Fuck Yea[h] NBA

The Invention Of Air: The Myths Of Young Michael Jordan, Deconstructed

That young Jordan, for whom all things seemed possible, had to give himself up for the story as we know it to continue. He’s a hiccup, a roadblock, one that—like the embarrassment of Hot Butterfly—had to go away for the legend to ring out. Jordan even seemed to recognize this at the time. The greatest dunker the world had ever seen, the man whose logo was himself midflight, competed in (and won) his last dunk contest in 1988. Then Jordan claimed he didn’t want to be known as a dunker anymore and went so far as to compete in the three-point contest in 1990 to officially signal a shift in his game. No longer the madman who could level any arena with his dynamism, he was now a shooter.

Ordering the book for my pops, but this passage that ran in Deadspin today is extremely gratifying to read. Shoals’ piece combined with his post on the Awl today means I’m officially in awe of him and wish he would mentor me.