Light The John Wick On All Of Em: Jordan to Jackson
I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all is so potent.
Yo…
On March 20, 1993 “Michael Jordan scored 47 points despite sitting out the fourth quarter Saturday night as the Chicago Bulls routed the Washington Bullets 126-101 for their third straight victory.”
That’s cool I guess but it’s a rather innocuous regular season game. The Bulls were supposed to beat the Bullets.
Only…they did: this second time. The first time these teams met…the night before Chicago failed to defeat Washington.
The Bulls lost to the Bullets the night before in Chicago. This is 1993…the Bulls are defending champion Bulls you know? And in 1993 (then and now if we’re being honest) Washington was lottery-bound.
And yet on March 19, 1993 the Bullets lived up to their name and slayed da Bulls. Their surprise victory was powered by LaBradford Smith, who averaged just 9.3 PPG for that season. Who?
LaBradford Smith went on to light up Jordan for a career-high 37 points. He connected on 15 of his 20 field goals and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Oh, LaBradford Smith…okay.
“LaBradford Smith had a game. I mean he had a game of games,” B.J. Armstrong said in a present-day interview in The Last Dance. “And for whatever reason, Michael couldn’t make a basket.”
According to Jordan, Smith had this to say on his way off the court that game: “Nice game, Mike.”
Jordan was furious.
“We’re flying to Washington,” Armstrong continued in The Last Dance. “(Jordan said) tomorrow, in the first half, I’m gonna have what this kid had in the game.”
In other words: Jordan is gonna go all John Wick on LaBradford Smith. Damn.
Sure enough on that second night Jordan stalked LaBradford Smith and destroyed him for 37 points…in the first half. MJ finished with 47 after sitting out the fourth quarter. It was a bloodbath.
Michael Wilbon, an ESPN talking head and Jordan friend remembered the game as a targeted embarrassment of Smith. However he revealed a crucial insight: Jordan had made up the perceived slight from Smith.
“Fast forward to decades past the incident and there’s a rumor that this never happened,” Wilbon said in The Last Dance. “LaBradford Smith never put his arm around Michael and said, “Nice game, Mike.” A couple of (sports) writers went up to Michael and said, “Did this ever happen?” And Michael with a smile was like, “No, I made it up.”
One of my favourite moments in The Last Dance. I cheered so hard like it was real game.
Michael Wilbon correctly concluded: “There's nothing Jordan would not do to get himself to the place where he’s going to beat you.”
Jordan’s ability to marshal these perceived slights (some were legit too…LaBradford Smith did embarrass him in the first game) into raw motivation is spectacular. (It’s remarkable because of how rare it is. Vengeance is an authorized fuel but we don’t tend to publish aspirational self-help books on vengeance.)
It was one of the founding tenets of Jordan’s greatness. He didn’t just bounce back from a loss; all NBA players hafta learn how to do that.
Rather: he refused to let the loss define him.
And he found the ruthless will to reassert himself and to clearly show the loss was an outlier. The hardest part of sports (as in life) is getting up…repeatedly.
Anybody can get back up once…but there are so many obstacles and setbacks and nos and more that will continually knock you down.
Jordan made getting up off the floor a habit. Sure he sacrificed LaBradford Smith to do but that’s the cost of doing business.
(LaBradford Smith had an entirely unremarkable NBA career; really…if it wasn’t for this brief Jordan moment he’d be entirely forgotten.)
Jordan made getting up off the floor a practise.
There’s one other #GOAT who did that so well it’s mind blowing: Michael Jackson.
In a 1983 David Bowie has some questions and criticisms about MTV’s lack of videos by Black artists.
MTV had erected a color barrier choosing instead to focus mostly on rock 'n' roll which in the early ‘80s was mostly white.
(Nobody outright says it but I suspect this is code for Middle America. Punk and Rap are ummm scary for Middle America. For MTV to work you can’t just score with kids in LA or NYC. You needed the Middle, right?)
MTV refused many Black artists’ videos, such as Rick James’ Super Freak, because they did not fit the channel’s carefully selected album-oriented rock format at the time. (Remember radio was like that…you listened to a rock station, then you hadda go to a different channel if you were in the mood for R&B. These days we easily consume a Spotify playlist with like 20 difference genres but back in those days it was one genre at a time.)
MTV’s color barrier generated a weird paradox…record companies refused to fund videos for Black artists because they understood they would have difficulty persuading MTV to play them.
And in turn MTV who was being rightly criticized rightly pointed out there weren’t that many Black artist videos to play because…record companies refused to fund them because MTV wouldn’t air em. It’s the chicken and the egg.
For example Michael Jackson’s Beat It personally cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it. (This wasn’t classic racism…I think the suits were scared by the LA gangs. In the ‘80s this was a valid fear!)
Frasier (to his Dad; Martin): “You refused to take me to see West Side Story on my eighth birthday.”
Martin: “Well, because of the gangs. That’s scary for kids.”
Frasier: “Even gangs that dance?”
Martin: “Especially gangs that dance!”
For Michael Jackson MTV’s color barrier was LaBradford Smith. In other words Michael Jackson was forced to gonna go all John Wick on MTV. Damn. (I’ll go get a body bag…)
{This is from John Wick 4: my man took on a AR-15 with nunchucks! I nearly wet myself with utter delight sitting there in the cinema!}
Michael Jackson came to MTV with the Billie Jean music video and astonishingly the network were reluctant to play it in popular rotation.
This…now this is what’s amazing about Michael Jackson. It’s not the music, the music videos, the glove, that crazy forward deep lean in Smooth Criminal.
This…now this is what’s amazing about Michael Jackson.
After Billie Jean hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart MTV caved and put MJ’s classic video in heavy rotation. It was D-Day and Michael Jackson was leading a coloured armada.
Billie Jean shattered MTV’s color barrier. In quick succession MTV added Prince’s Little Red Corvette, Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue, Herbie Hancock’s Rockit and Lionel Richie’s All Night Long.
Beat It followed Billie Jean. Beat It was rock enough to satisfy MTV and all that airplay propeled Thriller sales.
Then of course by the time Michael Jackson came to MTV with Thriller his long-form dancing zombie music video the network was all in.
This…now this is what’s amazing about Michael Jackson. Thriller defined what a music video could be.
When that sucker played on MTV you could practically here many musical artists drop an F bomb and went back to their video directors to up their game. Elevation. This is what Jordan did, this is what Michael Jackson did.
In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the Thriller video for the National Film Registry. It was the first music video to be selected.
Michael: “There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”
Michael’s Girl: “Yes, Michael?”
Michael: “I’m not like other guys.”
Michael's Girl: “Of course you’re not. That’s why I love you.”
Michael: “No, I mean I’m different.”
Michael’s Girl: “What are you talking about?”
MTV’s color barrier was short sighted but I remain deeply grateful for it.
You hadda be undeniably good. That’s a wonderful gift.
What Michael Jackson did in response was stunning.
I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all is so beneficial for pop culture. That’s where we get all the good stuff.
Yes sometimes it’s racism, sometimes it’s a stupid slight…sometimes it’s a hurtful rejection….it truly doesn’t matter what the obstacle or the setback is.
I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all is so beautiful.
We are constantly doubted. Passed over for promotions. We’re told a variety of dismissals from you’re too short, you’re not pretty enough, you’re not right, you’re all wrong, you’re dumb, you’re not smart enough.
Everybody…gets these obtuse comments. (The worst part is some people say these hurtful things thinking they’re being helpful! What’s worse…is we’ve all said these comments, too.)
But being doubted doesn’t hafta be your fate.
I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all is so powerful.
We remember Michael Jordan. We don’t remember LaBradford Smith. (How many people watched The Last Dance can attest to remembering the LaBradford Smith story?)
We remember Michael Jackson. MTV’s best days are behind em.
I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all is so hopeful.
It’s a core recognition that you understand your value and your talent even if/when others fail to see it. You know who you are and what you bring to the party. That is undeniable.
You’re not defined by doubters and haters. Those fools don’t get the last word. Don’t let em have the last word.
Every single day of every single week you’re invited to sculpt the future. And that’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of responsibility.
Which is why most people who get knocked down; stay down. When you’re knocked down it’s way easier to take a nap. Or it gives you an opportunity to Google a shortcut.
Getting up is hard…that’s why Viagra is so popular.
Jordan and Jackson made getting up off the floor a practise.
Maybe it’s time you went John Wick on all of em: I’ll show you; I'll show all y’all.
This ah…violent rumination was sparked by seeing this trailer:
“Forty years after the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the best-selling album of all-time, director Nelson George takes fans back in time to the making of a pop masterpiece, featuring never-before-seen footage and candid interviews.”
Thriller 40 streams December 2nd on Paramount+ so you'll wanna #SetTheVCR for that.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk…
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.