If his time as the President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards taught us anything, it's that Michael Jordan should stick to what he does best: playing basketball, drinking Gatorade, and reading from the cue cards supplied by his Nike-approved handlers. But despite his bumbling ineptitude at things like organizational leadership and public speaking, you'd think that Michael would at least be able to teach average joes how to play basketball...wouldn't you?

Well, you'd be wrong. Case in point: the following video, in which Mike "teaches" us how to shoot a fade away jumpshot. While providing crucial (though ungrammatical) information -- like there's no difference between shooting left or right ("Everything are basically the same") -- Jordan misses three out of four shots, including one that pops out about 20 feet from the basket before Michael manages to run it down. Somehow, watching the so-called "greatest player ever" brick jumpers in an instructional video doesn't exactly instill me with confidence in his teaching abilities. No wonder Rip Hamilton got so much better after Michael traded him to Detroit.


23 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
watching the so-called "greatest player ever"...

what are you implying? that he isn't the greatest?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
haha classic!

He is still G.O.A.T. though :)

Blogger Basketbawful said...
what are you implying? that he isn't the greatest?

Using the term "so-called" and putting the words "greatest player ever" in quotes was more than mere implication. It was a statement. Yeah, I don't think he's the greatest.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Hey, you gotta respect a guy that doesn't only show his made shots in a video! It was pretty funny, though.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Best. Player. Ever. Period.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Any qaulity basketball coach would tell you it doesn`t matter if the shot goes in. All that matters is form and function. If you took the right shot at the right time the right way...eventually it all comes together and you will make them consistently.

If he Jordan was making a video of "made baskets" then the shots he missed would be wierd. That wasn't the spirit of the video.

As for the G.O.A.T. theory I dont pretend to know if he is or is not, but you could at least argue that he is "one" of the greatest based just on accomplishments alone.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
Best. Player. Ever. Period.

There is no "period" statement that can be made in any discussion about the greatest player ever. You can't quantify it for a whole variety of reasons (era played, relative competition, team makeup, etc.).

Any quality basketball coach would tell you it doesn't matter if the shot goes in. All that matters is form and function.

That's true, in theory. But my point is: when someone who is widely considered one of the all-time greats is showing me how to play basketball, I would expect him to complete those moves successfully. I mean, if he'd missed one shot, that would have been one thing. But three of four? Undefended? That's like making an instructional video for driving, and having a guy hit three out of four cones, but saying "Well, he explained HOW to drive correctly, so just keep doing that and you'll be okay.

That wasn't the spirit of the video.

Fair enough. But I don't want my math teacher just explaining theories and formulas to me. I expect him/her to be able to actually do equations.

but you could at least argue that he is "one" of the greatest based just on accomplishments alone.

I never argued he wasn't an all-time great. I just don't happen to agree he's the "greatest ever period."

Anonymous Anonymous said...
First off.. he's using his black tongue.. speaking ebonics.. no doubt to appeal to the kids.. y'all should know by now that there are two sides to Michael.. the black dominating baller who smokes cigars and talks trash in ANY competition.. and then there is the white grammatically correct business man role model MJ.. that's why you gotta love him.. and yes.. he is the GREATEST EVER.. his statistics and championships are unmatched.. even the other so called greats like Magic and Larry all agree he is the best basketball player ever to play the game..LASTLY.. he ONLY missed two shots.. and he's teaching to the camera.. and the turn around fade away is all about rythm.. u cant establish rythm in slow motion like he was doing.. cus he was teaching.. nuff said.

Blogger Basketbawful said...
First off.. he's using his black tongue.. speaking ebonics.. no doubt to appeal to the kids..

Nope. He's just a poor public speaker. His main problem is he always tries to sound more intelligent than he is. I watched the entire Air Force Fundamentals video, and there are COUNTLESS instances of him misusing words, or saying absurd things. All of which I'll be reporting on.


y'all should know by now that there are two sides to Michael.. the black dominating baller who smokes cigars and talks trash in ANY competition.. and then there is the white grammatically correct business man role model MJ.. that's why you gotta love him..

I certainly don't have to love him, and, of course, I don't. But you're right: he has distinct private and public images. As they years have gone on, they tend to overlap.

and yes.. he is the GREATEST EVER.. his statistics and championships are unmatched..

Hardly. Bill Russell won 11 championships in 13 years. That's unmatched. Wilt Chamberlain has much more dominating statistics. And if you're looking for a combination, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also won 6 titles (and he did it with two different teams), 6 MVPs (one more than Jordan), scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, blocked more shots. So if stats and titles make you the best, Jordan falls short.


even the other so called greats like Magic and Larry all agree he is the best basketball player ever to play the game.

Larry Bird says Michael's the best basketball player in terms of physical skills, but still puts Magic number one (read either of his autobiographies...those both state this). Magic says Michael, but there are other all-time greats who name other players as the best ever (Kareem, for example, thinks it's Oscar Robertson). So that doesn't prove anything.

LASTLY.. he ONLY missed two shots..

He missed three. Although the cameraman quickly pulls away from his third shot as it's rolling off the side of the rim.

and he's teaching to the camera.. and the turn around fade away is all about rythm.. u cant establish rythm in slow motion like he was doing.. cus he was teaching..

He shot twice at "normal speed" and missed both.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
he missed two shots look at the video again. Please stop harping on his bad grammar I'm sure there have been times when you have made errors while typing on your blog

Anonymous Anonymous said...
you people are crazy. there is very little in the world of professional sports that 90% of people can agree on but one of those things is that jordan is the best ever. it's not just stats. he had it all. anyways. i'm willing to forgive him for missing those shots. i seem to recall that cleveland and utah among others have seen him hit a few shots.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
EXACTLY...these people want to get on M.J over some missed shots in an instructional video! The nerve...M.J has probably forgotten more basketball than any of these stiffs posting here!

Anonymous Anonymous said...
God, you guys need to stop sucking Jordan's cock. Let me ask you this, if you were watching an instructional video about golf and the guy kept missed his puts, what would you think? Or a video about playing quarterback where the guy kept overthrowing the receiver? Your only defense is that Jordan was a great basketball player, blah blah blah. That has nothing to do with making an instructional video.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I really fail to see the purpose of this article aside for using Jordan's name. If you were criticizing Jordan for failing to do more in the humaitarian effort or for not using his status to do more for people less fortunate than he. But to pick on something so trivial really says something about you. It seems that the idiot would have been the editor of this video. All other videos instructional or not should be edited prior to release.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
your comments should be directed to the idiot that directed/edited the video. This is the equivelent to any other blooper video.
I really fail to see the point of your comments aside from using a well known figure to bring attention to your article. Who makes moore bloopers and sound dumber than Bush and you guys elected him as the leader of your nation,(Twice).

Blogger Basketbawful said...
If you were criticizing Jordan for failing to do more in the humaitarian effort or for not using his status to do more for people less fortunate than he.

You do realize this is a sentence fragment, right? Michael Jordan...is that you commenting in my blog again?

But to pick on something so trivial really says something about you.

And what's that, exactly? That I find it funny when a guy instructing me on how to shoot misses his shots and mangles the English language? If that's the case, then it says exactly what I was trying to get across.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
It's not like it would have been hard to try a second take. The video's only a few minutes long. It reeks of, "Just shoot the video and gimme my money."

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"God, you guys need to stop sucking Jordan's cock. "

What kind of queer still says "cock?"

Anonymous Anonymous said...
you people just mad because you wanted to be a fomouse athlete and it didnt work out stop hating on him and get a life.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
when i'm reading what are you talking about sometimes, i think you probably don't know what the topic is abot. MJ doesn't show how to throw in this film... and inspite of a fact he missed 2 or 3 shoots he will be one of the greatest basketball player ever

Anonymous Anonymous said...
oh come on! he's like 40 yrs old in that video! watch this link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JswfzDKYr04 and you'll see the fadeaway shot ur looking for. and he's 46 in that video.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Dude your a fucking bitch cmon bro
TALK when :
1. Your in the nba
2. You have all of jordans achievements
3. If your even his fucking height
4. If you can do fadeaways better than him
5. You own part of nike like him
6. You make as much as him instead of arguing on ur piece of shit computer
7. If your better ..
I bet you dont got any of that shit , so stop talking ? id like to see you do a tutorial on how to do fadeaways just to help people , youd probably cut all your misses cause your a bitch and you wanted to show that your A FUCKING HUMAN TOO , EVERYONE MISSES SHOTS , even MICHAEL . so stop talking that shit dumbfuck unless you are even a quarter of what he is .

Anonymous Anonymous said...
You're dumb, and your comment is dumb.