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| One Day Sundays: A monthly Hip Hop social in the Inner West |
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| The Projects and Easts Basketball Game 3-on-3 Comp |
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| 3-on-3 Comp Men's Draw |
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| Illustration by Mark Smith |
Michael Jordan has not left the building by Wright Thompson
[On mortality]
Smoke curls off the cigar. He wears slacks and a plain white dress shirt, monogrammed on the sleeve in white, understated. An ID badge hangs from one of those zip line cords on his belt, with his name on the bottom: Michael Jordan, just in case anyone didn't recognize the owner of a struggling franchise who in another life was the touchstone for a generation. There's a shudder in every child of the '80s and '90s who does the math and realizes that Michael Jordan is turning 50. Where did the years go? Jordan has trouble believing it, difficulty admitting it to himself. But he's in the mood for admissions today, and there's a look on his face, a half-smile, as he considers how far to go.
"I … I always thought I would die young," he says, leaning up to rap his knuckles on the rich, dark wood of his desk.
[On getting older]
The astonishing thing to him was how much he enjoyed this. "At 30 I was moving so fast," he says. "I never had time to think about all the things I was encountering, all the things I was touching. Now when I go back and find these things, it triggers so many different thoughts: God, I forgot about that. That's how fast we were moving. Now I can slow it down and hopefully remember what that meant. That's when I know I'm getting old."
He laughs, knowing how this sounds, like a man in a midlife crisis, looking fondly at something that's never coming back.
"I value that," he says. "I like reminiscing. I do it more now watching basketball than anything. Man, I wish I was playing right now. I would give up everything now to go back and play the game of basketball."
"How do you replace it?" he's asked.
"You don't. You learn to live with it."
"How?"
"It's a process," he says.
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| #BeatitLA - Western Conference standings heading into All-Star Game 10th place - LA Lakers: 25 Wins | 29 Losses | .463% |
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| Portland Trailblazers - "Beat It LA" |
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| Dallas Mavericks - "Beat It LA" |
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| Minnesota Timberwolves - "Beat It LA" |
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| Houston Rockets - "Beat It LA" |
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| Utah Jazz - "Beat It LA" |
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| Los Angeles Clippers - "Beat It LAL" |
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| Western Conference - "Beat It LAL" |
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| Golden State Warriors - "Beat it LA" |
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| Houston Rockets 1993-96 Sam Cassell #10 Robert Horry #25 |
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| Los Angeles Lakers 1994-96 Nick Van Exel #9 Cedric Ceballos #23 |
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| Washington Bullets 1995-97 Chris Webber #4 Juwan Howard #5 |
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| Portland Trailblazers 1997-2005 Damon Stoudamire #3 Arvydas Sabonis #11 |
