Michael Jordan Reportedly Used Anti-Gay Slurs to Harangue Wizards Player (My Title)

Sports Illustrated ^ | 5/7/03 | L. Jon Wertheim

[Greg Luzinski]

At 40, Michael Jordan is job hunting. Is he a good hire?

Scarcely had Michael Jordan left the NBA than he was back, once again the most talked-about man in basketball. The New York Times reported last weekend that Jordan was close to breaking ties with the Wizards, which led to news that he may hook on with the expansion Charlotte franchise, owned by Jordan's friend Robert Johnson.

[RAT Patrol]

I bet Jordan slurred the Lakers too. I mean, a bunch of athletic men are going to make fun of girly men just as surely as the Wizzards will make fun of the Lakers (or whomever -- I'm not a pro-basketball follower).

The speech police need to give it a rest. If lefties think Catholics can be trashed using tax dollars in the name of "art," if they think children can be held up as visual carrots in the form of "virtual child porn" to wannabe child molestors (that one is WRONG to any non-lefty), then how can the left claim that Michael Jordan and his basketball machos can't make a joke at a femi-boy's expense? There is nothing more "natural" than a real man being grossed out by a girly man. Have a sense of humor lefty immoralists.

[Revelation 911]

is an "anti gay slur" something like "you hetero freak"?

most anti gays I know are hetero

[RAT Patrol]

Using the word "gay" is fine. Using the word "gay" negatively will get your indicted by the leftist thought and speech patrol. You must remain postive, you see. You cannot hate; you cannot joke; you cannot disagree.

All your emotions are belong to us.
All your thoughts are belong to us.
All your speech are belong to us.

[Greg Luzinski]

By the way, totally aside form that issue, Kwame Brown just turned 21. It's not like his age was a secret when Jordan drafted him. Jordan demonstrates great leadership and masculinity by picking on a player till a few weeks ago not even old enough legally to drink.

[sharktrager]

This isn't a "speech police" issue. The poster chose the title to emphasize that point.

This is because Michael Jordan, while very talented, is a jerk.

[george wythe]

Let's see if liberals are consistent

Kennedy devoted a substantial portion of his first lecture to the case of Keith Dambrot, a former basketball coach at Western Michigan University, who during a half-time pep talk used the N-word to urge his team to improve their game.

Dambrot, who is white, had heard black team members use the word as a term of endearment among themselves and asked their permission to use it that day in the locker room. "'We need to be tougher, hard nosed, and play harder,'" Kennedy said, describing Dambrot's locker room speech. "'We need to have more niggers on the team.' He then referred to one white member of the team as a nigger and went around the room referring by name to players as either nigger or half-nigger.

The niggers were the players who were doing their jobs well. The half-niggers or non-niggers were the ones who needed to work harder," Kennedy explained.

[snip]

The story prompted such public outcry that Dambrot was ultimately fired.

[Greg Luzinski]

(Wanted to show the contrast to the criticism of Santorum.)

[stylin19a]

always has been a jerk.

[ewing]

Jordan's teflon will be tested here, Sports Illustrated was afraid to write about Mikey being thrown out of basketball by David Stern because of his mob gambling ties (his 2 year 'retirement playing baseball), but a gay slur will be harder to pacify the PC writers.

[mabelkitty]

Will John Kerry come out strongly against this?

Will the Democrats count on it?

Doubt it.

As long as Michael Jordan wasn't gambling, it's okay.

[mabelkitty]

Uh-oh.
You just killed my post.

[STONEWALLS]

...Jordan got the boot from the Wizards front office yesterday and left in a huff.....I don't know what he's going to do next but I think he's going to have a hard time...he's got a bad work ethic when it comes to management operations, hates the office and doesn't go there much....he also doesn't want to put any equity into a team, he figures his name is enough....maybe Charlotte will pick him up...

[mabelkitty]

And yet Marge Schott lost her baseball team for "hate speech".

[RAT Patrol]

And that poor pitiful player is making the big bucks. I would advise him to toughen up. I do not know Jordan to say if he is or isn't a jerk. But no player was forced to work for him. If the kid doesn't like it, he should take it up with Jordan.

If we open up the subject of how coaches talk to their players, I predict we will have to indict them all. It's a rough business that reaps huge financial rewards for those who stick it out. It just seems to me that this is equal to complaining that Mohammad Ali was too violent towards his opponents. What do they think it's going to be like? I doubt Jordan meant any of it personally. He's just trying to produce heated emotion that will translate into adrenaline on the court. Right or wrong, that's what athletic coaches do.

[jwalsh07]

Michael Jordan is the best basketball player who ever laced on a pair, one of the hardest working players to ever lace on a pair and a winner.

Mt response to your post is this:

So what.

[Greg Luzinski]

Somehow, I don't picture Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, Byron Scott or Isaiah Thomas talking to their players (much less their underage players) that way. Not to mention the fact that Jordan is not their coach and, unlike similarly haranguing Bobby Knight, does not give the impression of caring much about their development as people.

[RAT Patrol]

(Wanted to show the contrast to the criticism of Santorum.)

Now that's a good point. The media double standard is amazing. That doesn't mean Jordan should be trashed over this though.

[RAT Patrol]

I agree with your point about news hypocrisy, but not with your points about Jordan.

[RAT Patrol]

Yes, I missed the intent of the poster. But this whole popular "gay slur" terminology is just garbage.