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For quite some time, there was an ongoing debate about whether Kobe Bryant deserves to be in the same conversation as Michael Jordan in terms of overall play and greatness. It’s still discussed by some to this day.
One person that would really have a concrete idea of the matter is Phil Jackson, who coached both players and saw the best and worst of the two in their respective prime. He, however, never wanted to get into great detail when comparing the players.
Many basketball fans, especially Chicago Bulls fans, have lasting memories of an exhausted and visibly weak looking Michael Jordan playing through severe illness in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. Seeing him put up 38 points in 44 minutes for a narrow victory over the Utah Jazz set the bar for all athletes confronted with severe “flu-like” symptoms.
Such was not the case for Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng, who missed Thursday night’s Game 6 tilt against the Brooklyn Nets. While many of his teammates were playing with the flu [Nate Robinson could be seen vomiting on the sidelines], he was not fit to compete.
After being chided in the media for being unable to play, Deng took to Twitter to address his critics.
While Michael Jordan was busy getting married Saturday, Nate Robinson was one point shy of tying him for most points scored by a Chicago Bulls player in the fourth quarter of a game, finishing with 23 in the period of what became a triple-overtime thriller between the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls.
The Nets were seemingly in control, up 14 with just over three minutes remaining. After blowing a fast break dunk that would have extended the lead to 16, Brooklyn collapsed. Backup point guard Nate Robinson led the Bulls on a 16-2 run to close the quarter at 111 point tie, forcing the first of three overtime periods.
Robinson would eventually foul out in second overtime, but at that point he had already made his mark on the game, having scored 29 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter and first two overtimes.
After the game, teammate Taj Gibson sent out a picture that perfectly told the story of Robinson’s night.
When Mike Brown was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, there were multiple feelings of déjà vu. One was obvious – Brown was returning to a team that had fired him three years earlier.
We have all been here before.
But the other was more subtle and had to do with the fundamental reality not only of today’s NBA, but also of today’s professional sports.
Apparently, owner Michael Jordan is rebuilding the Charlotte Bobcats – again.
Mike Dunlap has been fired as coach of the Bobcats, according to a tweet from beat writer Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:
When Dunlap was hired last summer, the move raised some eyebrows given his lack of head coaching experience.
The frighteningly young Bobcats surprised the entire NBA, getting off to a 7-5 start that equaled their win total from the 2011-12 season, when they set the record for the worst winning percentage in league history (7-59, .106).
Charlotte also won its last three games of the season, equaling its longest winning streak of the season. In between, however, the Bobcats were a woeful 11-56, with losing streaks of 17, seven and 10 games.
The season-ending winning streak vaulted the Bobcats above the Orlando Magic in the race to avoid the worst record. However, that cost the Bobcats 51 extra chances to win the top pick in the NBA draft in the upcoming lottery.
Dunlap joins Cleveland’s Byron Scott and Detroit’s Lawrence Frank on the unemployment line. Philadelphia’s Doug Collins quit as coach but will remain with the team as a consultant.
Since claiming their first playoff berth in 2010 with a 44-38 mark under Larry Brown, the Bobcats are 62-168. Gerald Henderson and Tyrus Thomas are the only players remaining from the playoff squad.
Charlotte currently has nine players 26 or younger.
