MICHAEL JORDAN [INDESCRIBABLE]

Absolutely the most incredible human being that my generation will ever have the pleasure to experience. He was absolutely superhuman in his basketball skills. his ability to generate capital was more amazing than his basketball abilities.

I personally attended every basketball game played in Chicago from 1991 through 1998. I had the good fortune to be able to go to numerous games at other venues. I only wish the young people of today could experience first-hand the mind-boggling hardwood exploits of this exquisite athlete.

We all think we know how good a basketball player he was, but do we know the vast sums of money this man generated in the global economy. He made hundreds of millions of dollars and yet he was underpaid.

Lately I have heard Kobe Bryant being compared to Michael Jordan on his skills on the basketball court. And even though much of this is personal opinion,[to me there was no comparison] the true comparison has to be on their ability to earn income for the people who invested in them.

When Michael Jordan played, every venue that he played in was sold out. The worst teams that couldn’t draw a few thousand fans would sell out. Standing room was at a premium. Last month Kobe Bryant came to Chicago to play the Bulls. Technically the game was sold out but there was no problem getting a ticket at a reasonable price right up until game time.This never happened when Michael was playing, try to find a ticket was like pulling hen’s teeth. The prices for the tickets knew no bounds and people would pay thousands per ticket for special games. Never was a ticket available at a reasonable price in the secondary market for a Michael Jordan game. Kobe Bryant, and no other NBA player has been able to match this.

So if one must compare these two great athletes then one must assume that Michael exceeded Kobe’s abilities purely on the deduction that if Kobe was as good as Michael then he would be able to command the same prices as Michael did. Hence, no comparison.

The Michael Jordan name generated billions of dollars to our economy and made the Bulls value approach $1 billion. If my memory serves me correctly I believe that the current owners bought the Bulls for $14 million. That one transaction earned almost $1 billion. Now what  person can you name that was able to achieve that?

So many companies, and personal fortunes were made on his back. It is hard for me to conceive that anyone  will ever be able to do the same.

I thank God that I was able to enjoy this during a part of my life.

Looking forward,

CHICAGOFATPHIL