Thirty years ago I read a book entitled “The Mis-Education of the Negro” by Carter G. Woodson. It was published darn near 60 years(1933) before I’d even known of it’s existence. It changed my life forever. The thesis of the book is that blacks during Woodson’s time were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. That conditioning, he claims, causes blacks to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts or in other words, to become self taught and to “do for themselves”, regardless of what they were taught.
For years, I’ve always said that most people don’t think for themselves. They wait for someone else to have an opinion and then they adopt the opinion of the person they think is smarter than them without questioning it and they run with it.
After Episodes 1 and 2 of “The Last Dance” aired a few weeks ago Michael Jordan’s agent David Falk jumped out of the birthday cake butt naked foaming at the mouth talking like a mad man. Ole boy said that if Jordan were in the league right now he would be averaging between 50 and 60 points. Obviously, I wrote a rebuttal to that foolishness using sound logic entitled “Just Say No” because boys were losing their minds repeating it.
Ever since Falk lost his mind with that statement even educated folks that cover the NBA have run with that foolishness into the fire with gasoline drawers on.
Chris Broussard was on First Things First on FS1 debating with Nick Young on Wednesday and he jumped out of the moving car hollering Jordan would be averaging 43 points per game today. So when Nick using that same logic in reverse saying “So what you’re saying is that if Kevin Durant were playing in Jordan’s era he’d struggle to score 20 points per game?” He simply looked at the scoring averages and transfixed KD into 1987 (the only year where the NBA moved as fast as it does today) just like Chris was putting Mike into today’s game.
All of a sudden the dun started back tracking because he knew that it made absolutely no sense to think that KD would struggle to score 20 points when he’s more athletic, taller and could shoot and handle the rock better than most people playing at that time. There wasn’t a big man in the game at 7-feet tall that could shoot and handle the rock. Not a single one. KD would destroy those guys because they would have to play out on the perimeter and run the floor with him. That’s not me talking trash that’s me looking at skill set verses the competition.
Jordan was destroying boys in his day because he was far more athletic and quicker that anybody playing the game at the time. So you’re telling me that he’s quicker, far more athletic and more skilled than EVERYBODY playing right now? He was James Brown in 1955 bruh. He was WAY before his time. That’s what made him so good. There was no Michael Jackson or Prince walking around. Now granted there could never have been a Michael Jackson or Prince without JB but if we’re talking pound for pound talent Prince blows JB away. JB didn’t play every single instrument on the album and write and arrange everything by himself.
Broussard was simply talking trash because Jordan is his guy. Now that’s cool but he’s being paid to make sound arguments. He’s not being paid to sound like some fool at the barbershop that knows nothing about what he’s talking about. Why? Because millions of people are watching these shows and 99.9999 percent of them don’t think for themselves. They wait until someone that they think is smarter than them to say something that they can run with and here we go.
Every Jordan fanatic on the planet thinks that he’s the GOAT simply because he went 6-0 in the Finals. That’s their argument flat out case closed. That’s it! No more talking. None of these folks even realize that there are 12 people in the history of the NBA that have won six or more titles. There are 8 people with more titles than Jordan.
So using that logic, what are we going to do with all of the people with 7 or more rings? If the logic is, Jordan is simply the GOAT because he has 6 rings. How do we categorize the others. They’ve got to be called Super GOATS right? Seven is better than six right or am I crazy?
In case you think that I’m lying I’ll name them: Bill Russell (11), Sam Jones (10), John Havlicek, Tom Heinshn and Tom “Satch” Sanders (8), Robert Horry, James Loscutoff and Frank Ramsey (7). And please don’t forget that Pippen, Kareem and Bob Cousey have the exact same 6 Jordan has. So that logic goes out of the window fast.
And before you listen to some fool tell you that he went 6-0 in the Finals. Bill Russell went 8-0 from 1959-66 and then won in ’57, ’68 and ’69. He can’t be the GOAT because he went 6-0 in the Finals. Bill didn’t take a break. He won 8 straight years.
Mike’s the GOAT because of his global influence on the game not only because he was a great player but more importantly because of the influence of the Jordan Brand. It’s a fashion icon and most people wearing the gear never saw him play.
Branding and highlights have made this dun a martyr but please don’t try to convince grown folks that saw him play that he’s more athletic, more skilled and can play every position on the floor better than some of these cats we’re watching right now because that simply isn’t true. As a matter of fact, Mike ONLY played one position.
The media and folk tales will have you believing that cows and horses can fly if you want to believe it bad enough.
In his book Carter G. Woodson further went on to point out that, “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.”
Stop letting people tell you how to think and what makes sense. Dr. Na’im Akbar, a clinical psychologist said in the book entitled “Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery” that the difference between being a student and a scholar is that the student will go to class and absorb all of the information taught and simply regurgitate it. However, the scholar will absorb that same information, text the validity of it and find a useful place for it.
Stop continuously becoming students allowing folks to tell you any and everything that you run with. Instead become scholars by testing the validity of the foolishness that you hear. In other words, start knowing what you’re talking about by the time you start repeating it. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Put it where the goats can get it: verb phrase – to make it as elementary as possible. To put it at ground level so everyone can understand it.
