On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith had six-time NBA champion, five-time MVP and the G.O.A.T, Michael Jordan, on as a guest for his national radio show. Smith is the host of The Stephen A. Smith Show on Mad Dog Sports Radio for Sirius XM, hosted weekdays from 1-3 p.m. EST.
Jordan shared some knowledgeable insight on today’s game, the style of play, the business side of basketball versus on the court performance, Kobe Bryant’s ESPN ranking, player comparisons and much more.
On the Charlotte Hornets’ expectations heading into the season:
"“There’s a lot of energy down there. The name change kind of got everything going, with the playoffs and some new acquisitions. So it’s an exciting, prospective year for us. Let’s get it started. Hopefully, we can stay healthy. And if we stay healthy, I think we can make some noise in the East.”"
On Al Jefferson as the face of the franchise and his style of play in today’s finesse game:
"“It is a finesse game. There’s no real low post threats. Now everything is a hybrid. You know, 4 (power forward) hybrid, 5 (center) hybrid. The versatility aspect of the game has changed so much that the dominant center and post player is not really as prevalent as it used to be. The thing I like about Big Al is that he creates and demands for us, and once you create the demand, it’s up to us build around that and lessen some of the focus a little bit. I love what he does. He’s got an old school approach. It used to be that way – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Patrick Ewing – they all played that type of game. And it has kind of disappeared a little bit – Big Al brings it back.”"
On the addition of Lance Stephenson:
"“Well, he led the league in triple-doubles last season. He could be a glue guy as a facilitator if you got enough pieces around. He knows how to play all aspects of the game. I think Lance can connect all the dots.”"
On players tending to focus more on the business side of things rather than their performance on the court:
"“I think it’s a danger zone when you start to put the business ahead of actually what you do from a professional standpoint. For me, it worked hand in hand. My basketball led to a lot of business opportunities that I was able to maintain and cultivate once I got away from the game, but it was never my first thought when I woke up in the morning. I woke up in the morning, it was always basketball. “Look at the contracts that everyone wants to get paid way before they even produce on the basketball court. That’s just the way of the game, the way the business has transcended it right now. It’s almost like a guy who hits the lottery. You know, how often does he want to go to work after that? It’s very rare that it happens that way. That mentality of getting paid before the work is actually done as opposed to letting the work be your passion, you are going to end up getting paid either way.”"
On giving a player a $100 million contract because of the market’s demand:
"“From a business standpoint, if I pay out $100 million, then I want to make a return on that $100 million. Simple as that, that’s easy business. If I’m not going to get the return out of that money and it’s just going to go out the window, that’s bad business.”"
On Kobe Bryant’s ranking by ESPN as the 40th best player in basketball:
"“Honestly, I think that’s a bad ranking. But it creates conversation. If it’s left up to me, there’s no way I’m going to rank Kobe Bryant 40th. To me, he’s definitely taken a step back because he’s gone through a couple of injuries, but I’m not ranking him 40th. If I’m Kobe Bryant, I’m not going to pay attention to it. I’m going to let it fuel me as a basketball player. That’s a great challenge for him. It’s not what we think – it’s what Kobe thinks. I think Kobe knows that he’s not ranked 40th and he’s going to set out to prove differently. That’s a competitor’s thinking. I would do the same. I can’t control what everybody else is thinking.”"
On the Kobe, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade comparisons:
"“It is what it is. It’s a standard of measurement that you are being compared to different eras. When I came in, I was being compared to Doctor J and David Thompson. It’s a standard of measurement that we will never know, and it creates a conversation more than anything. I think it’s an unfair comparison, because LeBron plays a game totally different than the way I played. Kobe plays against different competition than what I played.”"