Earlier today, we received an email from the Fanbash about a fantastic list of Tiger Woods’ commercials. This gave me a good idea to compile some great commercials of the original Nike God, Michael Jordan. They range from a release in the 1980s to ones put out just a year or two ago. Nike, Gatorade, and McDonalds all have their fair share of great ones. Enjoy.

10. This commercial was actually shot in 1993, several years before Space Jam was released. But it definitely foreshadowed a long-lasting friendship between Air Jordan and “Hare” Jordan. Bugs Bunny is getting punked by five nameless scrubs until he’s rescued by MJ.

9. I had actually never seen this commercial, another one with Spike Lee. You have to love the cheap shot at Sam Bowie. Somewhere, someone is practicing to become the next MJ. But who?

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According to hoopsencyclopedia, Michael Jordan’s 59 point performance against the Pistons in 1989 is the single most important game of the modern basketball era. By showing up the vaunted Pistons defense on national television, Bill Laimbeer and the Bad Boys of Detroit vowed to never let Jordan dominate them like that. What resulted was the most physically intimidating defense ever played. By playing with “Michael Jordan Rules”, the Pistons lured scorers into the paint and then annihilated them with physical play and flagrant fouls. They won championships and they even inspired the Knicks and Heat of the late 1990s to play the same way. That rivalry dropped scoring into the 60s and 70s around the league and resulted in the NBA making changes to the way referees call games. All in all, it’s a pretty important game.

Day two of our Michael Jordan tribute is one of his most famous games. You’ve seen “The Shot” countless times and it doesn’t get old. Michael Jordan wrecking Craig Ehlo and telling everybody he’s here to stay. Jordan averaged nearly 40 points in the five game series, scoring 44 in this deciding game five.? Videos are compiled and edited by hoopsencyclopedia at YouTube.

Just days after Danny Ainge took a $30,000 fine for inappropriate contact with Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan decided to join him on that fine list. Jordan was only fined $15,000, pocket change to him I’m sure, but regardless, it’s just another stupid fine. Jordan knows the rules, and regardless of how stupid they are, he has to follow them.

Owners and other suits in the NBA are not allowed to talk about under classmen who haven’t declared for the draft. The fact that Jordan broke this rule leads to an instant fine, that’s something he has to live with. The funny part is, Jordan never even mentioned Durant by name, simply saying “The kid who may present that is the kid in Texas. (He) may have that because he has all the right signs.”

Of course that is enough to piss off the NBA and earn a fine. Probably what I’m writing right now is enough to piss off the NBA and earn a fine. Ainge’s fine is more comical simply because he said that he had no control over where his ticket was and didn’t want to sit next to Durant’s mother. Jordan knew exactly what he was doing but basically gave a screw you to the NBA and said it anyway.

I can’t forsee Durant ending up in Charlotte with Jordan and his team but what an experience that would be for him. There would be nothing quite like learning from the best, and I’m sure that’s what Durant would get. That of course, is assuming he even turns pro.

Everyday this week, we’ll feature a YouTube video in tribute of Michael Jordan, the greatest athlete of my lifetime. We’re not sure how this will progress because of the lack of MLB and NFL videos on YouTube but for this week, we’ll post some great highlights from His Airness’ career.

The following clip is from the 1986 NBA Playoffs. The footage is a bit grainy but that just adds to the legend of this game, where Michael scored 63 points against the Boston Celtics, a playoff record that remains intact. As good as Michael was in those title runs, he was mind-boggling in the 1980s. His finesse game may not have been what it was in the 1990s but his sheer athleticism was unreal. It’s a game that will be timeless. The Celtics won but Larry Bird’s quote tells the real story of this game: “That was God disguised as Michael Jordan. He’s the most awesome player I’ve ever seen.” Jordan was 23 at the time.

Michael Jordan may have ended his playing career but that doesn’t mean he’s done touting himself as the greatest player of all time. Even as partial owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, MJ is still hyping himself up. Unfortunately he’s degrading his team in the process.

After firing their head coach, the MJ and the Bobcats had a press conference. When discussing the future of the team Jordan made it explicitly clear that he doesn’t expect much out of this team. He proclaimed that they could be a playoff team in “five, six, or seven years.” That’s always something you want, your owner saying that you really don’t have much of a chance for a playoff run, and probably won’t for quite a few years.

This is where Jordan put the icing on the cake. He noted that there would be an exception to this if the Bobcats could acquire a play maker. He specifically noted that if they got a player “like Michale Jordan” they could get to the playoffs much sooner than that. Really Michael? Your team needs the second coming of you in order to make the playoffs? That’s not really a good sign, and probably not good motivation to give your players.

Maybe this is opening up a possibility of a Jordan comeback. He doesn’t want to be one upped by his former teammate Scottie Pippen. Since that isn’t going to happen, I just see this as Jordan rubbing it in everyone’s face that he’s better than any of us, including everyone in the NBA right now.