Earlier in the summer, NBA legend Michael Jordan announced that he would be joining NBA on NBC as a “special contributor“. It was later revealed that Jordan would be providing key inputs during halftime breaks on a segment named “Insights to Excellence”.
Michael Jordan revealed that his reason for beginning a career as an analyst was a need to give back to the game. However, former NBA player Kenyon Martin raised doubts about how honest Jordan can be in the capacity of an analyst on a recent episode of “The Arena” podcast.
“How can he be honest in his assessment when most of the population looks at you as the number one on Mount Rushmore?” asked Martin. “How can you go on and give your honest critique of the ninth player on the f***ing team? Or the first guy on the team? Where it don’t come across like, ‘F***ing Mike hating again dawg?'”
“It’s not going to come across as genuine, ’cause I don’t think he’s going to be his genuine self in giving his honest critique of what he’s seeing. I don’t like it.”
Martin continued by highlighting how Michael Jordan is often perceived as the greatest individual basketball player of all time, a sentiment many would agree with.
However, when highlighting Jordan’s greatness, he added, “I just don’t think Mike can be honest. Going up there and critiquing people and giving his honest critique when somebody plays badly or is not doing the things that are up to his standards, or things like that. I don’t think he’s going to be true. He can’t be without it coming across as hate.”
Martin added that he and the panel of “The Arena” already face backlash from audiences for their comments, even while being as honest as possible. For someone like Jordan, a more significant personality and figure, such scrutiny could be counterproductive.
Martin made an interesting comparison between Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, which could be the ideal way of explaining the situation.
Brady had an extremely successful NFL career, one that many would claim secures his position as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. But given his origins, from being picked No. 199 in the 2000 draft and not being viewed as a top prospect, he could relate more to the average player, having achieved greatness through sheer work ethic rather than athletic gifts.
Michael Jordan, on the other hand, was an otherworldly talent even before entering the NBA. Having raised the standard for individual brilliance with his performances, it would be a challenge for him to critique a player without using his own dominance as a benchmark.
To say that Jordan’s insight would be meaningless would be untrue. But Martin raises a valid concern about how authentic his critique might sound.
Following the debut of the segment after the Rockets-Thunder game, more episodes from Michael Jordan’s interview are expected to air during the course of the season. While the frequency is dependent on Jordan’s willingness to participate, the early response has been positive.
