When I saw last week that Brandt Andersen, owner of the Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League, wanted to see Jordan battle Russell one-on-one, three successive thoughts popped into my head.
Michael Jordan versus Bill Russell? Amazing.
Oh, Bryon Russell. Jordan would destroy him easily. No contest.
Wait a second. You stole my idea, Brandt!
Earlier this summer, I, along with my older brother and a friend of mine, had the crazy idea that NBA commissioner David Stern's new goal should be to enact a seeded, 24-man, one-on-one tournament with the best players in the league. Each round would have a sliding scale of prize money, with half going to the player and the other going to a charity of his choice.
Why couldn't this work? Wouldn't the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James want to prove once and for all that they are the best players in the world?
Most NBA players are ultra-competitive anyway. It is a well-known secret that many gamble on cards, dice and even post-practice shooting exhibitions. So if these guys can't even take a short plane ride without competing with each other, why wouldn't they want to do so on the court? There they would be particularly competitive, as many of them would be fueled by the fact that they were ranked behind player X in the team's rotation.
Also, imagine the revenue that this could generate for the league. Just think of the TV contracts and endorsements — something like the Nike Swoosh Game Point or the Gatorade "That's G" replay — that a tournament like this would bring in. If Pay-Per-View can get one million viewers to watch Floyd Mayweather beat up a guy who drinks his own urine, think about how many people they would have watching Kobe vs. LeBron.
You could scrap all the All-Star weekend events and just throw this in. I mean, not even H-O-R-S-E could save last year's festivities. That event was more disappointing than this year's New York Mets and Chicago Cubs combined. And don't get me started on the Shooting Stars or Skills Challenge events. The only redeeming quality of either event is seeing just how ridiculous Bill Laimbeer can look when he tries to make a half-court shot.
I'll admit that this concept is a little far-fetched, but it shouldn't be. Most people claim that the NBA is a league dominated by the individual anyway. And, more so than any other sport, basketball is about star power. Do you think Jordan would be a brand unto himself if he had played baseball? If players want the limelight, this is an opportunity for them to grab it.
Let's keep the hypothetical train rolling and say that this genius idea comes to fruition. Is there any doubt that you would tune in to see a battle between two of the league's most underrated stars: Danny Granger and Brandon Roy? What about the King of Flop himself, Manu Ginobili, trying to out-craft Paul Pierce? And I haven't even mentioned the names Wade, Anthony or Durant yet. And speaking of the Oklahoma City Thunder forward, he would be my dark horse pick to win it all, and that is only partially based on my bias against Kobe and LeBron.
With apologies to Andersen, I'm not really enthralled by the unrealistic possibility of Jordan vs. Russell II. We saw how that played out in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, and there is no reason for me to think things would change. But if you want to throw your financial backing behind an even grander idea, I'll be happy to organize it. In fact, I've already got my list of 24 ready.
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Ethan Landy is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Ethan.Landy@tufts.edu.
