The Internet is beautiful, in the sense that certain fads, memes, and obscure pieces of media have multiple life cycles, with each rise to relevancy enjoyed by new generations of online sleuths. Rarely are things that have been dug up true Internet "firsts."
I had to remind myself of that today, as a clip made its way to my inbox that, for a split second, I was sure had never previously been on the Internet.
But of course it had.
Five years ago, on April 13, 2008, NESW Sports posted an article titled "Michael Jordan vs Charlie and Martin Sheen, Video." The post described a show, War of the Stars, and at the end of the description were two video clips.
Coaching news has rudely interrupted the endless stream of first-round playoff games, as both Charlotte and Cleveland came to major decisions about their head-coaching positions on Tuesday. The Bobcats’ semi-surprising decision to fire Mike Dunlap with one season left on his contract marked the fourth departure of a head coach since the end of the NBA regular season, which happened just one week ago. That round of firings followed four in-season dismissals, and three of the teams that made in-season changes — Milwaukee, Phoenix, and the Nets — are at the very least going to think very hard about making new hires in the next month or two.
By Shane Ryan at
Courtesy of Indiana University / Getty Images
On Selection Sunday, Indiana secured the top seed in the East Region. The program has officially been revived; after a latent period, the 2012-13 Hoosiers — with Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, and coach Tom Crean — will be following in the footsteps of former Indiana legends this March. The school boasts a remarkable basketball history, including five national championships. But one of its most famous NCAA victories came before the Final Four, in a season that ended without a championship.
On March 22, 1984, North Carolina and Indiana met in the Sweet 16 at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta. The Tar Heels — the no. 1 team in the nation and the no. 1 seed in the East — were led by junior Michael Jordan. Their record was 28-2, and the losses had come by a combined three points. Two years earlier, coach Dean Smith had won his first national title when Jordan made the game-winning shot over Georgetown. The ’84 team was considered one of the most talented in Smith’s career, featuring future first-round picks Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, and Kenny Smith in the starting lineup. Indiana was the 4-seed, coached by Bobby Knight and led by freshman Steve Alford.
Indiana junior Dan Dakich drew the task of guarding Jordan that day. Dakich later became an assistant under Knight, and then became the coach at Bowling Green. Today, he hosts a radio show in Indiana and works for ESPN. But the events of that game — a 72-68 upset win for Indiana — would come to define his basketball legacy.
Antoine Walker sits down with Bill at NBA All-Star weekend to look back on his time at Kentucky ("the best college team in history"), his years with the Celtics, and his recent efforts to help athletes better manage their money. In the bonus video, Walker breaks down the secret Chicago workouts Michael Jordan orchestrated before he made his return to basketball.
To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
The NBA Countdown crew, Magic Johnson, Jalen Rose, Bill Simmons, and Michael Wilbon reflect on Michael Jordan's legacy as he approaches his 50th birthday.
By Grantland Staff at
Scott Strazzante/Chicago Bulls/MCT via Getty Images
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
Italian Ice
There’s really no way around it anymore — Marco Belinelli has become the most clutch player in the NBA. It started in Boston less than a week ago. With the Bulls and Celtics tied in overtime, Belinelli put up a twisting, fall-away, physics-defying shot with 3.1 seconds left to secure the win. If it had ended there, I can understand how it might be considered an aberration. But it didn’t. Last night, with the game again tied, Marco dropped in a game-sealing, acrobatic lay-in with only a second left to down the Pistons:
Jalen Rose explains to Bill Simmons and David Jacoby how he gets inside NBA information before everyone else, and offers a cryptic answer to Bill's question about whether Michael Jordan's famous flu game was a "flu game" or a "hangover game."
So much amazing is happening, and the Shootaround crew is here to help you keep track of it all. You'll find takes on moments you might've missed from the previous night, along with ones you will remember forever.
Let's forget for a second that though the Knicks were playing on the road in Charlotte, the noise in the building was mostly for them. Let's put aside that the Bobcats were losers of four in a row going into the game, that they had a charming if overmatched lineup (Kemba, MKG, Bismack, Gerald Henderson, former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill and the robot from Short Circuit) on the court, and that they were playing like a bunch of Treadstone/Blackbriar agents trying to viral off their blues (BOURNE LEGACY JOKES, GUYS. AMIRITE?). Let's forget all that. You say caveat, I say cave-J.R.-SMITH-HEROBALLLLLLLL!
By Bill Simmons at
Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images
Steve Kerr joins Bill to discuss the Lakers hiring Mike D'Antoni, working games with Marv Albert, and Kerr's best story from his days playing with Michael Jordan.
To listen to this podcast, you can download it on iTunes here or go to the ESPN.com PodCenter here.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday.
Tony Parker hit a jump shot at the buzzer to give the Spurs an 86-84 win over the Thunder in the season opener for both teams. Thunder star James Harden was noticeably quiet on the night, scoring zero points in limited action.
Mark your calendars, everyone, because it's October 1, 2012, and Michael Jordan is officially on to us. By "us" I mean everyone. "Earthlings," if you will. Anyone who has ever made a snide comment about the way Jordan has dressed or carried himself since he stopped playing basketball in 2003.
He knows that his passion for ripped jeans and Heath Bar–colored suits are easy targets for the more fashionable, poorer segment of America. He knows his dislike for getting things altered could not be more mockable for those of us who enjoy looking nice and (again) are poorer than him. He's read the WTF Is Mike Wearing Tumblr on numerous occasions, and might even have Google Alerts set for new postings. At this point, it is clear he knows all of this and he couldn't have a single care in the world. Because he's Michael Jeffrey Jordan and he doesn't even know that any of us exist.
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan surprised his former teammate Scottie Pippen for Pippen’s 47th birthday party Monday night. Pippen’s wife, Larsa, planned the secret bash at Chicago hot spot Sunda. Bulls family, including team president Michael Reinsdorf and his wife, Nancy, NBA power broker William “World Wide Wes” Wesley, Antoine Walker, Ahmad Rashad, and new Bulls recruit and Chicago native Nazr Mohammed gathered to celebrate at the club with Pippen. Sources told us the fun night ended with a dance-off between Jordan and Pippen to the Trey Songz and Fabolous song, “Say Ahh.”
In honor of Ichiro Suzuki's move to the New York Yankees, let's take a trip in the way-back machine and watch his first promotional trip to America in December 1995.
(If you're not sitting down, I'd do so right now. These videos are everything.)
In their eight years of existence, the Charlotte Bobcats have drafted three players from UNC, one from Duke, and one from Boston College, a school that plays up to seven games a year in the state of North Carolina. They have drafted one player from Texas, a Naismith runner-up from Gonzaga, and two UConn greats. Outside of trading for Alexis Ajinca’s draft rights in 2008, the Bobcats have found nearly every undersized or questionably athletic college star in the country. Some, like Jared Dudley, turn out to be valuable players on other teams. Others, like Sean May, quickly confirm that college post moves sometimes don’t translate to the NBA. The Bobcats haven’t fully developed a player since their inception in 2004. They handcuffed Raymond Felton, they didn’t tell the managers of all Charlotte-area Waffle Houses to stop serving May, they turned Gerald Henderson into the worst version of Kobe Bryant in the history of versions of Kobe Bryant.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
Roger Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress and obstructing justice in his perjury trial. On the courthouse steps after the verdict, he vowed to spend the rest of his life searching for the real injectors. "Whoever they are," he said, "whether they're Andy Pettitte acting alone or Andy Pettitte in concert with others, I will bring these Andy Pettittes to justice, if it's the last Andy Pettitte I do."
