HOUSTON — Only the most special All-Star Games leave us with lasting memories and this one will be no different, contrived as it might have been.
Michael Jordan somehow managed to steal the show over the weekend without doing anything more than living to see Sunday, when he turned 50.
So it’s the Michael Jordan All-Star Game, from here on out, just as the 1992 All-Star Game in Orlando became the Magic Johnson All-Star Game. Johnson’s return to action, after being unfairly forced out of the league by the HIV virus, is still talked about today, 21 years later. Back then, very few people in or out of sports believed that Johnson would live to see his 54th birthday, which will come on Aug. 14 and surely not be covered to the insane degree as Jordan’s landmark birthday.
All of Johnson’s future birthdays will always carry more significance, as David Stern duly noted in his farewell All-Star Weekend State-of-the-NBA address on Saturday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd. He was asked about his favorite All-Star Weekend. He participated in 37, the last 30 as one of the great commissioners in the history of professional sports.
“My favorite memory is awarding Magic Johnson the MVP trophy in Orlando,” he said. “Giving sweaty Magic Johnson a big hug right after he hit the last three, and still being able to hug him, because he’s alive every time I see him. That is at the top of the list. And it will not be easily dislodged. That one will resonate for the rest of my life.”
This one should also resonate for Stern, since it marked his final All-Star Game as commissioner.
Jordan turned 50? OK, congratulations, Mike. But it was covered as the birthday to end all birthdays. Of more importance, Stern goes out on top, with his league in excellent shape and no chance of another costly, owner-driven lockout until 2017. From the richest owner to the last scrub on the bench, everyone is making big money.
The biggest money-makers were on display Sunday night, including the great LeBron James, when the West won, 143-138. With this being an all-Jordan weekend, through no fault of his own, the game’s top player was dragged into one of those silly debates. Jordan was the instigator, saying he’d take Bryant over James and using rings as the measuring stick.
“Because five beats one every time I look,” Jordan said.
James countered by saying if that’s the case, then Bill Russell’s 11 beats Jordan’s six. Touche’. But otherwise, James didn’t dare cross the birthday boy, who must have loved all the glowing coverage. For a few days, his continuous reign as owner of the league’s worst team was completely glossed over.
“M.J. was an inspiration to me growing up,” James said. “It’s amazing to see him turn 50. He’s done so many great things for our sport, so many great things for sports in general.”
James and all the other stars shouldn’t forget that Stern did a lot to get the league to where it is now — a $4 billion-a-year, globally known circuit that was nothing more than a troubled, mom-and-pop operation when he came aboard in 1978.
“We used to talk about how we had our share of luck, no question,” said Stern’s former deputy, Russ Granik, who was with Stern from 1978 until 2006. “Certainly, Magic and Larry kick-started things for the league. And then having Michael Jordan come in, and taking it to another level, there has always been recognition that the timing for David has been very good. No question, it helped. But it shouldn’t detract from all that David accomplished.”
Except for talking about 1992, Stern didn’t do a lot of reminiscing at his swan-song All-Star press conference. That’s not his style.
“With David, it’s never about what it once was, it’s always, look at the opportunity we have ahead of us,” said Stern’s deputy, Adam Silver, who will succeed his boss on Feb. 1, 2014, 15 days before the next All-Star Game in New Orleans. “The only time he looked back, recently, was when we flew down here together. He was trying to figure out when we were last here. All the years run together now.”
The NBA brass traveled to Houston four days before Sunday’s game. That’s telling.
“When David started, it wasn’t All-Star Weekend,” Silver said. “It was just a day.”
Now it’s a four-day festival, coming in two years to the Garden or Barclays Center. If we’re lucky, it will turn out to be one of those rarest of All-Star Games, one that we’ll talk about for years.
