the Jordan Scale (work in progress)

Once again I am using my blog space for something inconsequential to the emerging church discussion, spirituality in general, personal reflection or politics. I speak once more as one of the 14 white guys in America (not paid by the NBA or a media outlet) interested in the NBA.

While chatting earlier today with Craig (#12 on the list) about the Suns-Lakers series (yes, as a Laker hater I was actually going for them, for a number of reasons, listed below), the conversation tilted in a familiar fashion, becoming about the merits of LeBron vs. Kobe and that Kobe was no Jordan.

I realized at that moment there needs to be a new designation while discussing NBA players. So, I introduce to you the Jordan Scale, a work in process. Assuming that we all agree that the pinnacle basketball player is Michael Jordan, we can assign him a perfect 10. If Jordan gets the 10, we can then assign a number to all other players, based upon their Jordan-like appearances.

This scale can be used in numerous fashions

1. a player's potential (LeBron is a potential 11 on the Jordan scale)
2. a player's performance during a season (in 2006, Kobe Bryant was a 9 on the Jordan Scale)
3. a player's performance in a single game ( last night Vince Carter was an 8)
4. a player's performance in a specific instance (that dunk was a 5)
5. a player's career (see below)

there need to be some ground rules:

1. most NBA players will never be assigned more than a 5 on the Jordan Scale.
2. face it, few white players will be assigned a number.
3. players such as Duncan, Shaq, Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd and Nash will not be part of this scale. They play a different game that must be judged by another set of criteria (the Kareem Scale or the Magic Scale?). btw, Kidd is a 9 on the Magic scale and Nash is a 7

Any other ground rules or ways to use this scale before I send it to Bill Simmons?

Due to space limitations I will begin discussion of specific player in the next posting.

reasons I went for the Lakers in the Suns-Lakers series:
1. I wanted to see the Lakers beaten by the Clippers on round 2
2. I think Nash is overrated and wanted to see that little punk white guy (wait, I am white, why do I feel this way?) get his clock cleaned by the Mamba (Kobe)- who is a vastly superior player
3. I do not like the Lakers, Phil Jackson, Shaq or Kobe (even though I love to watch Kobe play). but I was so impressed with the brilliant coaching job of Jackson and Kobe's play. It was as if they played possum all year only to lull everyone else into a false sense of comfort before playing like a team. Brilliant if it had worked.