive Fury



"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,' " Jordan said after playing in a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. "But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

In saying the above, MJ affirmed what many speculated about his view on "The Decision." MJ had a competitive fire that drove him to be the best by beating everyone else. Maybe LeBron James does not have the same fire igniting his play.

MJ took a big sports city with little basketball history and made history. LeBron has the belief that simply winning titles will elevate his status to the level of MJ. This won't be true however, since MJ never chose to play with his competitors, except to win the US some gold.

Competitiveness is something all athletes have, and it was seen twice this weekend by losing efforts. Tiger Woods was heard dropping F-bombs after missing a relatively easy putt. AJ Burnett punched a wall after giving up a home run. While both lost in their competitive fury, it is refreshing to see athletes show that they care.

LeBron's move to South Beach shows he does care about winning championships, but not earning them. I don't think he needed to win 6 rings in Cleveland to be compared to MJ. All he needed was one to become immortal in Cleveland. Throw in a couple more, and he would certainly be in those discussions.

LeBron showed his fire before, in not shaking hands with Orlando after being knocked out of the playoffs in '09, so we know it is there, but retiring to South Beach now just seems too early. All MJ cared about was winning, and it seems LeBron does as well, but MJ chose to win on his own. Winning is never guaranteed, but with three members of the "Redeem Team," assembled, anything other than multiple titles is a failure.

I suppose MJ can rest easy knowing LeBron will no longer don the 23. Maybe that was the first step in ending the comparison discussion.

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