Stan Van Gundy on Retiring No. 23: '(Jordan) Is Not Jackie Robinson'

MICHAEL JORDAN IS THE BEST THATS EVER PLAYED THE GAME---- NEXT IN LINE AND REAL CLOSE IS KOBE BRYANT. VANGUNDY IS JUST JEALOUS HE DOESN'T HAVE 10 WORLD CHAMPION RINGS LIKE PHIL JACKSON WHOM COACHED THE BEST TWO PLAYERS THAT EVER DRIBBLED A BASKET BALL.

Sounds like SVG is a MJ hater.

jordan get in line behind larry bird ,magic johnson

Ya Jordan was big in Chicago, but the rest of the free living world hated him.

stop that

I think the negative response in the Ziller article and this one to James` gesture is more than just James Gang bashing, and do more to the implicit comparison of Jordan with Robinson than due to feelings about the Cavs and James. Russ is a better role model for James in some ways, so it is good in some ways his will switch to Russ` number. Russ was more a Jackie Robinson like figure than Jordan. Jordan was amusing for some in his Friar`s roast like acceptance speech for the Hall of Fame. But it was also a reminder of how UNlike Robinson and Russell Jordan is. Russ, as an athlete still, was the first black coach in the Nba. But even coming out of college, he would shake hands, not sign autographs, until long after he retired. He wanted the focus on winning, not on him. Jordan pioneered nothing, and James is pioneering nothing. Both are merely highly marketed, good basketball players. Wilt also pioneered. In Kansas, the law segragated, so Wilt risked arrest going to things like white restaurants. Turned out, the Kansas folks just served him, and the segragation eventually was repealed from the books. James deserved to be MVP last year, and may win a championship, his first, this year. I hope he has a bright future. It isn`t his fault the media has been mainly kissing up to him, when he only showed potential, not results. I don`t think Jackie should be perverted into an icon either. He was just a man, a good baseball player, and a racial token, the first black man accepted in white baseball. His number being retired was about racism, not baseball, so maybe it was the NAACP which should have retired his number, and should retire Russ` number, not the MLB, NBA. We`ll see if James leaves his team the way Terry Mills did, when his coach did to him what James` coach did to James. But he isn`t speaking up about it so far. He isn`t pressing for civil rights, just indiviual success, so far.

wow you really are a retard

Kobe is better? I agree with youngcnyce1, you truly are a retard.

Kobe freakin raped a girl and should be in jail right now

I hate the Celtics. But Bill Russell was number 6 and won 11 titles in 13 years. Noboby will EVER beat that.

Who's achieved more than Michael Jordan? How about Russell....Bill is one of the 50 greatest players of all time he has 5 MVP awards and has won 11 championships in 13 years and coached the Celtics to two of those championships

wayne is the great one in a sport where there isnt alot of greats.

Have you ever heard of Kareem abdul Jabbar and Bill Russell, players who actually achieved more than Jordan?

the NHL retired Gretzky's number because he broke a gazillion NHL records, something Jordan didnt do in that feat. Gretzky also wont just as many rings as Jordan, but its the records he broke that propbrably no one will catch and thats why Gretzky is more honored than MJ. Bill Russell won more like 12 championships, so maybe they should retire his number too.

Players from the past paved the way for MJ. Jordan isnt a basketball god. Bird & Magic saved the NBA from going bankrupt when they were rookies and thats where Jordan came in 5 years later.