Saturday Night at Market Chess Cinemas

Currently available on Netflix, "The Last Dance" documentary about NBA's Chicago Bulls dynasty in the 1990s is well worth a viewing.

Even if you are not a sports/NBA/basketball fan, the story of Michael Jordan and his rise to legendary status not just in basketball but in all of professional sports (and, indeed, in all things business and of a competitive nature) is something which everyone should appreciate. 

The 1990s as a decade, in aggregate, have been referred to as a rather "no-nonsense" time in America, in many aspects standing in stark contrast to some of the headlines and events across the nation we are seeing now. And Jordan, on some level, epitomized that--He was not a people-pleaser in terms of his personality, what he said, and even what he did at times. He was driven to win and win on the highest level at virtually all costs. His lifestyle and interests, even his vices, seemed to be decidedly old-fashioned and, at times, too conservative for political pundits and observers. 

But he did, in fact, win, and win big--Six championships without losing so much as one NBA Finals Series (and not one of those series even went to a decisive Game 7). Talk of LeBron James currently in the process of unseating Jordan as the best basketball play of all-time simply misses the mark--Despite being an all-time great in the making, James has already lost six NBA finals (yes, it is certainly true that James piggybacked several subpar teams to the Finals in a few of those he lost, but he also had some duds like 2011 and 2014, the types of Finals that, simply put, Jordan did not lose). 

The only legacy which challenges Jordan is the big man Bill Russell's, who led Red Auerbach's Boston Celtics to a whopping eleven championships in thirteen years during the 1950s and 1960s. 

That said, the old Celtics teams were loaded, top-to-bottom, with Auerbach, as Coach and General Manager, essentially playing chess while everyone else around the young NBA at the time was playing checkers. 

In other words, there is only one Michael Jordan. And there will only be one Jordan.

I would argue that Jordan's grit, desire, legendary competitiveness, and general disdain for playing things safe with his attitude is precisely what this country needs to get back on track if we are to avoid a prolonged, secular stagnation...or worse.