[LOL] Jordan Shows Kobe And Lebron His Awards

Michael Jordan's HS love letter revealed

Michael Jordan’s high school love letter revealed

By Dan Devine

Michael Jordan's tough-guy reputation will no doubt survive this revelation, but it's no less surprising and not the least bit less charming that a recently revealed high school love note Michael penned in 1980 shows him to be just as smitten as we all were, when gathering our thoughts as we prepared a note meant for the object of our teenaged affection.

Yes, Michael Jordan wrote notes. Letters, to be more specific, including an alternately sheepish and smooth bit of romantic correspondence that he apparently wrote as a student at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C., in the early 1980s, well before he embarked on his Hall of Fame NBA career with the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

In the letter, which sold at auction for $5,100.66 in December 2004 and was posted Thursday by the folks at the great site Letters of Note, Jordan apologizes to his "dearest Laquette" for making her "look pretty rotten," then goes on to extol her beauty, explicitly point out when he had made a joke, offer her "his best love" and sign the whole shebang with his full name, including his middle initial. (If you want to compare and contrast the handwriting, here's a page from MJ's high school yearbook; the signature looks like a match to me.)

Want to check out the adorable emotional jumble for yourself? See the handwritten note and read a full transcript after the jump.

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(And here is the text of Jordan's note)

Michael Jordan

My Dearest Laquette

How are you and your family doing, fine I hope. I am in my Adv. Chemistry class writing you a letter, so that tell you how much I care for you. I decide to write you because I felt that I made you look pretty rotten after the last night. I want to tell you that I am sorry, and hope that you except my apologie. I know that you feelings was hurt whenever I loss my necklace or had it stolen.

I was really happy when you gave me my honest coin money that I won off the bet. I want to thank you for letting me hold your annual. I show it to everyone at school. Everyone think you are a very pretty young lady and I had to agree because it is very true. Please don't let this go to your head. (smile) I sorry to say that I can't go to the game on my birthday because my father is taking the whole basketball team out to eat on my birthday. Please don't be mad because I am trying get down there a week from Feb. 14. If I do get the chance to come please have some activity for us to do together.

I want you to know that my feeling for you has not change yet. ← (joke) I am finally getting use to going with a girl much smaller than I. I hope you my hint. Well I have spent my time very wisely by write to you. I hope you write back soon. Well I must go, the period is almost over. See you next time around, which I hope comes soon.

With my Best Love

Michael J. Jordan

Hat-tips to ShareBro/Y! Big Kahuna Jamie Mottram and to Quickish.

"Lebron could be the best ever" - Scottie Pippen

I don't have a problem with what he's suggesting. If anyone knows the greatness of Michael Jordan, it's Scottie Pippen. They were team mates for years and won 6 championships together. Scottie knows greatness in his own right as well. He was arguably THE best player in the NBA for one year. Michael Jordan retired before the 1993–94 season, and in his absence Pippen emerged from Jordan's shadow. That year, he earned All-Star Game MVP honors and led the Bulls in scoring, assists, blocks and the entire league in steals, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, 1.9 three-pointers, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the three-point line. For his efforts, he earned the first of three straight All-NBA First Team nods, and he finished third in the MVP voting. The Bulls finished the season with 55 wins, only two fewer than the year before.

Scottie Pippen is as credible as they come when it comes to discussions of greatness. For a Hall of Famer of his pedigree to say that Lebron James could be the best to ever play the game of basketball is very high praise.

I don't think anyone would debate that Michael Jordan isn't the greatest scorer of all time. The only person to score more points in a season is Wilt Chamberlain and he only scored one way; right near the basket. MJ was so much more than a scorer but IF there were ANY weaknesses in his game, it would be his 3 point range and ball handling ability. He was good at every thing but he was not GREAT at those two specific parts of the game. His large hands, long stride and quick first step made up for the fact that he didn't have the handles of a point guard with a respectable 1.96:1 assist to turnover ratio for his career. The consistency of his 17 foot jumper and ability to pick his spots and get to where he wanted on the court made up for the fact that he wasn't a great 3 point shooter. You still couldn't leave him open because he'd make you pay at .327% for his career. Over Jordan's first 8 years in the league, his main stats were 31.3ppg, 6.0rpg, 5.65apg, 2.66spg, and 1.28bpg.

Lebron James' career numbers are 27.7ppg, 7.1rpg, 7.0apg, 1.7spg, and 0.8bpg and they compare to Jordan's almost identically. Jordan was obviously the more accomplished scorer with higher fg%, ft %, and points per game but everything else is practically identical; except that Jordan had an extra steal per game and James one and a half more assists per game. What James does have that Jordan didn't is bulk! At 6,8" 250lbs, James can absorb contact better and still maintain all the freakish athletic ability that makes him impossible to stop from driving the basket. He possesses the ball handling ability of a speedy point guard and often sprints full speed to the basket with ability to cross over at any moment and dunk on any would-be defender.

Over the past two years, James has significantly improved his fg%. This comes from having more scoring support and having better team mates so that he does not have to take as many bad shots. He has cut the amount of three point shots he attempts from 5.1 last year to 3.5 this year which shows he is a much more disciplined shooter and isn't always forced to shoot the final shot with Dwyane Wade being such a viable option. Lebron James is 26 and just now reaching his PRIME. Barring injury, he will continue to improve subtle aspects of his game and become more efficient and his high basketball IQ will allow him to be valuable as a crafty veteran. I still believe that Michael Jordan is the all-time greatest basketball player but with the Lakers dynasty over and the Spurs and Mavs ever aging, there is no reason why James can't finish his career with more points scored and just as many titles as MJ.

NBA Source: Jordan may unretire AGAIN

NBA hearts skipped a beat yesterday at word that Michael Jordan has been suiting up and practicing with the Bobcats. After running with him, Gerald Wallace reports the man is still "Mike." (Even though that's just repeating the man's name, it's that name.) And don't forget what Jordan said upon entering the Hall of Fame:

One day you might look up and see me playing the game at 50. Don't laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.

He's turning 48 next week. Paul Silas says Jordan could average 20 right now. Is he ... could he ... is this ridiculous to think about? He can't play in the NBA until he sells the Bobcats, but is it worth entertaining that he could? A while ago, I looked into the possibility of another Jordan return:

AROUND THE HORN:

Give him some time to get in shape and Michael Jordan could average 20 points a game in today's NBA, Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas said.

A day after watching Jordan -- a Hall of Famer and Bobcats owner who turns 48 next week -- play in a full-court scrimmage with his team, Silas said his boss has still got it.

ESPN 1000, Chicago [audio]

Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas joined "The Waddle & Silvy Show" to discuss how many points Michael Jordan could average if he played today and whether Derrick Rose is a leader.

More Podcasts »

"If he got in shape he could probably average about 15 to 20 points a game, no question, because he still has the shot," Silas said Friday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "If he got in shape, he would probably average 20 because he can get the shot off, he can make them, and he has just an uncanny knowledge of the game.

"He really understands how to play and that's why he is important to my guys and what they should be doing out there and what they should be looking for. It's just phenomenal what he can still do at that age."
Jordan, the former Chicago Bull who averaged 30.1 points a game in 15 NBA seasons, averaged 20 points in his final season with the Washington Wizards in 2003 as a 39-year-old.

He has been spending more time at practice and shootarounds recently, even doing some teaching on the floor for the Bobcats. At the end of Thursday's workout, Jordan was slumped in a chair with ice bags strapped to both knees.

"He comes and works out with the guys, we make him shoot before practice, and he's in the shooting lines," Silas said. "He's doing the drills with them and getting up and down the court. It's exciting to watch him. He still has it. He can shoot that thing still. He's not as athletic as he once was but who is? He talks to them and he's been a huge help because the guys respect him and they respond to what he is saying."


At least one former Michael Jordan teammate has told ESPN's Marc Stein that he's convinced that Jordan wants to make an NBA comeback at 50 years old.


If that's true, His Airness has two years to find a buyer for the Charlotte Bobcats so he's eligible to play again.

Jordan practiced Thursday with the Bobcats -- one week before his 48th birthday -- and looked quite good according to co-captain Stephen Jackson.


"We should sign him," Jackson told ESPN's Marc Stein, adding that Jordan dunked "without any effort" and citing a sweet lefty finish on a post-up move as MJ's most memorable contribution to the workout.


Don't forget, though, that league rules preclude NBA owners from playing for their own teams without selling off their shares. Don't forget, furthermore, that Jordan (with the Wizards in 2001) and Magic Johnson (with the Lakers in 1996 and with yours truly as a first-year Lakers beat writer) were mere minority owners when they made their comebacks from the executive suite, making it a lot easier to find someone to buy them out.

You figure it would take Jordan at least two years to find someone willing to assume majority control of the Bobcats, given how long it took His Airness to assemble a deal to take over from founding owner Bob Johnson.




Word & Stats by ESPN Chicago, Henry Abbott, and Marc Stein.

[Artwork] Adam "Slim Baby" Hernandez

Adam "Slim Baby" Hernandez is an performing artist, radio host, producer, as well as a graphic designer. I have featured and even showcased some of this his work before but I decided to shine a spotlight on the great graphic work that he has been doing recently. In honor of Black History Month, "Slim Baby" has designed various tribute pics for the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, as well as others.

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