Jordan more than willing to share Hall's spotlight

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. -- They will be officially inducted and they'll give their acceptance speeches at Symphony Hall Friday evening, but the members of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Class of 2009 spoke at a press event at the Hall in the morning.

The five enshrinees received their Sean John Hall of Fame jackets, gave opening statements, took photos as a group and then answered questions from the assembled media.

It was the first time Michael Jordan has spoken publicly since the class was announced at the Final Four in Detroit back in April, bringing extra significance to the occasion.

"When I was growing up, I can honestly say that I never thought about getting into the Hall of Fame," Jordan said. "It all started with that little round ball. If you took that away from any one of us, I'm pretty sure that we would have struggled in life. That's how much the game meant to us."

The focus of this weekend, of course, is on Jordan, but he tried his best to deflect some of the attention to the other four members of his class.

"Contrary to what you guys believe, it's not just me going into the Hall of Fame," he said. "It's a group of us, and I'm glad to be a part of it."

Jordan was asked about his status as "the greatest to ever play the game."

"[When someone says that], I cringe a little bit," Jordan said. "I never played against Jerry West. I never played against Elgin Baylor. I never played against Wilt Chamberlain."

"I would never put myself [in that category], because I never competed against everybody in this Hall of Fame. That's too much for me to accept."

When asked about the media's never-ending search for "the next Michael Jordan," he said, "Don't be in a rush to try to find the next Michael Jordan. There's not going to be another Michael Jordan.

"The times are different. The games are different. And the desire to find that kind of player is different."

He said that if his father was still alive and able to be here this weekend, "he'd be living it up."

He also said he couldn't pick out any moment of his career that stands out more than the rest. So while we enthusiastically rank Jordan's greatest moments in the game, he refuses to do so.

"It's so hard," he said. "It's like asking which one of your kids is your best kid."

If it's true that you have to have an ego to become the best at what you do, then John Stockton is the exception to the rule.

Stockton was asked about coming into the league as a rookie, and he admitted that he wasn't exactly sure of his future as an NBA player.

"I thought the Jazz would figure out that they made a mistake," he said. "So I saved every cent. I rented a one-bedroom apartment that was already furnished. I never bought a television set. I went to the discount food store.

"I was pretty sure I was a one-year-and-out guy."

He was 18 years off.

"He was a once-in-a-lifetime guy to coach," Sloan said of Stockton. "He's definitely one of the main reasons why I'm here."

Stockton was asked about the stability in Utah, with he and Karl Malone playing together for 18 seasons and Jerry Sloan about to begin his 22nd season as the head coach of the Jazz. He credited Jazz owner Larry Miller, who passed away this February, with being the source of that stability.

"He allowed Jerry to coach and allowed us to play," Stockton said. "From a personal standpoint, I've never seen it any way, so I don't have anything to compare it to. He made it comfortable and allowed you to be all that you can be."

When asked about Miller's absence here in Springfield on the occasion of the Sloan and Stockton's inductions, Stockton said, "That's a tremendous void for me personally."

David Robinson's Spurs faced Stockton and Sloan's Jazz three times in the postseason (1994, '96 and '98), with Utah prevailing each time.

"What we probably disliked most about them was that they were so much like us," Robinson said. "They were disciplined and they played defense. It was kind of like playing your mirror image. We respected them tremendously, because they were professionals. You knew when John Stockton and Karl Malone walked on the floor, they were going to knock your block off."

"For us to beat them twice," Jordan added when asked about the Jazz, "I think it said a lot about us, because they were a great team."

One of the things overlooked about Robinson is that he took two years to fulfill his service agreement with the Navy before coming to the NBA in 1989. Despite the layoff, he still made a big impact in his rookie season, taking the Spurs from 21 wins to 56.

"I definitely didn't know whether I'd be one of the best players in the league," Robinson said. "I was at a submarine base in Georgia for those two years after I graduated from school, and I don't think there was anyone over 6-1 on that whole base. So I spent a lot of time by myself running in that gym."

He also played in the 1988 Olympics to help keep him sharp.

From that rookie year until now, Robinson has called San Antonio home, and he clearly has special feelings for the city and its residents.

"I got a real sense for what that community is like the very first time I visited," Robinson said. "And it hasn't changed one bit. We have over a million people there, but it still feels like a small town."

C. Vivian Stringer, the only coach to take three different schools to the Final Four, called her induction "surreal and unimaginable," and then admitted that she once paid admission to visit the Hall of Fame.

What many don't know is that Stringer is a long-time friend of Jordan, having met him at Nike events early in his career. "We used to stay up and talk about the game of basketball," Jordan said, noting that Stringer became friends with his father as well. "From that day, we've been somewhat connected.

"It gives me great pleasure going into the Hall of Fame with her."

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