I know that he was extremely popular/famous and there was a lot of interest in him, but being a famous player doesn’t have to be the same as being a loved player.
For example, in todays game, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are both very famous players in the league who get a lot of attention from media and from Basketball fans, but Curry is a player who seems to be almost universally liked, not many fans have negative feelings about him. Durant on the other hand is as media famous as Curry, but he is less loved, a lot of regular fans have negative feelings about him.
So how was it with Jordan? Yes he was extremely famous. But was he liked/loved by many Basketball fans (apart from Bulls Fans of course)? Or was he just respected? Did many even have negative feelings about him?
He was loved by many, but those of us who root for other teams were more just in awe of what we were witnessing.
We loved him
Naaaah… everyone “wanted to be like Mike” just for the hell of it
That wasn’t about Michael Jackson? I always thought everyone wanted to be like the king of pop.
Nah, there was a popular Gatorade commercial that sang “I wanna be like Mike”, so the saying just refers to that.
/woosh
One of my earliest basketball memories is watching Jordan demolish the Sonics in the finals. So no, I did not love him.
Bastard. He really gave us that false sense of hope after coming back from 0-3 to 2-3. I was certain we had them all figured out. That defense in game 6 with them pounding offensive boards. It was humiliating. And we were a big team too… Rodman was a monster.
He’s the most popular player of all time. There were haters early on who said all he was a ball hog but by the end of his career pretty much only Utah and NYK hated him.
He’s not one of. He is THE most popular player of all time. He is THE reason the NBA is a world wide league now. He was as big as the biggest popstars.
He basically pioneered sports stars in movies with one of the most popular kids movies of the 90s.
NFL is nowhere near as big around the world because of Michael. It’s bigger inside of America, but outside it’s the NBA.
The NFL isn’t as big partially because of the culture around the support and Michael, yes, but primarily it’s because no one plays it outside the US compared to basketball which is popular globally lol
I would add two other things why I think the NBA is more popular globally.
First: Basketball, while having a lot of rules, is an easy game in its basics. You have to throw the ball through the hoop. Everyone in the world understands that, so everyone can easily watch a Basketball game. American Football is more complicated, a lot of people outside the Us wouldn’t be able to tell what exactly a team has to do in a football game.
Second: Basketball is the most „individual“ team sport. It’s all about the special players, the superstars in the team. So the NBA is much more marketable with certain players, certain faces. Brand recognition. The NFL is more anonymous, more about teams than individuality, which makes it harder to market it in a new market, to make a connection with the people there.
Low barrier of entry is important in global sports. Soccer needs a ball and 2 thing. Any two things to be goal posts.
Basketball needs a hoop and a ball. It’s not far off.
I don’t think most Jazz fans hate him. Not sure about the Knicks. I’m a Jazz fan and vividly remember the two series against him. He beat our team in painstaking fashion but he wasn’t ever rude or demeaning about it. He and the Bulls were just better. I’ve never found him to be a “hateable” player.
Forget player, he’s the most popular ATHLETE of all time.
And one of the most popular people (anyone) of all time.
Americanitis.
I grew up in Asia from 92 to 03. Jordan was definitely the most famous/biggest deal athlete. I mean other stars that were big were… Michael Schumaker? Pete Sampras? Fat Ronaldo or Roberto Carlos? Maybe Kobe later on. But none compared to Mike.
Explain yourself, because in this scenario, you seem salty.
How lol. He’s just not. Athletes have transcended magnitudes larger sports.
I couldn’t even really hate him outside of Knicks games, granted I was a kid but he still felt godly
I was at the point where I was almost bored with how good he was and liked to see him lose. I am guessing like how some people see Lebron now.
Beyond comparable to any other American sports star but maybe Tiger Woods and even then MJ outpaces him quite a bit.
The man was well known to people who had never even heard of the sport.
Everyone wanted a Michael Jordan White Sox jersey.
Sometimes I dream That he is me You’ve got to see that’s how I dream to be I dream I move, I dream I groove Like Mike If I could Be Like Mike Like Mike Oh, if I could Be Like Mike Be Like Mike, Be Like Mike Again I try Just need to fly For just one day if I could Be that way I dream I move I dream I groove Like Mike If I could Be Like Mike I wanna be, I wanna be Like Mike Oh, if I could Be Like Mike
The dude got his own Michael Jackson video. Biggest individual music star ever, and MJ was featured.
What a banger of a song. The ending is hilarious - great share!
I liked the pistons then. You can probably guess how I felt about Jordan
Everybody I knew growing up loved MJ. It wasn’t just the winning, he had an aura about him that made you want to root for him. His passion for the game was intoxicating. It’s hard to explain If you weren’t there to witness it, but yeah, he was definitely loved by fans.
Absolutely, NBA on NBC and Jordan. What a combo.
Silly question…
Watch “The Last Dance” when he’s getting out of his hotel to get on the bus and you’ll see what insanely popular means.
As a person that watched Jordan win a National championship in college. As fans we loved and hated Jordan at the same time; because he was better than EVERY player on our hometown teams and he got the best whistle in the history of the NBA when he was already arguably the best offensive and defensive player in the league and the most athletic.
But no matter how you felt about Jordan you appreciated his game, style, talent and skill and RESPECTED and FEARED him as player, competitor and opponent.