I know where Jackson and Homan is. I don't know what Jordan was doing. But I doubt he was rolling through the hood with regularity. Are you suggesting Isiah was shepherding him through the West side gambling underground?

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

yep exactly. Rookie year Jordan wasn't exactly the Billionaire Boys Club Jordan that everyone knows today. Hell My Go to Lounge on 75th from the mid 90's (when I was just coming of age) used to keep a photo of him playing Bid WHiz up on the wall just to show the world that "Hey Air Jordan was in here playing cards". It was used as a marketing tool back then in order to give it an "affluent" feel

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You're doing too much speculating now and going too far afield. What I am telling you is that Jordan had more ties to cetrtain guys here than the media would ever have you believe. I'm not saying that he was "hanging out on blocks" here back then. That wouldn't be factual. However it was more than you might think.

Hell one of things that I heard in the Doc about his "non drinking habits" during Bulls cocaine era was first told to me from one of the older street guys from the hood that had a piece of a jewelry store when I was a adolescent/teenager back in the mid to late 80's. He named Jordan's drink of preference back then. The very same drink that Jordan named in the Doc. He ran in the very same circles as Jordan back then. That is how he knew.

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It was fairly common knowledge that Jordan was going to kick it around the way after summer league games at Chicago State. But then again that was natural back through the mid eighties. And no one gave it two thoughts

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

Thinking back I guess the "athlete as big untouchable celebrity" didn't really exist when Jordan came into the league. Ozzie Guillen lived in a bungalow in Berwyn. Jordan may have been the guy/one of the guys that created the athlete/celebrity.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Ozzie is out and about in Homer Glen !

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

Most of the Bears stayed north, but the Bulls and White Sox players were often in neighborhood spots and certainly not untouchable celebrities back then. And except for (visiting)Lyman Bostock and Q Dailey it worked out well

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

Yeah that was the pre social media age and even an era that pre dated sportstalk radio. Guys could move around a lot better without their business being out in the street.

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There's a lot of "Jordan had, but..." with you.

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It was rather known that Isiah's brothers had "slots" on the West Side back then too. It's entirely plausible that he told a guy or 2 to keep an eye out for Jordan or give him a pass on certain things if they happened to see him in the street back then .

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i'm serious, i've never seen him, but neighbors have said they've seen him in Meijer and Jewels

He's a regular at Silver Lake.

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It's like a lot of inside street stuff that guys don't like to discuss. I think the only reason that Isiah talked about it now was because the guy in the podcast asked him about his relationship with Jordan and Jordan calling him an asshole in the Documentary. I actually think there is a lot of validity there to be honest. And then you have to think about it. Isiah Thomas was not as reviled in 1984 in Chicago (He still really isn't by MANY Chicagoans even now) as he was in 88,89, 90 when the Bad Boys stuff hit. He was thought of as a god on the West Side back then. Its definitely plausible that he would have told people out West to keep an eye out for Jordan and make sure he was straight in the street and have it be honored.

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Isiah doesn't strike me as a guy who would tell someone to look out for someone he didn't have a good relationship with. I see his weasel ass doing the opposite. Look what he did to Magic. That was his dude. None of the old heads really fuck with him. Now, he's out clout chasing for LeBron stans.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Scottie's team exited in the second round. They still had to go to the ECF if they beat the Knicks

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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

But that is just the point. The response was about his having a good relationship with Jordan. He claimed that him and Jordan were cool in the beginning. That is why his nephew was allowed to stay at Jordan's crib. And again it is definitely plausible because Isiah's brothers were quite known in the street back then. That is why Karl Malone could not ride the team bus when Utah played the Bulls after pulling that bullshit with Isiah.

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I think the Bulls were much more present in Chicago before they built the practice facility in the suburbs

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

My crazy partner Joe was a big Bulls fan. I'm not sure if he still is. He ran into Tyson Chandler on The Glen during Chandler's rookie year. Both guys were alone. Joe tried to talk with him but Chandler pulled out his phone and started pretending to have a conversation. Joe yelled at him, "Hey, fuck you! You're the same age as I am! I know you're not talking to anyone, you fucking phony."

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

That's funny but your partner was 18?

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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

That was before we were partners. But he was a precocious motherfucker. He worked for another partner of mine starting around that time. He was probably about 22-23 when he started working for me. He more than earned his way. I'll say that.

Here he is at the Berto Center:

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

How much more time does he have to serve?

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Different partner. That one is eligible for parole in 2051. He's 65 years old.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

It really was an interesting interview. In terms of what he said about Jordan early years and them being good....It's 100% believable.

I think a much better way for Isiah to address this would simply be "The Lakers and the Celtics were the dominant forces in the early 80's. We (The Pistons) knocked them off the hill and had our run. Jordan and the Bulls took it from us and had their run".
I don't think anyone discounts how good those Pistons teams were, nor does anyone discount Isiah's greatness. Jordan was / is the GOAT. Jordan is / was an asshole. Big deal.

Isiah has also proved to be an asshole....none of that really matters.

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I think Isiah takes issue with that. Because it's an opinion. But Bulls fans state it as an inarguable fact.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Most people over 30 give him the label. Larry Bird and Magic also consider him to be the greatest. He's the consensus pick.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I don't know if Magic and Bird consider him the greatest. Most guys are diplomatic. Isiah and Jordan are exceptions. That's probably why we're talking about them.

And I would say it's guys that are under 40 who consider Jordan "the GOAT" and will accept no questioning of it. Guys that played with and against Dr. J., Kareem, Magic, Bird, etc. don't worship Michael Jordan the way Kobe did.

I don't argue that Jordan is the consensus pick as "the greatest" whatever that means and for whatever it's worth. But you also have to accept that there are guys partcipating in creating that consensus that don't even know who Connie Hawkins or Elgin Baylor or Oscar Robertson are.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Interesting thing is that with guys in the league both currently and past it ain't even close in terms of credibility. I heard something recently from Ken Martin regarding the reason he stole Karl Malone back in the day that I found to be pretty telling. He stated the reason that he punched Karl Malone was because the cheap shot bullshit he did to Isiah at a time when KDdidit Martin was not even in the NBA. Says a lot about what he thought of the guy. If i were to venture a guess I'd say that Isiah is more highly regarded in terms of being a person by other guys in the league than Michael Jordan ever has.

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If Magic acknowledges Jordan as the GOAT, it's something he's come to accept. I could be wrong, but I believe there was a time he didn't acknowledge that.

Even if we can't accept Jordan as the GOAT, the Pistons run was over the Bulls had the next run. Isiah should just leave it at that. Those Pistons teams were amazing. He acts like no one acknowledges that...I think most do. It's kind of sad.

I'll even go on and say Jordan is probably a bigger asshole than Isiah....none of that matters.

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I think he's kind of right. Most people talk about the Lakers/Celtics rivalry of the 80s and then move right into the Bulls dominance. If the Pistons are discussed it's usually as a heel to Jordan's face.

The Pistons didn't have the same star power as the others, but they may have been deeper than any of them.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8