I cannot believe that Michael Jordan was selected as a reserve to the all-star game. Instead of making the trip to Atlanta this weekend, Jordan should be packing his bags for Las Vegas because we all know that’s where he wants to be.
The athletes playing the best basketball should be the ones going to Atlanta. I do feel some leeway should be given to a retiring legend like Jordan, but his margin was just too big this season.
Jordan is not only averaging a career low 18.7 point per game, but he’s on a losing team (23-25) that probably won’t make the playoffs.
He may be the vocal leader of the Wizards, but that doesn’t mean that he is having the best season or is the Wizards’ best player.
That distinction must go to Jerry Stackhouse, who was injured after the announcement of the reserves. He was averaging 22.5 points per game and playing the most consistent basketball in Washington.
I feel that Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons should have been the player selected instead of Jordan. Hamilton is averaging one and a half more points (20.3 to 18.7) in four minutes less, while also shooting better from the field (.455 to .440) and the foul line (.814 to .804) on a team that has eight more wins.
And I have to mention Chicago’s Jalen Rose (23.0), New York’s Allan Houston (21.5) and Cleveland’s Ricky Davis (22.7), who are all averaging more points than Jordan, but also playing on losing teams just like Jordan.
“His Airness” came back to earth last season, but for some reason we now look in the air and visualize his past greatness. Then we make decisions based on that visualization, instead of the real thing.
Jordan is still a good NBA player, but he’s not an all-star!
-Ibram Rogers, 20, is a junior magazine production student from Manassas, Va. He is The Famuan’s sports editor. He can be reached at thefamuansports@hotmail.com.