Arguably the greatest basketball player of all time delivered a Hall of Fame speech that won’t be forgotten.
For one thing, Jordan called out some former teammates and his high school basketball coach. Jordan was cut from the basketball team during his sophomore year in high school, and Jordan said in his speech to a crowded audience, “You made a mistake on that one!”
Jordan was just being honest, and that included offering advice to younger players about what it takes to achieve greatness. Jordan has always been a competitor, and he’s not reserved about telling the audience how he got to the pinnacle of his sport.
Overall, I think it was an inspiring speech, although some disagree with that assessment. But I don’t think anybody would disagree that Michael Jordan did it his way–on the court and in life.
This article is more personal to me. I’ve been a fan of Michael Jordan since he was at North Carolina and followed his whole career with the Bulls. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen his HOF speech and I love it. He is my favorite player and I know he’s the favorite of millions of people around the world…even if they were not Chicago Bulls fans. He did a lot of great things for the NBA. Great article Matthew Paris and thank you!