The catcher called for a slider. Kevin Rychel shook him off.

Rychel still asks himself, all these years later, why he did this. He rarely shook off the catcher back then, in the midst of a seven-year Minor League career in the Pirates organization. But on this muggy July night in Birmingham, Ala., in a Double-A ballgame that would remain memorable only for this moment, Rychels mind was in a haze, his shoulder was already ailing with what would turn out to be a torn labrum and his faith in his fastball was, only in retrospect, overly ambitious.

(Note: A version of this story originally ran on MLB.com in 2014.)

And so he left it over the middle for the lanky outfielder with the Mendoza-level batting average, and the bat connected with the weight of its 33 ounces and the anticipation of the thousands of eyes upon it. The ball sailed over the left-field fence, the crowd erupted and Rychel hung his head.

What did you just do? he asked himself.

Back in the visiting clubhouse, now pulled from the game, Rychel faced the same question from the manager of his Carolina Mudcats squad. Bob Meacham had been ejected from the game, and so the roar of the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium audience was his only clue to what had just transpired. Rychel wasnt prone to giving up the long ball. In fact, he allowed them at an entirely reasonable rate of 0.5 per nine innings in the course of his career. So Meacham never would have suspected that Rychel would be the one on the wrong end of this meaningful moment, that his image would be the one plastered on SportsCenter, that his hotel phone would be the one ringing off the hook the next day.

It happened? Meacham asked.

Yeah, Rychel replied, it happened.

Michael Jordan had hit his first home run.

* * * * *

In 1994, Air Jordan did his time on the ground, in a stint with the White Sox as a light-hitting rookie in Double-A ball.

Jordans decision to leave the NBA at the utmost peak of his powers in order to pursue a short-lived career in professional baseball is still a source of curiosity. All the more as ESPNs The Last Dance docuseries about Jordans Bulls captures attention in a rare time without live sports.

The story goes that Jordan -- overpowered by the weight of his fame, burned out by his own brilliance on the basketball court and emotionally drained by the murder of his adored father -- pursued baseball as a new challenge and a welcomed distraction. And those in baseball who worked with and played with Jordan walked away impressed and convinced by the earnestness of this endeavor.

He respected the game, says Indians manager Terry Francona, who managed Jordan with the Birmingham Barons. I love the guy. And I dont love the guy just in the press. I love the guy. I respect him. I appreciate how he handled everything.

Francona is not alone in his opinion that Jordan could have made it to the Majors. Probably not as a star, mind you, but at least as a reserve, given the will and work ethic he put into refining his God-given talents.

The then-31-year-old Jordan invested his heart and soul into a sport that fundamentally flexes different fast-twitch muscles, a sport he had abandoned as a teenager, a sport his dad would wistfully muse about in those contemplative conversations between father and son. Sports Illustrated famously begged Michael to bag it in the headline that would cost them future quotes from the iconic figure, but Jordans quest in this and every athletic pursuit was to conquer the conquerable, attain the unobtainable.

SI completely missed the story, says David Falk, Jordans agent. Michael Jordan gave up everything he had earned as the king of basketball to play Minor League baseball and subject himself to criticism. He put everything on the line to compete, with nothing to gain. That is the essence of sports. To this day, SI has never apologized to Michael, and he'll never talk to them.

Such is the competitive instinct of His Airness.

If you told him no, Francona says, he was going to find a way to make it a yes.

* * * * *

Jordan hit .202 in Birmingham, and that number means different things to different people.

To some, .202 was confirmation that Jordan was in over his head, that he wasted a year of his basketball prime in order to humiliate himself in the dregs of the Minors.

To Francona, .202 is a source of pride, because he knows how hard meeting round ball with round bat inherently is and how much Jordan improved as the long summer wore on.

To Walt Hriniak, the former White Sox hitting guru who worked intensely with Jordan that spring, .202 was actually a source of disappointment.

I didnt expect him to tear it up, Hriniak says, but I expected him to do better.

Hriniaks seemingly unusual opinion doesnt sound so unusual at all when you dig deeper into the work that went into getting Jordan ready for his Double-A debut.

Once Jordan had publicly announced his retirement to a stunned NBA community and privately announced to Bulls and Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf his intentions to switch sports, one of the first people to learn of the experiment was Herm Schneider, the longtime athletic trainer for the Sox. Reinsdorf called Schneider with word of a special project just before Thanksgiving in 93, and soon Schneider was instructing Jordan on rotation workouts to tighten up his core and palm training to toughen up his hands.

Hes a great athlete in basketball, Schneider says. When it came to baseball, he was a little bit like a duck out of water. He loved baseball, but he didnt necessarily have that body awareness that you need. So we had to teach him.

Here is the greatest basketball player of all time, and hes looking at me to say, Teach me.

Another tutor brought in for that winter work was Mike Huff, one of the outfielders against whom Jordan would actually be competing for a roster spot in camp.

As a Chicago-area resident with superb defensive skills, Huff was directly requested by Reinsdorf to assist in the effort with M.J. in the bowels of Comiskey Park and at the Illinois Institute of Technologys massive gym. This was an inherently awkward arrangement, given that the Sox had yanked Huff back and forth between the bigs and the Minors the previous season and he had his own position to compete for (he would, in fact, be traded to Toronto at the end of the upcoming spring). But Huff came to the conclusion that the Sox werent going to take anything other than the best 25 guys when camp broke.

Besides, this was Michael freaking Jordan. Who could say no?

For me, having grown up in Chicago and watched him win those first three championships, the whole thing was surreal, Huff says. Because here is the greatest basketball player of all time, and hes looking at me to say, Teach me.

Huff taught him how to properly hold a baseball, how to throw, how to slide, how to train his feet to be ready for the footwork of the position. Jordan was an eager and tireless learner, so much so that Huff would, at times, forget what level of celebrity he was dealing with.

There was one Friday morning when Jordan showed up with Richard Dent, the great defensive end for the Chicago Bears, and said the two would be flying to Phoenix that afternoon for a weekend of golf with Charles Barkley. As the day wore on, Huff kept looking at the clock and kept worriedly asking if Jordan was going to have enough time to catch his flight at OHare. Jordan finally had to set him straight.

Mike, Jordan said, I have my own plane. Itll leave when I get there.

Oh, right, Huff thought to himself, this guys got lots and lots of money.

So much money, so much fame and so little experience in baseball that there would have been ample reason for guys like Huff -- grinders just trying to attain some level of big league stability -- to be resentful of this undertaking. When Jordans decision became public in early February of 94 and he reported to Spring Training camp in the middle of the month, he didnt just have to prove himself to the prying eyes of the public but also to the men hed be suiting up alongside.

If everybody was like M.J. the game would be better.

Hriniak arrived to that camp, found it packed with reporters and curious fans and worried what kind of dog and pony show the Sox had just gotten themselves into. So he waited for Jordan to finish his first round in the cage, went to the outfield where Jordan was shagging fly balls and looked the new acquisition in the eyes.

I just want to know one thing, Hriniak asked him. Are you serious about this?

Dead serious, Jordan replied.

All right, Hriniak said. If you want some help, Ive got time in the cage for extra hitting practice at 7 a.m. If youre one second late, you dont hit.

Jordan never missed a day, and he was never late.

If everybody was like M.J., says Hriniak, the game would be better.

* * * * *

Jordans devotion extended to his interactions with teammates, with fans, with the media.

When Sox manager Gene Lamont caught wind of the teams plans to only make Jordan available to reporters every third day that spring, he asked Jordan to reconsider.

I think [Jordan was concerned] he was taking away from the other guys if he [talked] more than that, Lamont says. But I didnt think Frank [Thomas] or Robin [Ventura] or the other players needed to talk about Michael the days he wasnt talking. He was receptive to that.

He was also receptive to the ample requests for autographs, both from his teammates and those in the stands.

It was incredible, says David Schaffer, the Soxs former director of park operations. Hed be at the game all day, it would be 80-90 degrees, the sun is out, the humidity is about 300 percent, and he would stand there and just sign and sign and sign. Everybody else had already showered and gone home, but hed be standing there every day. And it wasnt just because the press was there, because theyd already be gone, too.

Jordan would tell his teammates to leave anything they wanted autographed in Schneiders office and hed take care of it at the end of each day. When guys would inquire about shoes or gear, Jordan would reach out to his Nike contacts, and a package would be delivered within a day or two.

A guy from Venezuela asked him to sign a basketball for him, Schaffer remembers. He said to Michael, If you autograph a baseball for me, its worth $100. If you autograph this basketball and I take it back home, I can feed my family for a month.

Naturally, Jordan signed it, just as he would sign for those fans who would swarm his red Corvette when it stopped at a red light in the streets of Sarasota that spring or in Birmingham that summer.

The Barons drew over 467,000 fans at home and played to packed houses at every stop on the road that season, establishing attendance records that wont soon be broken. So baseball did not provide the basketball burnout with much opportunity to be inaccessible.

But the long bus rides that came with life in the Southern League gave Jordan a needed chance to tune out the outside world, and he welcomed them, just as his teammates welcomed the plush new rig he provided in exchange for an endorsement with a local bus company.

Jordan also didnt complain about the accommodations at the various La Quinta Inns where the Barons bunked.

I dont know about now, Francona says with a smile, but they didnt have suites at the time.

* * * * *

Decades later, any analysis of Jordans time in baseball is admittedly incomplete. We know he hit .202, struck out 114 times and committed 11 errors that summer in Birmingham. We also know he stole 30 bases and drove in 51 runs. He followed up the Birmingham season with an encouraging effort in the Arizona Fall League, batting .252 against some of the games elite prospects.

What mars the story, though, is the abruptness of the ending. Jordan reported to Spring Training camp in 1995 but vowed not to cross the picket line should the ongoing war between the owners and players union not be resolved by the time exhibitions began. Where some players in Jordans circumstances might have seen opportunity in the strike, Jordan was a past NBA player representative who appreciated the integrity of the union. So as replacement players were summoned, Jordan slid out of Sarasota in early March. He was back in the Bulls lineup roughly two weeks later.

Well never know if Jordans baseball career would have continued much longer had the strike not intervened. Francona, for one, got the sense, by the end of that summer with the Barons, that Jordan was getting the itch to return to his first love, to be a superstar again.

But baseball -- and its inherent demands for patience and perseverance -- seemed to teach Jordan something elemental.

Bulls coach Phil Jackson would remark, years later, that the Jordan who returned in 95 was different than the one who departed in 93. This Jordan was more generous with his time, more encouraging to his teammates. And Jordan himself would admit that watching guys who were, in some cases, 10 years younger passionately pursue their baseball dreams in that unpretentious setting of Double-A stirred something in his soul.

[I realized] I had kind of lost that in the realm of what was happening to me in basketball, he once said. I was on the pedestal for so long that I forgot about the steps to get to that. Thats what Minor League baseball did to me.

And the stint certainly left impressions on those around him.

Huff looks back fondly at those winter workouts as a perfect precursor to the work hes done as the longtime vice president of operations for the Bulls/Sox Academy, a youth development facility. Franconas experience with a superstar at that early stage of his managerial career was a perfect precursor to what hed encounter when he took over a Red Sox club loaded with outsized personalities a decade later. Lamont admits that, for all the distractions the Jordan situation could have caused for his defending division champs that spring, he simply got a kick out of it. Schaffer considers Jordan one of the classiest people he dealt with in more than 30 years with the Sox.

And then theres Rychel. He long ago gave up his big league dreams and went into a career in the food industry, where he is currently the vice president of operations for a fast-casual Mexican chain. To this day, he still wishes he had thrown that slider to Michael Jordan.

In the weeks leading up to July 30, 1994, word had gotten around the Southern League that Jordan was showing improvement, hitting the ball harder, capitalizing on more mistakes. And that night, Rychel made a costly one. He can laugh now about the night he got posterized by Air Jordan, and, looking back, his pitch selection isnt his only regret.

Through it all, Rychel says with a laugh, I never even got an autograph.

But like so many others in baseball who crossed Michael Jordans path in 1994, he got one heck of a memory.

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Michael Jordan, the real story of his baseball career - MLB.com

During the third episode of "The Last Dance" documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, Warriors coach Steve Kerr had some great quotes.

Here is how he described Dennis Rodman:

"Everybody understood Dennis' impact on the group. And we understood that he had different needs in his personal life than we did.

Dennis was bizarre. But I think what made it work was Phil (Jackson) and Michael (Jordan's)understanding that to get the most out of him on the court, you had to give him some rope.

"And they gave him a lot of rope."

The main example of "rope"was how in mid-January 1998 -- shortly after Scottie Pippen made his season debut (against the Warriors)-- Rodman had a request.

Let's let Michael Jordan's description of the events take over from here:

"While Scottie was out, Dennis was a model citizen to apoint where it was driving him fu--in'insane (laughter).So when Scottie came back, Dennis wanted to take a vacation. I come to practice, Phil calls me in and says, 'Look, Dennis wants to tell you something.'

When Dennis wants to tell me something, I knew it's not something that I'll fu--in'want to hear. So Dennis says, 'I need a vacation.' And I look at Phil, say, 'Phil what do you mean, a vacation?' He says, 'He needs a vacation.He needs some time off to let loose.' I said, 'Look Phil, let me tell you something man. If anybody need a fu--in'vacation, I need a vacation.' We look at Dennis, said, 'Dennis, what are you gonna do?' He says, 'Well, I need to go to Vegas.'

Phil, if you let this dudego to vacation, we're not gonna see him. You let him go to Vegas, we're definitely not gonna see him. So he looks at Dennis and says, 'Dennis, well, can your vacation belike 48 hours?' And Dennis is like, 'I got no other choice. I'll take whatever you can give me. I'll take the 48 hours.' '48 hours. You got 48 hours, Dennis' And I'm looking at Phil like, 'You ain't gonna get that dude back in 48 hours. I don't care what you say. He's done. Okay, 48 hours.' He leaves that room, goes straight to the airport. Boom. We don't hear or see Dennis for 48 hours."

Rodman then comes on camera, says"I went to the f------g Vegas," and starts laughing hard.

It was hilarious.

[RUNNIN' PLAYS PODCAST:Listen to the latest episode]

In case you're curious -- the Bulls won both games that Rodman missed.

So after 48 hours, he simply returned to Chicago and arrived at practice with no issues? Well, not exactly.

[RELATED:Klay jokes that Kerr 'big timed' him when seeking autograph]

As Jordan and Rodman's ex-wife, Carmen Electra, explained:

Jordan: "He didn't come back on time. We had to go get his a--out of bed. And I'm not gonna say what's in his bed or where he was or blah blah blah."

Electra: "There's a knock on the door, it's Michael Jordan. And I hid (laughter).I didn't want him to see me like that. So I'm just like hiding behind the couch with covers over me. 'Come on, we got to get to practice.'"

What a story.

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Kerr believes fight with MJ made them better teammates - NBCSports.com

Editor's note: This is the fourth installment of NBC Sports California's "20 questions facing Kings" series that will look into pressing matters for the team once the NBA returns.

The NBA has a handful of what I like to call self-made men. Players that went late in the draft or not at all, but defied the odds to carve out a niche in the league.

It takes a certain personality to endure disappointment and failures. Many of these players are hardened by trips to the G League or stints playing professionally in Europe or Asia. When they finally get a chance in the NBA, they find ways to stick with more than just talent and ability.

Kent Bazemore of the Kings is one of these rare players who survives the trials and tribulations to earn a living in the league. Hes actually done a lot more than just make a living.

Undrafted out of Old Dominion, the 6-foot-4 wing scrapped his way onto the Golden State Warriors' roster during the 2012-13 season. In July of 2016, he had performed well enough that the Atlanta Hawks signed him to a four-year, $70 million deal.

Sacramento acquired the veteran, along with Anthony Tolliver, in a February trade for Trevor Ariza, Caleb Swanigan and Wenyen Gabriel. Bazemore proved to be a missing link for the Kings as they rattled off a 13-8 record in the 21 games since the swap.

With the season on hiatus, its a good chance to look at how Bazemore fits with the Kings and whether hell return for more once basketball resumes.

Bazemore is at the tail end of one of the richest deals in NBA history for an undrafted player. Hes making $19.3 million this season and when the offseason eventually begins, hell become an unrestricted free agent.

At 30 years old, Bazemore has plenty of basketball left in the tank. Hes proven to be a defensive disruptor and he has the ability to get hot on the offensive end as well.

He wont make $19.3 million a season on his next contract, but there is a good chance he gets another 2-3 year deal with a starting salary of $8-10 million per season.

This was the type of player the Kings hoped they were getting when they signed Ariza last summer. Ariza had a personal issue that kept him away from the Kings for stints early in the season and he never really found his voice with the team when he was available.

Bazemore walked in the door, called a team meeting and began taking ownership of his role as a veteran leader behind the scenes.

This doesnt work everywhere, especially for a mid-season acquisition, but Bazemore was the right personality at the right time for a Kings team that had lost a bit of its confidence.

Bazemore will have options, but he flourished with Sacramento and seemed to fit in with the personality of the team. When asked about the potential to stick around past the season, Bazemore made his position clear.

I know this is a good place for me because when I first got here, a couple of games in, Im like, man, if I would have started the season here... Bazemore told NBC Sports California late in the year. When stuff like that creeps into your mind, you feel like its a good place. The vibe has been great, I love coming to work and I enjoy the people here. For sure man, it checks all the boxes.

On the court, Bazemore was a breath of fresh air for Sacramento. His energy and defense made a tremendous difference. He also found his shooting stroke in Sacramento, knocking down 38.6 percent from long range in the Kings run and gun offense.

Eight seasons into his career, Bazemore knows who and what he is as a player. He understands his role and his Kings teammates embraced him both on and off the court as well.

[PURPLE TALK PODCAST:Listen to the latest episode]

Money might come into play, especially with the Kings current roster makeup and their focus on retaining Bogdan Bogdanovic, while extending DeAaron Fox this summer.

Bazemore wont get another $70 million in salary, but he will still cost. Can the Kings afford another mid-level exemption level contract? Will the market drive his rate up? These are issues that will take time to work out.

Sacramento also has a stack of players that can play Bazemores position, although they cant really fit his role. Bogdanovic can play both the two and the three and Buddy Hield needs major minutes as well.

The Kings also have a young player in Justin James that may eventually develop into a similar type of player as Bazemore. He has the length and athleticism, although he will need more time to reach his potential. James might make a good understudy to Bazemore for a season or two.

Lastly, at 30 years old, Bazemore has made a lot of money and his style of play can fit in with just about any group. Is there a sure-fire playoff team that could come calling with promises of championship runs, albeit at a discounted rate?

[RELATED:Kent Bazemore quickly became fan favorite in short audition with Kings]

Bazemore loves to golf and he loves the California sunshine. While Sacramento may not have been on his radar before, he instantly fit in with the team and felt appreciated.

There will be other opportunities, but for at least the next two or three seasons, Bazemore and the Kings seem like a really good fit. The Kings could probably work a three-year, $21-27 million contract into their budget and this is the type of player and personality they need.

Its early and there is an incredible amount of uncertainty moving forward with the league, but signs point to Bazemore sticking around past the 2019-20 campaign.

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How Jordan's intensity led to Bulls trading Hopson to Kings - NBCSports.com

In 1982, Michael Jordan was just a teenager he wasn't even yet the best player on his University of North Carolinabasketball team. He still had to write home to his mother asking for stamps and spending money.

Yet Jordan made it known to those around him that he had lofty ambitions, and that he would complement his desire to be great by working hard and always learning how to get better, according to the first installments of ESPN's 10-part documentary "The Last Dance."

While the focus of the documentary series is on the Bulls' 1997-1998 season, in which Jordan and his teammates captured their sixth NBA championship, the first episode also examines Jordan's earliest days as a public figure, starting with his freshman college season.

When he arrived at UNC, the expectations around Jordan were not befitting a player who would go on to reach the Hall of Fame and one day boast an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion. In fact, legendary UNC head coach Dean Smith said in one interview included in the documentary that Jordan was "inconsistent as a freshman," but the teenager's work ethic still stood out.

"He was one of the most competitive [players] we've ever had in our drills," Smith said. "He wanted to get better and then he had the ability to get better."

As a freshman, Jordan told UNC assistant coach Roy Williams (who is now UNC's head basketball coach) that he wanted to be the best basketball player ever to play at UNC a school that had already won one NCAA championship, and nearly two dozen conference championships, before Jordan's arrival. Williams says in the documentary that he told the young Jordan that he would have to work even harder than he had in high school in order to accomplish that goal. (Jordan famously did not make his high school's varsity basketball team until his junior year, after he finally hit a growth spurt.)

Jordan responded by telling Williams he'd worked as hard as anyone else on his high school team, Williams says.

"I told him, 'Excuse me. I thought you just told me you wanted to be the best player to ever play here,'" Williams says he told the teenaged Jordan, who responded with an intense promise.

"'I'm going to show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I work,'" Williams says Jordan told him.

From there, Williams tells ESPN he spent the next "three years watching that youngster get better and better and better."

Williams was amazed at Jordan's ability to maintain an intense work ethic and strong desire to learn and become a better player throughout his career.

"He never freaking turned it off," Williams says.

Indeed, Jordan's UNC teammates can confirm that the freshman player worked intensely to get better and better on the court, including continuing to practice after the rest of his teammates were ready to head home, according to former UNC teammate James Worthy.

"After about 2.5 hours of hard practice, I'm walking off the floor, like, drenched [in] sweat, tired. And, here comes Michael pushing me back on the floor, wanting to play a little one-on-one, wanting to see where his game was," says Worthy of Jordan.

It's no coincidence that Jordan would challenge Worthy, specifically, to extra work on the court. A junior when Jordan was a freshman, Worthy was UNC's best player in 1982 and would help lead the team to a national championship on his way to becoming the first overall pick of the 1982 NBA Draft.

"He wanted to learn, he wanted to grow quickly," Worthy says in the documentary of Jordan's rabid desire to improve his basketball skills as a freshman. "From month to month, from game to game, he was soaking up information. Once he got something and added it to the raw talent that he already had, it was really exposive to see."

Another former UNC teammate, Matt Doherty, echoed that sentiment in a recent interview. All of the UNC players respected Jordan, Doherty said, because while he was extremely talented, he was also "a sponge, he listened, he learned and he competed."

And Jordan definitely got better as his freshman season went on. Worthy, who went on to have a Hall of Fame career himself, jokes in the documentary that he started their season at UNC together as the better player, but that didn't last long.

"I was better than he was ... for about two weeks," Worthy says of Jordan.

By the end of his freshman season, Jordan "was a great player," Worthy says.

In fact, by the end of the season, Jordan had learned enough and improved his basketball skills to the point where he was comfortable stepping into the national spotlight. When UNC made it to the NCAA's 1982 national championship game against powerhouse Georgetown, Jordan calmly sank the game-winning shot with time expiring on the game clock.

"I was young, but I had no time to be nervous," Jordan tells ESPN of the now iconic shot that put the precocious teenager on the road to becoming a household name.

Even with his success in the championship game, Jordan continued working to get better. Jordan managed to "improve considerably between his freshman and sophomore year," former UNC coach Dean Smith said in one interview that's included in the ESPN documentary.

Jordan would play three seasons at UNC before the Bulls selected him with the third overall pick of the 1984 NBA Draft. Once he entered the NBA, Jordan once again found himself needing to work harder than ever to improve his skills and prove himself to his teammates.

"From the first day of practice, my mentality was: 'Whoever is the team leader of the team, I'm going to be going after him. And I'm not going to do it with my voice.' Because I had no voice. I had no status. I had to do it with the way that I played," Jordan tells ESPN about his rookie year in Chicago.

Today, Jordan's intense work ethic is legendary, as reporters and former teammates often recount how the iconic athlete often competed just as hard in practice as he did in actual games. One famous quote from Jordan seems to sum up that ethos: "I don't do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results."

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How Michael Jordan became great: 'Nobody will ever work as hard as I work' - CNBC

Michael Jordan in his prime was simply something else. Not many, if anyone, could probably match up with him in a game of 1-on-1.

According to Jordan himself, however, he thinks that Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant might have just been able to edge him out for one very particular reason.

If I was in my prime, who would I want to play one-on-one? That list is very long, Jordan once said, via SportsCenter. Id start off with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant in his prime, LeBron in his prime, D-Wade in his prime, Melo. Thats a good start. I dont think Id lose, other than to Kobe Bryant because he steals all my moves.

Thats Michael Jordan at his best. He teases us with a bit of humility by saying that he might lose to Kobe, but almost instantly reverts back to his smack-talking ways by accusing Bryant of copying his own moves.

Unfortunately, we wont get a chance to hear Kobes reaction to this after perishing in a fatal helicopter crash early in the year, but knowing him, Bryant would have probably snapped back with his own witty remark against Jordan.

Deep down, though, we all know how much respect these two had for each other, so were pretty certain that Bryant would have seen this as somewhat of a compliment. After all, Jordan is implying that Kobes skill set is pretty much on level ground with his, and this coming from one of the greatest of all time, it cant be all that bad for Bryant.

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Michael Jordans savage reason why Kobe Bryant is the only player hed lose to 1-on-1 - ClutchPoints

SportsPulse: Former Chicago Bulls teammate B.J. Armstrong breaks down the first two episodes of "The Last Dance" and explains why Michael Jordan's criticism of his teammates was only the "PG" version. USA TODAY

More than two years before the first episodes of ESPN's "The Last Dance" documentary ever aired, Michael Jordan revealed some clues about the secretive project that was still in the works.

In a 2017 interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine, Jordan confirmed a camera crew had followed the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls around the entire season "to capture the last dance."

He also seemed to know it might not portray him in the best light at all times. "What you will see in that footage is my dedication to the game of basketball. Unwavering dedication, day in and day out," he told Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken.

"And being the leader of the team, I hold everyone else accountable for the success. They're going to get an honest understanding for what winning is about. What leadership is about... I have no problems with people seeing it, as long as they understand the passion, because it's a strong passion and it's very raw."

Michael Jordan, who told Cigar Aficionado magazine in 2017 he smokes "six cigars a day," enjoys one on the golf course while serving as a captain's assistant for Team USA at the 2009 Presidents Cup in San Francisco.(Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)

There are a few other Jordan quotes from the interview that become more interesting with the passage of time.

One example is when Jordan discussed his return to the NBA after taking a year off to play minor league baseball. "That helped me put things in perspective," he said.

"When I went back to [basketball] I appreciated it even more. So when we won those championships [in 1996, 1997 and 1998] those things mattered to me far more than what I did in 91, 92 and 93. People dont see that. All they think about is he batted .202, and he struck out a certain number of times. Yeah, OK. But the effort was there and the learning curve and the passion was there.

"Thats what my father and my mother instilled in me. Take a negative and turn it into a positive. Dont be afraid to fail."

Jordan said one reason he was such a big baseball fan was because of his late father, James.

"He loved Roberto Clemente. I grew up emulating his footsteps. Who he admired is who I watched. I also grew up a NASCAR fan, a Richard Petty fan. I was more into stock-car racing than I was into anything else," Jordan said, adding, "The thing I remember the most about my father and I had him for 32 years I never look at it from a negative sense. Obviously he was murdered and rarely I do I get the chance to talk about him. I think about him practically every day."

As for being called the greatest basketball player of all time, Jordan -- perhaps the NBA's ultimate competitor -- downplayed the competition.

"Thats one thing my parents taught me very well. Dont rub success in peoples faces," he said. "Its all related to who is watching now. If you ask 20 years from now, Im pretty sure LeBron [James] may beat me. If you ask me, I can never give you an opinion about things like that."

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The resistance to compare athletes of different eras also extends to another of Jordan's passions, golf.

"First of all youre never going to say who is the greatest of all time. To me, thats more for PR and selling stories and getting hype," Jordan explained.

"Jack (Nicklaus) and Tiger (Woods) never played against each other, they never played in the same tournament, they never played with the same equipment, they never played the same length of golf course.

"I never played against Wilt Chamberlain, I never played against Jerry West. To now say that ones greater than the other is being a little bit unfair. ...Obviously Jack won more during the time he played. Tiger evolved the game to where it crossed a lot of different boundaries, where it was no longer just a white guys sport. And that grew the game from a financial standpoint. Now does that constitute him being the greatest? Does that mean hes any less than Jack? I think its unfair."

In asking Jordan about Nicklaus vs. Woods,Shanken seemed to assume Tiger was finished winning major titles, not knowing he would stage a Jordan-like comeback to capture the 2019 Masters.

"Yes, Jack has 18 majors and Tiger has 14," Jordan responded at the time -- before Woods captured his 15th.

"I won six championships. Bill Russell won 11. Does that make Bill Russell better than me or make me better than him? No, because we played in different eras. So when youre trying to equate who is the greatest of all time, its an unfair parallel, its an unfair choice."

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Michael Jordan discussed his late father, dropped hints of 'The Last Dance' in 2017 interview - USA TODAY

The GOP plan was for North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows to become the ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee when Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan was named to lead House Judiciary Republicans, but things change.

Meadows left Congress to become White House chief of staff, and who will lead Oversights minority is now in question.

Of the 16 Republicans still on the committee, only six have served in the House for at least three terms, and several are already ranking members on other committees. Its left some wondering who will succeed Jordan; several have expressed interest in the job, and Jordan says the talent is already there, although it is unclear who will move into the slot.

Theres some great people whove done great work on the committee, so whoever they pick will be ideal, Jordan said, referring to the Republican Steering Committee, which is responsible for choosing the conferences committee leadership and rosters.

Jordan said he saw several members engaged in the committee business and who did their homework before hearings and worked well with the staff. He pointed out several members: freshman Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Mark Green of Tennessee and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, as well as Kentuckys James Comer, who is in his second full term, and Georgias Jody Hice, who is currently serving his third.

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After Meadows and Jordan moves, what's next for Oversight Republicans? - Roll Call

Coach Steve Alford talks about a bet Michael Jordan made him and never paid. Reno Gazette Journal

It was 1984 when Michael Jordan fell in love with Bloomington and felt sorry for Steve Alford all at the same time. The same spring he felt the wrath of Bob Knight andthe earth-shaking rattle of Charles Barkley's dunks.

Jordan, a junior at North Carolina, was dropped in the middle of the picturesque college campus of Indiana University 36years ago. He was one of 72 Olympic hopefuls to descend on IU, invading Indiana Memorial Union, grabbing a scoop of ice cream at the Chocolate Moose, hitting McDonald's, inciting a buzz across campus.

Inside a tiny arcade in the student union, the likes of Karl Malone, Sam Perkinsand Kenny Fieldswould play. Jordan was rumored to have been at a Little 500 party at McNutt Hall. There were movies to go to in their spare time and putt-putt golf to play.

Mostly, though, it was basketball.

The 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials were heldApril 17-22, led by the venerable Knight, who would have to whittle the dozens of players down to 12 plustwo alternates.

Jordan came into the tryouts6-6, 197 pounds, a standout who had just been named College Player of the Year, ledthe ACC in scoring and had drained a memorable jump shot that won the national championship in 1982.

But Jordan and his North Carolina teamhad just lost to IU in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAAtournament the month before. It was Dan Dakich's famed defensive game, holding Jordan to 13points. He couldn't be that special.

Many people on campus didn't knowJordan by sight.Outside of basketball circles, he wasn't a household name.

Michael Jordan (left) spent some time in Bloomington in 1984 for the U.S. Olympic Trials.(Photo: Associated Press)

Still, Jordan stood out among other players with his magnetism and charisma, said Jon Wertheim, who was 13 andliving in Bloomington when the trials came to town.Jordan walked around in Bermuda shorts and collared shirts and he joked with Wertheim, whom Jordanspotted carrying a tennis racket one day.

Hey, John McEnroe, Jordan yelled to Wertheim, motioning tennis strokes. When are we gonna play?

For Wertheim, his world was made.

"Jordan starts out as this normal, goofy kid, skinny, nice personality, confidentbut hes not untouchable,"said Wertheim, now the executive editor for Sports Illustrated. "Thisguy who's walking around campus, who's going back to North Carolina for his senior year. Then he goes pro, drafted No. 3, Knight loves him, he's the star of the Olympics. Byfall, he has his own shoe from Nike and he's not the goofy kid anymore."

"The general is assembling his troops for what he believes will be his greatest battle," the lead sports story in the IndyStar onApril 20, 1984, read. Knight went on to talk in an unusually gushing way about what it meant to be coaching for his country.

"There isnt anything I will ever do, anything I anticipate I will ever do, that I would like to do as well as this," he said at the time."Ill try to do it as well as I can and hope its sufficient. I cant think of a greater honor."

Knight had a big job to do, sitting and watching these guys play basketball, then, in the end, letting most of them go.

Jordan was one of the better ones, according to other players, but not necessarily the one who stood out.

"Nothing can prepare you for Patrick Ewing for breakfast, Charles Barkley for lunch and Lorenzo Charles for dinner," Ed Pinckney told the IndyStar in Bloomington that April.

"Three or four times a day I hear backboards rattling," Olympic hopefulTim McCormick said. "And each time I turn around, I see Barkley walking away."

Yet Knight seemed to have picked his ownfavoritein the eager-to-please Jordan, the perfectly kempt and feathered-haired Alford aside.

Wertheim, who was friends with Knight's son Pat,would play junior tennis at the courts and then take his lunch to Assembly Hall to watch practices.

"Eventhen I can remember (Jordan)being the teachers pet," said Wertheim, who is writing the book Glory Days: The Summer of 1984 and 90 Days that Changed Sports." "Everyone wanted to impress (Knight), but..."

Jordan did. Knight raved about Jordan to reporters.

"I think he's the best athlete I've ever seen play basketball, bar none. If I were going to pick people with the best ability I'd ever seen play the game, he'd be one. If I wanted to pick the best competitors I'd ever seen play, he'd be one of them," Knight said. "So, in the categories of competitiveness and ability, skill and athletic ability, he's the best athlete. ... That, to me, makes him the best basketball player I've ever seen play."

Later, Jordan would tell people how tough Knight was as a coach.

July 24, 1984: Olympic basketball coach Bob Knight (back) jokes with team members (from left) Steve Alford, Jeff Turner and Jon Koncak.(Photo: AP)

"Nobody (but Jordan) probably appreciated on that Olympic team other than myself because I knew it, I grew up with it how tough coach is," Alford told the IndyStar in October."But in that toughness, he shows how much he cares and loves and how much it makes youbetter. And thats not easy, especially when youre Michael Jordan."

During their time on the Olympic team, Jordan betAlford $100 he wouldn't last his entire college career playing for Knight and said he felt sorry that Alford had such a tough coach.

"It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek type of thing MJ was doing because he saw how demanding just the summer was," Alford said. "I dont think it was so much making that bet because coach was coach, it was more he was betting on I wasnt tough enough to handle it. It was a dig at me."

Alford proved Jordan wrong, though Alford never saw that $100.

Wertheim has a suspicion that Jordan's talk about the toughness of Knight was just that all talk.

"People have said how Jordan thought he was so hard," Wertheim said."But he found someone that was as driven as he was and I think they both really liked each other."

Those auditioning for Knightstayed in rooms at the student union and ate in the cafeteria. When they needed to get to practices, maroon vans crammed with lanky players could be spotted lumbering about campus.

Rod Humphrey was finishing up hisjunior year that spring at IU and remembers the buzz, the talk, the rumors that swirled about what these future NBA playerswere doing on campus.

"There were stories all over the place," he said. Humphrey saw plenty of it firsthand.

Eachday, the team would line up in the student union waiting for meals. It was a narrow hallway with not much room to maneuver so some of the guys would step outside to soak in the sun, waiting for the line to dwindle.

Most of the players were nice enough to stop and talk to the fans and students who approached them for an autograph or handshake.

One day, in between classes, Humphreytook a break to play Tapper at the arcade inside theunion.The next thing he knew, Karl Malone and Kenny Fields were next to him playing Ms. Pac-Man.

Michael Jordan was the leading scorer in the 1984 Olympics.(Photo: Lennox McLendon, AP)

Humphreybolted to the bookstore, bought a pad of paper and a pen, and ran back. Both gave him an autograph with no complaints.

"They were pretty cool about it," said Humphrey, now a CPA who lives in Indianapolis. "To those that followed college basketball to see the likes of Jordan and Ewing and Barkley and Perkins and Malone, these were the guys that ended up taking over the NBA. The fact that they were so approachable?For the most part they were just hanging out."

Or as Wertheim puts it: "They were as bored as all of us, hanging aroundin a college town," he said.

Knight eventually selectedhis12 players and two alternates. His team won thegold medal that summer. It was the lastamateur level U.S. team to win an Olympic goldinmen's basketball.

The team went 80, averaging 95.4 points per gameand holding opponents to 63.3. Four players averaged double figures in scoring.

But one led them all. His name was Michael Jordan (17.1)and he was about to get a shoe deal.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.

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When Michael Jordan collided with Bloomington, Bob Knight and the Olympic Trials in 1984 - IndyStar

The beast of NBA, Michael Jordan is earning in bizarre numbers to date. Currently, he is the richest former professional athlete in the world, with a net worth of $2.1 billion. But do most know where it all began? Michael Jordans first sneaker deal with Nike was a boon, not only to the legend but the brand as well. Reportedly, Nike had offered $500,000 in cash to the Bulls star for five years, before his rookie season in 1984. However, Jordans billionaire tale is not that short!

Jordan had just been drafted by Chicago Bulls that year and everybody seemed intrigued to watch him perform in the NBA. While we know the extent to which NBA players earn out of sneaker brands, MJ wanted to sign with his favorite Adidas brand. Even though he wore Converse in North Carolina because of his coachs deal to put the brand on his players, but Jordan wished to wear Adidas.

Meanwhile, Nike, a rising competitive brand of that time had recorded its first quarterly loss at the beginning of 1984. They wanted Jordan to endorse their brand and offered him a massive deal of $500,000 in cash for five years. Jordan didnt look quite interested in the deal and went on to explore his options. Adidas refused to make an offer with him as they were going through a shift in the leadership of their business. On the other hand, Converse wished to sign MJ but they already had star-studded players signed namely Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Even they failed to provide Jordan with a deal.

With none of the options open, Michael Jordan went back to Nike and they added a clause in his contract. It was quite an interesting factor to the beginning of MJs earning days. The clause stated three conditions and if he didnt accomplish them, the deal will be withdrawn two years early. Firstly, didnt win the Rookie of the Year Award, didnt make it to an All-Star game or averaged 20 PPG, and lastly, didnt sell over $4 million worth shoes in his third year.

Jordan had said at that time that he is loyal and so he went back to Adidas to show the contract in the hope if they could offer anything close. But it wasnt possible. He ended up signing the big contract with Nike.

Well, Nike didnt know how simple it was for Jordan to fulfill those clauses in the contract. He ended up recording 28.2 PPG in his rookie season and earned the Rookie of the Year. Nike sold a shooting $70 million worth shoes in MJs first two months. The same year, Nike created a signature shoe for Jordan and this led to the establishment of Jordans present brand, Air Jordan that is produced by Nike.

The 2019 Forbes report highlights that out of $145 million endorsements earning by MJ, $130 million is just his sneaker income. Even after so many years, the likes of Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and many more stars have signed with Nike, Jordans contract stands the highest!

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Nike Was Never the First Choice of Michael Jordan for Sneaker Deal But Others Refused to Give an Offer - Essentially Sports

In the first two episodes of The Last Dance its easy to perceive former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause as an antagonist in the story.

The Bulls are on the verge of being broken up despite winning titles and dominating the NBA. Krause is integral in that playing out the way it did, which led many to describe him as the villain of the story.

The flip side to that is that while Krause inherited Michael Jordan when he took over, he assembled all of the pieces around him.

Jason Hehir, the director of The Last Dance, was on Jalen and Jacoby after Episodes 3 and 4 aired. He dished about a lot of extra info that didnt make it into the final cut, including why he thinks Krause is not a villain.

Weve been really lucky with reaction to the project so far, but the fact that either people feel that Jerry is the villain, because I dont think that he is, Hehir said. I think that he was the architect of this and like him or not, hes polarizing, but he was the architect of these teams. Every single piece that was put in place besides Michael was put there by Jerry Krause. Anyone that felt that we were deliberately vilifying him is absolutely wrong. Its just really tough because we tried to use as much archival from him as we had and Jerry passed away four months before we started shooting. He was first on my list, literally, to interview because he was so vital to this entire storyline, but hes not there anymore.

RELATED: Jerry Krause's writings will speak for him as 'The Last Dance' marches on

Krause is a main character in the first two episodes, especially the drama with Scottie Pippen demanding a trade. However, in Episodes 3 and 4 Krause plays a much smaller role. Some of the archival footage Hehir referenced is used and theres also a shot of Krause dancing in the plane after the Bulls won the 1991 NBA title, but he isnt a focal point.

Hehir teased that that will change over the final six episodes.

I do feel like he doesnt get enough credit, Hehir said of Krause. As the series goes on I am confident that he gets his due by the time we end Episode 10 that people will recognize what a great GM he was. But yeah, thats something that does hurt me when people say that because that was our intention. We were just giving the facts as they were at the time.

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Bulls easily on your device.

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When MJ took the NBA from Magic: 'This is not the 80s no more' - NBCSports.com

The first two episodes of "The Last Dance" -- ESPN's 10-part series chronicling Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls -- were a monster hit, reportedly drawing over six million viewers. So far the focus has been on former Bulls GM Jerry Krause, who has been painted as the clear villain of the story, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and, of course, Jordan.

This Sunday, Dennis Rodman will reportedly be featured in Episode 3. Rodman was not a part of Chicago's first three titles, but he was an integral part of the second three-peat after Jordan's baseball hiatus from 1993-95.

That two-year period temporarily opened the NBA for new rulers. Patrick Ewing's Knicks finally made it to the Finals. The Houston Rockets won two championships. And in the opinion of Rodman, who appeared on ESPN's First Take on Monday, Pippen capably stepped into Jordan's shoes as the "best player in the world."

"If you notice about Scottie Pippen, when Michael Jordan left in '93, '94, '95 Scottie Pippen was the best player in the world," Rodman said. "If people didn't know that, he led the team in every category. Every category. Scottie got his wings in 1991 when [the Bulls] beat the Detroit Pistons. When Michael left, Scottie took over and next thing you know he was the best player in the world. People don't know that."

This is particularly interesting because Pippen's falling out with Krause was the focal point of Episode 2. Pippen has always been under-appreciated simply for existing in Jordan's shadow, and people who don't remember were shocked to find out he was the sixth-highest-paid player on the Bulls in 1997 after delivering five titles as Jordan's wingman. Pippen felt disrespected that Krause and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf wouldn't renegotiate his seven-year, $18 million contract, which he signed long before he or the Bulls had turned into all-time greats.

Krause reportedly tried to trade Pippen for incoming rookie Tracy McGrady on draft night in 1997, but McGrady says Jordan axed the deal. You can understand why Pippen felt so under-appreciated, and to this day he's seen by a lot of people as a great Robin who was never capable of being Batman. Rodman says otherwise.

It's obviously a strong claim to say Pippen was, effectively, the second-best player in the world to Jordan by the end of Chicago's first three-peat, but it's not without merit. In his first season without Jordan, Pippen was first-team All-NBA and All-Defense while finishing third in MVP voting. Hakeem Olajuwon won the award, and his Rockets also won the 1994 championship while Pippen's Bulls lost in the second round to the Knicks.

The following season, Chicago lost in the second round again, this time to the Orlando Magic. Again, that doesn't mean Rodman's claim is off base just because Pippen couldn't lead the Bulls to a championship. Jordan couldn't do that either until Pippen came along. In the end, it's probably a bit of a stretch to say Pippen was the best player in the world, but not by much. The moral of the story is Pippen was, and still is, highly under-appreciated for the all-time player he was, and Rodman is simply calling attention to that.

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Dennis Rodman considered Scottie Pippen the 'best player in the world' during Michael Jordan's baseball hiatus - CBS Sports

When it comes to the intersection of golf and gambling, theres no more legendary a figure than Michael Jordan. In just the first two episodes of The Last Dance, the ESPN documentary that premiered Sunday, we learned why Jordan bought Scottie Pippen a set of clubs and how a bad round of golf spurred Jordans 63-point playoff performance.

But that was just scratching the surface. So my co-host Sean Zak and Itook the opportunity to focus this weeks Drop Zone podcast on MJs golf career arc. From his introduction to the game (via Davis Love III) to six-figure on-course gambling losses (six figures according to Jordan seven, according to others) to his omnipresence at Ryder Cups to his frequent money games against the best players in the world, we took a deep dive.

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In that trip down the rabbit hole, it was especially fun finding quotes from players who have spent plenty of time with Jordan on the course.

Rickie Fowler described the stakes of a match with Jordan to Jason Sobel of the Action Network: Hell play you for whatever you want. Whatever makes you scared.

At age 16, Justin Thomas joined Jordans group for an unforgettable stretch of holes. He told them, Alright, Ive got the little man. Well take whoever wants us. Thomas remembers. Theres eight people. He wouldnt tell me the game; he said I didnt need to hear that.

Keegan Bradley told ESPNs Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo that Jordan was a great guy to play against. I call him my human ATM, Bradley said. If I need some cash, I just call up MJ.

Still, Bradley added, the matches are filled with intrigue and smack talk. He really is a good player, but the fun part of playing with him is hes always in your ear, he said. Hell go places that are tough. After the round youll kinda be thinking, Man, that was some tough stuff that he said to me. But hes just such a good guy, its amazing when you meet your idols and they exceed what you expect out of them, and MJ is one of them.

But one of my favorite nuggets we unearthed was from a Q&A that Brian Wacker did with Anthony Kim for pgatour.com in 2009. Any old Kim stories are a delight to revisit, but AKand MJ? Thats gold.

In the interview, which you should read in its entirety here, Wacker asks about Kims junior basketball career and how its been meeting some of the games greats, from Blake Griffin at Oklahoma to figures like Charles Barkley and Jordan, now that hed become a high-profile golfer. Jordan had been at the Presidents Cup, which Kim described as a win for the team. But the two had met before that, too, and Kim had tried to soak up some lessons from the experience.

I learned a lot from him in terms of trying to stay patient, even though I beat the hell out of him on the course. Its hard for me to be patient at 24 sometimes, but Im learning. Or at least Im trying to.

The next excerpt is even better:

PGATOUR.COM: Have you played a lot of golf with Jordan, or any other NBA players?

AK: Have you heard that expression about taking candy from a baby? Yeah, [Jordan and I] played, but I could never take any money from that man. I had a couple of opportunities to play with some of the guys from the Lakers, but I just havent been in L.A. that much lately. But whoever wants to get a beating, Ill be happy to play. I love talking trash all day long.

His answer harkens back to Bradleys description of Jordan as his human ATM, suggesting that Jordan was an easy mark for golfs elite players. Even at 24 years old, its telling that Kim refused to take money from Jordan on the course.

But thats just the tip of the iceberg! For more, have a listen to the Drop Zone podcast below, or at any of these links:

Find the Drop Zone wherever you listen to podcasts:iTunes|Spotify|Soundcloud|Stitcher

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Why Anthony Kim refused to gamble with Michael Jordan - Golf.com

Many South Jordan residents had already signed up for the citys annual Earth Day 10K race when the COVID-19 pandemic caused closures to recreation sites all over the state. That left parks and recreation officials looking for ways to provide their residents with something to do, even though facilities in the city were closing left and right.

Thats when program director Brad Vaske thought of something. What if he took the Earth Day race and made it virtual? Runners could send screenshots of their times and routes gathered through an app or their smart watches and run the race on their own time.

The 10K was originally scheduled for Saturday. But in its virtual form, it went from April 20-25.

The virtual race series is just one of the ways the South Jordan Parks & Recreation department has adjusted to life in the coronavirus era. It also launched a virtual soccer program in partnership with the Real Monarchs, and a virtual story walk for children who stroll along the Jordan River and read from their favorite books.

The main goal of this whole thing is to provide something for the community to get out and enjoy on their own and be with their family or somebody like that, and still maintain social distancing but stay connected with the city as a whole, Vaske said.

Vaske said when he brought up the idea of running the race virtually to runners already registered for the original, they were not only on board, but also excited they still got the opportunity to run. Hes even come across people signing up for the virtual races who hadnt ever done the regular races due to schedule conflicts.

And Janell Payne, the citys associate director of recreation who doesnt consider herself a runner, is going to participate in some virtual races as well. She wont be submitting her times for public consumption.

I dont want to advertise that, Payne said. But I might share a picture of me passed out at the end of course or something like that instead.

Participants in the races, soccer or walks have the opportunity to take photos of themselves and send them to city for a chance to win prizes. For the races specifically, that might be the only competitive aspect of running them.

Im not really awarding best time or anything like that, Vaske said.

The current circumstances have forced the parks and recreation department to come up with creative solutions that still keep their residents involved with the community at large, but also keep them as safe as possible. Thats got the department thinking its possible some of their virtual programs have legs beyond the pandemic.

One of the programs that seem likely to stay on the citys catalog after the pandemic ends is the virtual race series, officials said, because it allows runners casual or serious to participate when their schedule allows.

I think its been nice, in a way, to be thinking outside the box and trying these things because some of them well probably add and keep doing while we do our normal programming, too, said Emily Stephens, recreation program supervisor.

Theres no telling how long South Jordan will provide its virtual slate of recreation options. Like other parts of the state, its making decisions based on directions from public health officials, mayors and the governor.

But certain events in the near future like Summerfest, which features events like Battle of the Bands, a parade, and a chalk art contest might be affected if the pandemic lasts that long. The department is already thinking about what to do with those events if that happens, but some could end up not happening.

Were working through those and trying to come up with creative solutions, Payne said. But theres some that I feel like, just do their nature and defined time and crowds, wont be realistic. But were still pushing through, trying to come up with creative solutions or adjustments or alternatives.

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Out in South Jordan, the parks and rec department is going virtual to provide residents with their sports fix - Salt Lake Tribune

The Last Dance, the new documentary that follows the final victory lap of Michael Jordans Bulls, is ostensibly about a singularly talented athlete and the dynasty he created. But always looming on the periphery of the documentary is everything else Jordans legacy contains. The Last Dance is a great reminder of the monumental gold hoop earrings, of the 90s suits that draped him like window curtains and which he sometimes paired unabashedly with berets, of the rabid community of sneaker collectors he seemed to create with his two feet alone. The first two episodes of the film reminded me of another, less heralded aspect of Jordans style legacy: his watches, which are as far out today as they were a decade or two ago.

Just take the timepiece Jordan wore in the documentary last night: a Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Pirelli with a skeleton dial. It is a watch almost tailor-made for Jordan: 90s in its enormous proportions, with a band made out of actual tires (!) that have competed in and won Formula 1 races. Can you imagine a more fitting sentiment for a man crazed with victory? Even his watch needs to be a winner! The watch also seems to follow Jordans guiding philosophy, which is, roughly: everything was better in the 90s. The jeans, voluminous and aggressively stonewashed, were better; the internet, without pictures of his tear-stained face, was better; and the basketball, as dominated by one Michael Jeffrey Jordan, was way better. Jordans watches reflect the same feeling. And, even more interestingly, his watches share that deep 90s optimism for the futurewhen people believed we might be on the cusp of a Jetsons-like lifestyle with flying cars and robot maids.

There is no better example of this than Jordans fascination with the brand Urwerk and its futuristic pieces. Over the years, Jordan has been spotted wearing the UR-103, the UR-202, and the UR-202S. Like the Roger Dubuis, Urwerk isnt a brand seen too frequently on the wrists of celebrities, perhaps owing to the fact that its watches are uniformly unusual. But wearing one is one of the perks of being Michael Jordan. His Airness doesnt need the status-by-association of a Rolex or Patek Philippe. Its him that makes the watch cool and not the other way around. Jordan merely needs an outstanding teammate and so often he reaches for something incredibly technologically advanced. The UR-202 models Jordan owns feature what the brand describes as a satellite complication: a multi-pronged wheel at the center that swivels around and, in the simplest terms, acts as a minute hand. There are also two turbines that generate air to take the place of the typical contraption that regulates the way a watch is wound and wears down over time. Perhaps most notably, the model is the result of years of work and maniacal dedication to a craft. Sound familiar?

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Michael Jordan Reminds Us He's Also One of the World's Most Interesting Watch Collectors - GQ

Apr 21, 2020

Andre SnellingsESPN

As we all get into watching "The Last Dance" -- and wow, if you haven't seen the first two episodes yet, I suggest you do that immediately (after you finish this article, of course) -- it seems like the perfect time to reflect on the amazing fantasy basketball career of one Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

Was Jordan, widely considered the best NBA player of all time, also the greatest ever in fantasy?

Did he have any peers during his era?

Has anyone sprung up in the era since to challenge his greatness?

We're going to explore all of that here, using box score analysis to measure his production compared to essentially every other elite player of the past 40 years.

If you played fantasy basketball during the Jordan era, you likely used a rotisserie (roto) format, where production in each category (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, FG%, FT%, 3s and possibly turnovers) is key and the best players are either dominant in multiple areas, particularly strong in difficult-to-get categories, and/or have no discernible weaknesses.

Baseball's Opening Day is delayed indefinitely, but you can still sign up for fantasy baseball today.

Create or join a league today >>Everything you need to compete >>

But in order to quantify MJ's value versus everyone across multiple decades, I'm going to use ESPN's points-league scoring to put everyone on the same page.

We'll go decade by decade, beginning with a quote from one of our fantasy NBA experts who played then on how he remembers Jordan's comparative roto value. Then I'll identify Jordan's peak season(s) and decade averages to compare them analytically to the best of his peers in each decade.

Ready to see if anyone could really be like Mike? Let's do it.

Jordan's peak season ('88-89): 32.5 PPG, 0.3 3PG, 53.8 FG%, 85.0 FT%, 8.0 RPG, 8.0 APG, 2.9 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 3.6 TO/G, 36.9 fantasy points per game (FPG)

Peak non-Jordan season: Larry Bird ('84-85): 28.7 PPG, 0.7 3PG, 52.2 FG%, 88.2 FT%, 10.5 RPG, 6.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 3.1 TO/G, 34.3 FPG

Jordan's average for the decade (5 seasons, 345 games): 32.6 PPG, 0.2 3PG, 51.3 FG%, 84.8 FT%, 6.2 RPG, 5.9 APG, 2.8 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 3.3 TO, 32.5 FPG

How ESPN Fantasy editor Keith Lipscomb remembers Jordan in the '80s

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Is Michael Jordan the fantasy basketball GOAT of the past 40 years? - ESPN Philippines

We should have seen it coming. A retrospective on a great team from two decades ago was bound to bring the odes to the Lost Art of Midrange out of the woodwork. But Michael Jordan scoring 63 in a playoff game without attempting a 3-pointer doesnt mean its time to return to shot distribution of the time.

Like just about everyone else, I was riveted by the first two episodes of The Last Dance. The off court salaciousness of the end of the Bulls dynasty will surely be entertaining. But equally it is and will continue to be a reminder of the athletic mastery of Jordan and to a somewhat lesser extent Scottie Pippen. While cross era comparisons are always tough, those two would not look out of place if they were dropped into todays game as is.

Jordans rim-and-midrange barrage was a product of both the times he played in and his own greatness. If he were around today, the mastery of the hanging pullup J he demonstrated so...

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Seth Partnow Analysis: On Michael Jordan, Modernity and the Midrange - The Athletic

Jason Hehir was a kid in the stands in Boston Garden on April 20, 1986, the day that Michael Jordan scored a playoff-record 63 points.

It was a Christmas gift from his father, who stuck a note promising Two tickets to the Air Jordan Show in his stocking that holiday season. Its a gift Hehir will never forget, though his current seat for another Jordan show of sorts is considerably better.

Hehir is the director of the ESPN and Netflix production The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary series that debuts April 19 and tells the story of Jordans final Chicago Bulls season in 1997-98 that culminated in a sixth NBA title. Hehirs task: Take 10,000 hours of archived footage, add interviews with more than 100 people, and turn it into about 8 hours of television.

I wouldnt call it a challenge, Hehir said. I would call it a privilege.

The series was moved up two months to provide content-starved fans with something new to watch during the coronavirus pandemic. ESPN was originally planning to release the documentary in June, coinciding with what would have been this seasons NBA Finals.

It will run over five Sundays ending May 17, with two one-hour broadcasts each week.

Im happy if we can bring a little bit of light to people in a dark time here, Hehir said. Sports are such an indelible part of our cultural fabric and lacking that theres a significant hole in enjoyment that people feel, the escape that people can feel from everyday life that sports brings us.

The accelerated launch has only added to a hectic time for Hehir and his team.

There has been much anticipation about the documentary, which in Hehirs mind came together much faster than such a project usually does.

Normally, to do an hourlong archival documentary from start to finish, it takes about a year from the inception of the idea to the research to doing all the shooting to getting it all together, storyboarding it out, mapping it out, editing, getting notes back, it takes about a year, Hehir said. Were doing 10 of those. And we had a little bit over two years to do it so were already working at five times our normal rate.

The pandemic further complicates matters. Hehir and his team are finishing things up while separated, connecting through Zoom meetings but largely in isolation at their own laptops to get the last pieces of the story ready to air.

The documentary goes deeper than just 1997-98, though that season is the overriding theme. It also serves as a retrospective of Jordans basketball life, from his college days at North Carolina through his rise atop the NBA.

Hehir knows there is an ongoing buildup and anticipation surrounding the documentary, and still feels nervousness. He met with Jordan several times over the course of the project, including three sit-down interviews that are part of the documentary.

I hope that people will like it as much as we did, Hehir said.

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The Last Dance director talks project on Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls - The Denver Post

How do you make a grail, wellgrail-ier? The Air Jordan 1 is already an icon, a universally beloved sneaker with 35 years of history and a tendency to sell out with each subsequent release. How do you top that? Easy: Just talk to Kim Jones.

The creative director of Dior Men is a magician of the high-low collab. Hes done it once already, at Louis Vuitton, throwing the French fashion house together with Supreme and in- spiring overnight queuesand astronomical resale pricesthe world over. But that was back in 2017, when everyone was high as hell on in-your-face streetwear vibes. Now, in a more muted 2020, hes achieved the same alchemical hype by taking the AJ1, plus a lineup of Jordan Brand apparel and accessories, in a pared-down direction.

Nike

Basketball shorts break from the court in cotton twill. An Air Dior logo appears on a sweater Carolina blue, naturallythat wouldnt stand a chance in the paint. A satin flight jacket, a nod to MJs airtime-heavy game, isnt what youd toss on after warm-ups. This is refined stuff, better suited to the pregame tunnel than the hardwood.

And then there are the sneakers: both high- and low-tops, made in Italy, dressed in Dior gray, and finished with a jacquard swoosh. Sneakerheads are slobbering over them. So are fashion fans. They cost more than ten times what youd pay for in-line Jordan 1s, and when they arriveinitially launch was slated for this month, but the timing has been pushed owing to the current global pandemictheyre going to sell out just as fast (or faster). Grail of grails.

This article appears in the April/May 2020 issue of Esquire.SUBSCRIBE

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The Latest on Dior x Jordan: The Collab Everyone's Talking About - Esquire

Among Dunk Highs and Lows, Japan had exclusive dibs on some of the best colorways of the early 2000s, and among them, the Air Jordan 1 saw to quite a few that are finally set to arrive once more for the first time since their initial debuts. Next to the much darker Midnight Navy Co.JP, the brand is also providing a refitted Neutral Grey complement replete with much of the metallic polish it boasted originally. The overlays heel wraps, ankle flaps, and swooshes reveal these more aggressively with a medal-like sheen, matching that of the toe box whose surrounding panels prefer a more matted finish. Elsewhere, Wings insignia stamp atop pronounced, rounding off the branding alongside the newly adopted Nike Air at the tongue and its insides self-referential numbering. Grab one of the first looks at its modern look here and expect a release to land at Nike.com hopefully around July 25th.

In other news, a new Infrared Air Jordan 1 Low is coming soon.

Air Jordan 1 Neutral GreyRelease Date: July 25th, 2020Color: Neutral Grey/Metallic Silver-WhiteStyle Code: 555088-029

Source: @earylgvng

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First Look At The Japan Exclusive Air Jordan 1 Neutral Grey - Sneaker News

Rep. Jim JordanJames (Jim) Daniel JordanHillicon Valley: Apple, Google launch virus tracing system | Republican says panel should no longer use Zoom | Lawmakers introduce bill to expand telehealth Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom Top conservatives pen letter to Trump with concerns on fourth coronavirus relief bill MORE (Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, called Friday for an end to using Zoom to conduct the panel's business remotelydue to potential security concerns.

Jordan wrote in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn MaloneyCarolyn Bosher MaloneyHillicon Valley: Apple, Google launch virus tracing system | Republican says panel should no longer use Zoom | Lawmakers introduce bill to expand telehealth Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom Top House Democrats ask inspectors general group for proposals to protect watchdogs MORE (D-N.Y.) that the Zoom video conferencing software, which has become popular for teleworking and virtual social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, did not appear to meet security standards needed to handle the panel's functions.

Jordanclaimed thata recent briefing on women's rights in Afghanistan was repeatedly Zoom-bombed, a term for hackers or other uninvited individuals disrupting meetings on the platform. He said in the letter that "the impact of hacking on malware on member and staff devices is still being determined."

A House GOP aide told The Hill that "unauthorized callers from unknown entities tried no fewer than three times to infiltrate a meeting meant only for members of Congress and their staff, which resulted in significant interruption and delay.

But a Democratic aide denied that there were any security disruptions for the committee either during the Afghanistan briefing or another Zoom meeting with the Postmaster General. The aide said that there had only been a miscommunication in which the moderator was not informed about some individuals who were invited to the Afghanistan briefing.Rep. Jordans office was consulted directly and repeatedly about using Zoom and never raised any concerns, so its unfortunate that he is now putting out inaccurate information in this public letter. Had his office consulted with us first, we could have clarified their misunderstandings and provided more information about the steps the committee has already taken to address any potential issues,"Maloney said in a statement.

"The committee has used a number of technologies to help its members obtain information and share it with the American people during this crisis, and it will continue to do so to fulfill its responsibilities under the Constitution," Maloney added.

A Monday readout from Maloney after the video briefing on Afghanistan said that "our committee will continue to leverage new and emerging technologies to follow social distancing guidelines and conduct our work remotely."

Maloney didn't immediately have a response to Jordan's letter. A Monday readout from her after the video briefing made no mention of the interruptions or possible security issues with the Zoom platform, but said that "our committee will continue to leverage new and emerging technologies to follow social distancing guidelines and conduct our work remotely."

Jordan noted in his letter that the Senate sergeant-at-arms has warned Senate offices not to use Zoom for work calls over privacy and security concerns.

The FBI has also issued warnings against using Zoom for meetings due to the security issues and recommended that all meetings be set to private and not shared to social media.

"Given the concerns surrounding Zooms security, it is clear Zoom is not an appropriate platform for Committee business, which may be particularly sensitive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please immediately suspend any current or future use of Zoom systems for official committee activities and take immediate steps to evaluate the Committees internal cybersecurity preparedness to prevent hackers from accessing sensitive committee information through the Zoom platform," Jordan wrote.

When asked about the Senate sergeant-at-arms warning against Zoom use, a spokesperson for the videoconferencing company told The Hill on Thursday that it was "in communication with US Senate offices and focused on providing the information they need, including about our tailored Zoom for Government offering, which is hosted in a separate cloud and meets the particular specifications of FedRAMP security policies, to make informed decisions about their policies."

The concerns about using Zoom come as lawmakers try to figure out ways to conduct congressional business while away from the Capitol during the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of both parties have called on House leaders to establish a remote voting system so that they can cast votes on legislation remotely, instead of passing bills by voice vote or unanimous consent. But if a single member objects to passing legislation by voice vote or unanimous consent, that may require forcing hundreds of lawmakers to travel to Washington and congregate in the Capitol. Congressional leaders have been trying to avoid bringing all members together as the country practices social distancing.

But Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiFauci expects 'real degree of normality' by November election 16 things to know about coronavirus for today Pelosi presses Mnuchin on 0B coronavirus 'interim' package MORE (D-Calif.) says it's easier said than done to figure out a secure and reliable way for lawmakers to vote remotely.

"There are some technologies that you might think would be workable, but they might not be secure," she told reporters on Thursday.

Yet Pelosi acknowledged, "I'll be very frank with you: We don't want anybody coming back at any time that might not be healthy for them."

Some legislatures in other states and countries have created remote voting systems so that lawmakers can cast votes during the pandemic. In New Jersey, state legislators passed coronavirus relief legislation by conference call, while the Wisconsin state Senate has been preparing to use Skype for Business for any virtual sessions. And in Wales, members of the Welsh assembly used Zoom to meet virtually for its weekly plenary session.

Updated: 4:24 p.m.

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Jordan calls for Oversight to stop conducting business via Zoom | TheHill - The Hill