Jordan, Kareem receive Presidential Medal of Freedom award.

BLUEJAYWAY

Highest civilian honor for a citizen. Did not know they were up for the award. Do you think these post career awards are cause for a card price bump? Are they deserving of the award?

orioles93

Yes they are deserving. No it will not have anything to do with card prices.

slum22

I heard about this a week or so ago. No I do not believe these will increase the values of either of their cards. I think they are both legends of their sport and their long term value prospects are good with or without any civilian awards. I do not think they are deserving of the award. You can make an argument for Kareem since he has at least been outspoken politically. Jordan however, famously has chosen business over any sort of social conscience. Remember "Republicans buy shoes too" (could be paraphrasing) was Jordan's reply to a question posed to him on why he was not more involved in a social cause years ago. There is little evidence that shows Jordan to be a particularly selfless or altruistic person, in fact there is more evidence to the contrary. I think he is the greatest basketball player to play the game and I actively collect his cards but him receiving the United States' highest civilian honor is a joke IMO. He was elected to the basketball HOF for his excellence on the court. I do not collect Lebron James' cards, but his social activism and charitable involvement, particularly to the NE Ohio region make him a better choice than Jordan for an award that is given to people making a difference for the country.

jay0791

I agree with Slum22 100%

This isn't a sports MVP award it's a human right's MVP award

TheMick

Michael Jordan gives a lot to charity. He gave all of the $8.9 million Dominick's/Jewel settlement money to 23 charities. So, maybe he does deserve it. He supports several charities including:

Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Buoniconti Fund To Cure Paralysis
Cats Care
CharitaBulls
Jackie Robinson Foundation
James R. Jordan Foundation
Kids Wish Network
LIVESTRONG
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Nevada Cancer Institute
Opportunity Village
Special Olympics
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
The Miami Project

MooseDog

It's not just a humanitarian award, nominees are also made on "cultural or other significant public or private endeavors", and while you can argue all you want what that means, the President put it best when he said "there's a reason you call someone the "Michael Jordan of anything". The award recognizes excellence and MJ if nothing else was all that.

Of course it doesn't hurt that the President loves basketball and MJ played for the home town team...

49ersGuy

In a world where logic and reason are scarce, people like Kareem Abdul Jabbar give hope. He was my favorite player as a kid for his skill on the court. Decades later after learning much more about Kareem Abdul Jabbar the human being, I became a fan of Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a human being. He is a treasure to humanity.

Nothing at all against Jordan but those donations are just a tax write off.

slum22

@TheMick and @MooseDog, I certainly see both of your points. I have no doubt that Jordan has given more money to charities than 99% of our population and his excellence at his profession is just about unparalleled. As I said, I consider him to be the best basketball player of my lifetime. That said, if I were to give this honor to an athlete it would not be him, but I am not the President of the United States, so I guess my opinion doesn't matter too much. There is definitely a precedent for people in sports to receive this honor. A quick search shows Roberto Clemente and Bear Bryant as previous recipients of the award. Given Clemente's excellence on the field and his humanitarian contributions I can see him as a worthy recipient of this type of award. I don't know much about Bear Bryant aside from his success as a football coach. Again, I feel our sports have Hall of Fame's to honor achievements on the field. I do not know Bryant to have been particularly charitable or socially active. Should we expect Nick Saban to receive the Medal of Freedom in the future if winning championships is all you need? I just feel that to receive the highest civilian honor of our country, it should take more than just being really, really good at your job. Just my two cents.

travis t

If there were any amount of consideration for what either of them have endured because of their fame, then they should each be deserving. The social pressures Abdul-Jabbar has dealt with since college became his business card. He has certainly not failed in maintaining his presence and place in history. Jordan simply stands above, in spite of his flaws. His greatest contribution is being himself. That may sound trite, but ask the billions of people who adore him what they really know about him besides his talent on a basketball court. Or if they even care.

vols1

Pujols & Saban should be next. They both win and have their own charity.