Air Jordan reaches new heights

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – Michael Jordan, maybe the greatest of them all, has taken his place alongside basketball’s other greats.

Jordan was inducted in the Hall of Fame on Friday night, a final honor that followed all the championship rings and trophies he collected during his career.

From the high school coach who cut him to the last player to defend him in the NBA finals, Jordan remembered everyone who did something to bring out the competitiveness that carried him to the top of basketball.

“I’d do anything to win,” he said.

He joined David Robinson and John Stockton, a pair of his 1992 Olympic Dream Team teammates, and coaches Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer in a distinguished group of inductees. Jordan was clearly the star Friday night before a crowd that included former teammates Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

Jordan cried before beginning his acceptance speech, then entertained the crowd with memories of any slights that inspired him to get to Springfield:

• The coach who cut him from the team as a schoolboy.

“I wanted to make sure you understood: You made a mistake, dude.”

• Isiah Thomas, who allegedly orchestrated a “freezeout” of Jordan in his first All-Star game.

“I wanted to prove to you, Magic (Johnson), Larry (Bird), George (Gervin), everybody that I deserved (to be there) just as much as anybody else, and I hope over the period of my career I’ve done that without a doubt.”

• Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, who accused Jordan of “conning” players by acting friendly toward them, then attacking them in games.

“I just so happen to be a friendly guy. I get along with everybody, but at the same time, when the light comes on, I’m as competitive as anybody you know.”

• The media who said Jordan, though a great player, would never win like Bird or Johnson.

“I had to listen to all that, and that put so much wood on that fire that it kept me each and every day trying to get better as a basketball player.”

Robinson was inducted first on Friday before a large San Antonio contingent that included teammates Tim Duncan and Avery Johnson, and coaches Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich. Stockton told the Spurs that his running mate, Karl Malone, was the best power forward, not Duncan.  (AP)