His Airness Is An A-Hole

Anyone else catch the Michael Jordan interview on Oprah? Charles Barkley was on with Jordan for much of the show, and was definitely the highlight. Jordan came across as a jerk, in my opinion. His competitive streak is scary. People say he has mellowed since he retired, which means he must have been insane to deal with while he was still playing. He treated Barkley, one of the greatest NBA players of all time, like he was a child. And he made a cheap shot about Barkley not winning any titles. The thing is, he wasn't even joking. There was nothing friendly about it. If I was Barkley, I would have said, "sure you've won six titles, but nobody likes you," or "hey, how did things work out with the Wizards?" Instead he told Jordan he should consider himself fortunate for getting to play with Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Touche.

There was also a story that Barkley told about how Jordan once refused to give money to a homeless man, saying something to the effect of, "if he can ask me for a dollar, he can ask someone if he can take their order at MacDonalds." The philosophical point of self-determination can be debated, but Jordan's tone in defending the statement was merciless. I couldn't help but think that the guy would be a great Republican. Then again, Jordan has never stood up for a cause other than winning championships and signing promotion deals in his whole life, so I may be assuming too much. He also made a statement about young NBA athletes of today not deserving their pay cheques. I agree with him in that regard, but it left a bad taste in my mouth followng his statement about the homeless. Seeing as he has made millions upon millions of dollars playing a game--a game he was successful at in no small part because of some luck in the gene pool (just take a look at his massive hands)-- I don't really feel inclined to support his judgement of other peoples good, or bad, fortune.