Before Jordan was Jordan there was....
 

David Thompson, ACC all American from NC State to deliver induction speech for Michael Jordan. WOW!

Jordan just moved above the stratosphere in my mind to pay tribute to the man who inspired him to be the man he is.

Google, David Thompson and learn about a GREAT Wolfpack player.

GO PACK!

Jordan was the greatest ever.

Without a doubt.

Too bad I had to watch this guy c*ck block my Knicks several different years in the 90's. If it wasn't for Jordan no doubt Patrick Ewing has at least 1 ring.

+1

I remember Jordan bringing me to tears when I was 5 or 6 years old, wearing my Ewing jersey.

where is Kobe24?

I hear ya. These Jets fans who hate on Brady, unless they were also Knick fans in the 90's they have no idea what it really is like to have your dreams and hopes crushed by one single individual every single year.

Jets have had how many truly champsonship caliber teams this decade? I guess you can count our team in '04 and we definitely looked super bowl worthy for 12 weeks in 2008. Other than that I never have thought during this decade we had a team that could really win it all.

Knicks were an elite NBA team and title contender from when Pat Riley arrived in '91 all the way to 2000 and during that time Jordan won 6 championships. That is quintessiontial dream destruction.

You can't say it any better than that. Absolutely agree 100%.

Jordan was different. You knew you had no chance to beat him in the postseason. I loved the Knicks back then but it always felt hollow knowing he was basically impossible to beat. I still get mad thinking about 94.

Today, Kobe and Lebron are tough to beat but it's not an impossible task. Jordan in his prime really was unbeatable.

YES but what REALLY ABSOLUTELY sucked was 94-95 when MICHAEL played baseball and we had Houston. Up 3 to 2 and lost.

the Rangers won the cup that year and MSG was ROCKIN!!!!

That was a real heart breaker that had NOTHING to do with Michael.

I loved the Starks, Oakley, Ewing era.....

Look, let's not forget what Larry Bird did to us a decade earlier...without him, who knows, we may have one a title in the 80's

DR J

Thanks, Stan. I was just about to post the names of two immortals before Jordan, Erving and Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins. I still remember going to the LI Coliseum to watch the Nets with "The Doctor" (with his trademark windmill slams), Larry Kenon, and the rest. The dunking drill left us speechless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpTfb9SkKaQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z5l583fXmM

Getting back on topic.

David Thompson was a College Basketball God !!

As a staunch supporter of the Walton Gang, it still pains me but..

March 23, 1974 was the greatest College Basketball game I ever saw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whIPLxAXGc4

David Thompson lives here in Charlotte and on occasion plays pick up at the down town Y. Almost 60 and he blows these young kids away. I saw him ONCE in pick up, didn't know who he was but the crowd was pretty big.
Once I was told why the crowd was big, i stayed 10 minutes or so. Pretty incredible to watch him. Even today.

Didn't really follow b-ball in the 80's? Did the Knicks have any great teams back then? I know Bernard King led the league in scoring 1 year and we had Ewing and Mark Jackson later on but there were three powerhouse dynasties with the Lakers, Celtics and Pistons.

Michael was a State fan growing up and supposedly wanted to go to State. Thankfully he made the right decision:D

Patrick and the Knicks had basically 2 chances w/o him when he retired(when he came back late in '95 he wasn't fully back yet) and they didn't win. The Knicks likely wouldn't have won a Championship w/ or w/o Jordan. The best chance they had was '93 and i think Phoenix would have beaten the Knicks in the Finals had they met.

It's basically the same thing. What year would the Knicks have won if Michael wasn't around?

1992? No, Cle and Port were better
1993? MAYBE but I think Phoenix was better
1996? Not a chance
1997? Nope
1998? No way

Knick fans like to use the Jordan excuse but in reality he MAY have prevented them from possibly winning one title.

The Knicks stunk most of the 80s, Bird and Boston didn't prevent them from winning a title.

And that's your opinion but the fact remains the Knicks were an elite team that was a title contender for most of those years especially '93 (60 wins) and '97 (57 wins and played very well against the Bulls that season). Everyone thought the Lakers were better than the Celtics in 2008.

In '92 the Knicks were literally a hair away from beating the Bulls - they won game 1 and almost won game 2. Jordan and the Bulls eliminated the Knicks 4 times during the 90's while winning 6 championships. If that's not one organization being owned by another what is?

'93 is really the only year Knick fans can make a claim and again I think Phoenix was better.

In '97 the Knicks didn't even win their division and there's no way the '97 Knicks beat the Jazz in the Finals if they get there.

In '92 they had a surprise run and gave the Bulls a great series but that team wasn't beating Cleveland in the conf finals or Portland in the Finals.

Chicago did own the Knicks but to act like the Knicks automatically win titles if the Bulls aren't there is incorrect especially since we saw that not being the case in '94 and '95 PLUS the Bulls in '94 w/o Michael took the Knicks to Game 7.