I think Isiah kind of has but people are still asking about it that likely were not born at the time that this stuff was going on. Plus It was Jordan and his last dance that brought that stuff back.

I think Isiah is definitely bitter for not being considered in that 80's Mt Rushmore of guys Bird, Magic, Jordan, when it is obvious that he should be. The league never marketed him as a player as much as they marketed the Bad Boys team and promoted the team's image as tough guys.

Another thing which hurt him was when he made the bigoted comment about Larry Bird in the 86-87 playoffs . He was sort of sticking up for Rodman (who was a rookie) more than anything but it still was a bogus thing to say. That was probably the start of his downfall image wise more than anything.

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Well that and the fact that he bankrupted two teams and then an entire league.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Nah your timeline and facts are off on this. Shocking. Has a lot of "Score inspired narrative" to it as well.

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Magic and Bird have both given Jordan the crown. Magic is more outspoken in his love of all things Jordan.

When I look back at the numbers, I never understand why Wilt didn't get more love. They don't make men who have the endurance and durability he had. He has to be arguably the greatest athlete ever.

Basketball is probably one who those sports where the GOAT is a generational thing. Jordan pushed it to about a generation and a half. Now LeBron is taking over with the under 30 crowd. Luka looks like he has next.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think this says it all.
Isiah can take comfort in Jordan also being an awful front office person. They have that in common

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He was a great player, one of the greatest of all time and definitely one of the top guys of the 80s. But his memory is definitely skewed. He says that the league really took off when the Pistons came on the scene. That is just not true. Whether he likes it or not, Magic/Lakers and Bird/Celtics are the ones that brought the league back. The Pistons had their part and they definitely get overshadowed. But they are at best the 3rd most important group from that time frame. The Laker/Celtic rivalry and the Jordan Bulls are ahead of them.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Larry Bird is the only all time great who didn't suck as a coach and front office guy.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It's hyperbole. He did fuck up two teams and actually bankrupted the CBA. Not sure what "timeline" you're talking about. I don't remember the dates this shit occurred.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Its sort of like that 05 Sox WS win in that sense.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

His image took a hit well before the stuff regarding "bankrupting" the CBA ever happened. And he also didn't "bankrupt" the CBA either. That is Dan Bernstein inspired claptrap that simply was not based in the reality of what actually occurred.

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Magic Bird did "save" the league technically but playoff games were still being played on tape delay even as they were in the process of playing in the NBA Finals.
I don't remember him saying that but what I do remember him stating is that the highest rated games of the 80's all involved the Detroit Pistons. Might be true. He also stated correctly that the Silverdome was the only one of all the stadiums in the league to get 50,000 fans in it on any given game day.

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Luka's a fat smoker who turns 24 next month. Luka has maybe 3 seasons to win a title before it's all

It was right before he mentioned the highest rated games. He said the league really took off with the Pistons.

Sure they got 50,000 fans because their place holded more than others. That dont really prove anything. The 84-86 Lakers and Celtics would have sold out any place you wanted if they played there.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I edited my earlier comment to include this. Playoff games were still being played on tape delay even as the Magic/Bird show was being played out. Its hard to say that the league "took off" with this being the case. And it does "prove" something. It proves that the Pistons were viable enough to place 50,000 people in the seats. We can speculate all we want about what the others might or would do, but they were the only ones that did it.

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Jerry West would like a word with you. And yeah I know that he didn't coach long

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

The eighties were a weird era. Boston was routinely playing games in Hartford and Atlanta played a few games in New Orleans.

But I laughed at his claim that the Pistons played in the highest rated games. Boston/LA were the big games with Philly getting the attention before Jordan arrived. He can't accept that Detroit played boring basketball that many didn't want to watch.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I would add Doc’s Sixers to the Celtics/Lakers rivalry. When I was a yute it seemed like 2 of those teams were facing each other on every nationally televised Saturday game.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

There's quite a few things Isiah cannot seem to accept

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He might be right though about playing in the highest rated games though. And the NBA marketed the Bad Boys a helluva lot more than they would like to admit now.

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They were the highest rated games because of what came before them. They were the highest because of Magic, Larry, Jordan. Not because of Isiah and the bad boys.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

This seems like more speculation. And revisionist history.

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Not really.

The NBA went from tape delay to huge ratings. What connected and started those two times?

Showtime. LA/Boston. Magic/Bird. It is not that hard.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It’s not revisionist, it’s clearly true. And if ratings are the key to determining popularity then the Knicks/Bulls rivalry was the peak.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Guys in the NBA under 30 think Kobe is GOAT. I've heard "Kobe is the GOAT of our era," or something like it, often from these players.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

No that is your opinion. What is "true" is his claim that the ratings for the Bad Boys Pistons were higher than the Celtics and The Lakers.

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Seemingly it is. If he is claming that the ratings were HIGHER for his Bad Boys than the Showtime Lakers and Celtics, then what is UNTRUE about the claim? Just Asking A Question.

And if "WE" are going to go by guys that helped GROW THE LEAGUE in the early 80's then neither Magic or Bird would be THE DUDE. By far the most popular basketball player in the early 80's was Doctor J. And it wasn't EVEN CLOSE.

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Ah, the old GOATOOE

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Again, his claim was that the NBA took off with the Pistons run. That is just not true. Sure throw in Dr J and the 76ers into that mix. That just shows my point again. The Pistons drew high ratings because of the time period before them that took the league from tape delay to those high ratings. The league did not take off because of the Pistons.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

If I had to win a game or maybe a best of three tournament I think I'd build the team around Shaq instead of Jordan. Might go as follows:

C: Shaq (centerpiece)
PF: Dirk (shooter/can give Shaq space to operate)
SF: Pippen (mainly for lockdown defense)
SG: Ray Allen (shooter)
PG: LeBron (distributor and wing defender)

I'd take that team against a Jordan-led team.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Shaq is the most criminally underrated player of all time. "He's just big."

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Ecclesiastes 5:8