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In the sports world on the night when young men lives were going to change (the 2009 NBA Draft), unexpected major NBA trades were coming at a record paste ( the Phoenix Suns traded center Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for center/forward Ben Wallace, guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, and $500,000 cash – the New Jersey Nets traded forward Vince Carter along with forward Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for guards Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and forward/center Tony Battie – the Golden State Warrior traded guard Jamal Crawford to the Atlanta Hawks for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton). Shortly before the draft, the greatest, all-galaxy M.J. passed away. Not Michael Jordan, but thee original M.J., Michael Jackson.
People could look at Jackson and say that he had no athletic bone in his body. Jordan is one of the greatest athletes ever, but to some degree, Jackson was the greatest athlete of all times.
Professional athletes perform in front of thousands in arenas when Jackson played in front of hundreds of thousands in soccer and football stadiums and millions if those sites had enough room. Countless hours athletes sacrificed to become a better professional dating back to little league ball. Jackson started right after he started walking. No question that professional athletes work hard to perform to get to the highest stage for their careers, the postseason, the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, the World Series and more. Jackson had to stay in shape at all times because his court, his field was the ‘world’.
Jackson’s athleticism was so captivating, professional athletes who have great foot work and are very mobile have a hard time moving like Jackson. Big tough guys like Shaq and the Magic’s center Dwight Howard love to imitate Jackson. In the music video, ’Jam’, Jordan had fun tying to perform like Jackson and of course he couldn’t do what Jordan was able to do (that’s any athlete for that matter), but it’s more frustrating to keep up with Jackson.
Professional athletes are now global, crossing the cultural boundaries because of their performances. Jackson’s athleticism had set that standard with his performances helping to bring race, genders, cultures, sexuality, sexism, and religion together to watch in ‘ahh’ long before all athletes were accepted. No professional athlete performs harder than Jackson nor faces his pressure. It’s one thing to chew gum and run while saving their breath, but singing on key and dancing at the same time is endurance for your, you know what.
Jackson suffered from cardiac arrest Thursday afternoon in his house, June 25th, and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California where he was pronounced dead at the young age of 50 (1958-2009). Every person on this planet will die, but there are certain people who you don’t want to see go. Jackson is survived by his family and three children, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael (Blanket) Jackson II.
Like the great highlights such as,’ The Catch’, ‘The Holy Roller’, ‘the Dr. J tomahawk dunk over the Lakers’ Michael Cooper, to name a few. Jackson highlights and music will be ‘eternal’, allowing him to live forever. Jackson still holds the best ever Super Bowl half time show (1993) and his Super Bowl Pepsi commercials can still be played today and people will love them. Many people look down at professional athletes careers their think it’s meaningless playing a ‘child’s’ game. Those same people embrace Jackson and his abilities and highlights.
The mental toughness of a professional athlete is what separates the great ones from the good ones. Athletes continuously push themselves, mentally, taking a lot from them to make them better. Jackson was a perfectionist and mentally he pushed himself so hard to compete against himself and others taken a Hugh toll on him mentally and eventually physically.
Jackson’s athletic ability allowed him to performance on the highest of high levels. Jackson was the ultimate competitor and professional athletes love and appreciate him because of that. Jackson’s mentality was able to keep him focus on ‘game day’ making him the greatest entertainer of all-time and there have never been one better than him (get it straight Elvis fans) and there will never be another like or better than him. Professional athletes are entertainer as well and Jackson’s athleticism and mental strength makes him the greatest athlete, entertainer, ‘eternally’.