11 hours ago
Readers Debate: Is Chicago a City of GOATs?
In 'A Pope, a President and a GOAT' (op-ed, May 13), Collin Levy rhapsodizes about Chicago, writing: 'Can you think of another city in the world responsible for a pope, a president and the greatest basketball player of all time?' The GOAT reference is to Michael Jordan. With no choice in the matter under NBA draft rules, MJ arrived in Chicago in 1984. Yet his greatness had been largely baked in via his formative years in small-town North Carolina, not the Windy City.
Three years before hitting the winning shot in the NCAA championship game, Mr. Jordan was cut from his high-school basketball team, yielding a manic dedication to training that led to a spot on the University of North Carolina's roster. I'll go out on a limb and venture that Laney High School in Wilmington, and coaching great Dean Smith, had more to do with Mr. Jordan's success than did Chicago. Wilmington and Chapel Hill send their regards, Chicago. No charge.
