Thomas Lake on Pop Herring, the man who "cut" Michael Jordan in high school

Great read. Thought you'd all enjoy: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1193740/index.htm

And here's a link to the podcast with Richard Deitsch, in which they discuss Herring, who has various mental problems, and Jordan, who is remarkably ... well, Jordan-like ... about Herring's situation, and more. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/podcasts/richard_deitsch/index.html

 

Read this morning.. Great story.
And yeah Jordan is a Grade-A dick.

 

I hadn't realized how much of a dick.

Superb piece.

 

Fascinating read.

And I'll echo the others. MJ is a major dick. He couldn't even be bothered to comment on a story about his high school coach?

 

He didn't cut him anyway. He put him on JV.

And, dude, 33 years. Hello.

I forgive Jack Carson, who cut me in seventh grade.

Of course, I was not Michael Jordan.

But it did lead me to sportswriting.

 

I still have a rough spot in my heart for John Bartholow, who cut me from the baseball team my senior year because he decided he wanted to grow with 12 sophomores.

But that was my senior year. And it was all-or-nothing. And I had as much chance of hitting a breaking ball with my eyes closed as I did with them open.

 

Did you just begin paying attention to sports?

 

Guess so. Glad you knew something I didn't.

 

I wasn't trying to be a dick (for once) but Jordan's status as a rotten person, even by the standards of superstars, is pretty well-known.

 

Haven't read the piece yet (though I'm anxious to do so after work tonight). But is the reason cited for Jordan declining comment his long-standing snub of SI dating back to this cover?

 

God, I can't stand the idea that people have that Michael Jordan was cut. Herring had good senior guards. He knew Jordan was probably the best player on the team, but Jordan was also short and inexperienced. Most coaches would be praised for sticking with the seniors (who were very good). Herring gets crapped on. Jordan got way more minutes and the freedom to shoot whenever he wanted as a junior varsity player. He probably developed better because of it. He certainly got to bear a chip on his shoulder.

 

Sorry, my answer was more snarky than it should have been.