In the past couple of months, a bizarre trend has taken over the NBA community online, which stems from the belief that 90s basketball was a much simpler, easier, and inferior version of the game we see in the NBA today. Hoop fans, especially the younger ones, are claiming that they are ‘Done with the 90s’. Recently, NBA veteran Kenny Smith was asked about this trend and another trending question regarding Michael Jordan‘s ability to go left on the court. Smith had a good laugh about the question before he went on to dismantle this narrative.
During a recent episode of the Mark Jackson Show, Jackson’s son Bluu asked Smith, “This is what the people want to know…Could Michael Jordan go left?” Smith instantly started laughing and said that he is aware of the stupidity of this generation and how they are trying to belittle the impact that MJ made in his career.
The NBA veteran put things in perspective with a near-perfect example. He said, “You know what that would be like? That’s like saying, ‘Can Prince play the guitar?’” He said that just like Prince could play the guitar as good as anyone in his band, Jordan could go left on the court quite easily if he wanted. The former Houston Rockets player further added that Michael Jordan was the most complete player he has ever seen, and that there was nothing he couldn’t do on the court.
In the last few weeks, this narrative has taken over the internet discourse on basketball. For someone like Smith who witnessed MJ’s game from the very beginning, it is absurd that some people have actually started believing in it. It also highlights an interesting point, that after a huge smear campaign against the 90s and especially Jordan, all the naysayers could come up with was that he couldn’t go left on the court.
The Jet even compared MJ’s game with the likes of LeBron James and the late, great Kobe Bryant. Smith said that MJ was the most fundamentally rich basketball player in the world, and often his larger-than-life personality and otherworldly list of accomplishments take the focus away from that.
The recent agenda against Michael Jordan is forced
It is very easy to accept that various players can be great, and one doesn’t need to tear down a certain player to hype up another one. However, that seems to be a problem with a large number of hoop fans as they believe that only one can be great, and the rest will have to fall in line. The recent ‘We done with the 90s’ trend is a product of that same mentality.
However, when comedian Andrew Schulz had JJ Redick on his podcast, he asked the NBA veteran, if his podcast co-host LeBron James is running this smear campaign. It’s important to note that it was all said in jest.
