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Elvis has left the building

© Ryan Lester

He's gone, folks. I don't think he's coming back. He's dunked his last ball, sunk his last jumper, beat his last buzzer, trash-talked his last opponent, and won his last championship. Now, even though I haven't referred to "him" by name, I bet you all know the "he" that I'm talking about. Don't you? Want to hazard a guess?

Well, you're right. I'm writing about #23, his airness, the greatest player to play the game - Michael Jordan.

To anybody that knows me personally, this topic will come as a bit of a shock. Many times over the years, I have cursed Jordan's very being and detested the Bulls with a passion (not the year MJ and the Bulls destroyed the Jazz, though. That was fantastic). It always seemed the Bulls were dismantling "my team" in the playoffs. Particularly the 91-92 Blazers and the 95-96 Sonics. Those were very painful times. In fact, I'm still in possession of a Jordan t-shirt that will never be the same. In 1992, during a fit of post-championship series rage, I defiled his image with permanent black marker in a variety of creatively rude ways which still bring a tear to my eye. It was that day that I perfected the use of many of the curses and naughty words that have, so far, held me in good stead in my brief writing career. I should note at this point that the shirt was bought during some awkward teenage years, well before I became a basketball nut. Yes, like many of my classmates, I jumped on the Bulls' bandwagon for a brief ride. It's what the cool kids were wearing and dammit, I wanted to be cool too. But having matured and come to appreciate the game of basketball, I now realize the calibre of player he was. We probably won't see the likes of his kind of talent, athleticism, skill, or calm under pressure again. No matter what he was off-court, on-court he was unstoppable, and whether you were a Bulls fan or not - a hell of a lot of fun to watch. But, he's retired and the world of basketball needs to come to grips with that fact.

Which brings me to the real reason I'm writing this little article. During the halftime show of the Lakers' - Knicks' game on Sunday, Peter Vescey and Isaah Thomas brought up what is quickly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves. Who will be the next Michael Jordan? Who will be his predecessor, the "air" apparent? Or, whatever other silly nickname the media wants to stick on a player that, by the way, is impossible to live up to.

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