Saturday, September 12th 2009, 4:00 AM
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame should induct Michael Jordan every year. Then again, he might not be able to take it.
Overcome with emotion before an entertaining induction speech Friday night, a teary-eyed Jordan singled out former adversaries, including Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson and George Gervin, along with ex-Knicks coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, for bringing out his competitive fires that became legendary.
He even went after old foils John Starks and Bulls GM Jerry Krause for what Jordan perceived as slights.
"I had a lot of people throw logs on that fire over the years," he said.
Jordan achieved basketball immortality long ago. But to make it official, more than 600 national and international members of the media - about three times more than the usual turnout - flocked to the birthplace of basketball to see the NBA legend inducted with fellow 2009 class members Utah coach Jerry Sloan, former Jazz guard John Stockton, former San Antonio Spur David Robinson and Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer.
"When people say I was the greatest to play the game, I cringe a little bit," Jordan said earlier in the day. "That's someone's view of what I did for the game of basketball. But for me, personally, I never played against Jerry West. I never played against Elgin Baylor. I never played against Wilt Chamberlain. Yeah, I would have loved to. But to say that I was better than those people is not for me to decide."
It's safe to say that in any era, Jordan would have more than held his own against the game's immortals, all of whom have plaques on the Hall's basketball-shaped dome.
"He had the ability to take the game to a different level," said Sloan, who lost heartbreaking Finals to Jordan's Bulls in 1997 and 1998. "He had an unusual ability to play the game as it goes and then to go above that. No one else could do that. Our guys played as hard as they could in those playoffs, but he always made the plays that would beat you in the end. I don't think there's any question that he's the best finisher we've seen. When the game was on the line, he was able to get up above everybody else."
For Sloan, it was more than Jordan's talent that set him apart.
"He went out there and tried to annihilate everyone he played against," he said. "It wasn't just about scoring points. Everything he did on the court, he tried to bury people."
Starting with the Knicks, Jordan buried all comers in the 1990's when the Bulls won six titles in an eight-year span. Several former teammates, including Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr, attended what was really the culmination of a two-day celebration of Jordan's career.
"They charged $1,000 a ticket this year," Jordan said. "In other years it was only $200."
The crowd roared. Earlier in the day came the inevitable question. Does he see himself in Kobe Bryant or LeBron James or any of today's other superstars?
"Don't be in a rush to find the next Michael Jordan," he cautioned. "There's not going to be another Michael Jordan."
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