The associated press Former Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards guard Michael Jordan waves as he finishes his address before leaving the stage during his enshrinement ceremony into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. Jordan welcomed to Hall of Fame Former Chicago Bull great becomes emotional during enshrinement ceremony SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Jordan cried before beginning comes on, I’m as competitive as any- the Hall can accommodate. Michael Jordan’s thank you list went his acceptance speech, then enter- body you know.” Robinson was enshrined first on well beyond friends and family. tained the crowd with memories of n The media who said Jordan, Friday before a large San Antonio There was the coach who cut him. any slights that inspired him to get to though a great player, would never contingent that included teammates The player who dissed him. The basketball’s birthplace: win like Bird or Johnson. Tim Duncan and Avery Johnson, media who doubted him. n The coach who cut him from “I had to listen to all that, and that and coaches Larry Brown and Anyone who ever provided Jordan the varsity as a North Carolina put so much wood on that fire that it Gregg Popovich. Stockton told the with motivation to become a better schoolboy. kept me each and every day trying to Spurs that his running mate, Karl player — perhaps the greatest one “I wanted to make sure you under- get better as a basketball player.” Malone, was the best power forward, ever. stood: You made a mistake, dude.” n Lastly, Utah’s Bryon Russell. not Duncan. Jordan recalled all of it Friday n Isiah Thomas, who allegedly Jordan recalled meeting Russell Stringer, the first coach to lead night, when he joined David Robin- orchestrated a “freezeout” of Jordan while he was retired and playing three different teams to the Final son and John Stockton, a pair of his in his first All-Star game. minor league baseball in 1994 — and Four, still couldn’t believe a coal 1992 Dream Team teammates, and “I wanted to prove to you, Magic with Sloan looking on in horror — miner’s daughter had made it, call- coaches Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian (Johnson), Larry (Bird), George told of how Russell insisted he could ing it the “most unusual, unexpected Stringer in a distinguished class en- (Gervin), everybody that I deserved have covered him if Jordan was still thing in the world.” shrined in the Naismith Memorial (to be there) just as much as anybody playing. Russell later got two cracks She thanked her players — “bas- Hall of Fame. else, and I hope over the period of at Jordan in the NBA finals, and he ketball daughters” — and praised “The game of basketball has been my career I’ve done that without a was the defender when Jordan hit the her 2007 Rutgers team for the class everything to me,” Jordan said. doubt.” clinching shot to win the 1998 title. and dignity it showed after the ra- Jordan insisted during a press n Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy “From this day forward, if I ever cially insensitive comments made by conference that the weekend wasn’t — Jordan called him Pat Riley’s “lit- see him in shorts, I’m coming at Don Imus. just about him, but he was clearly the tle guy” — who accused Jordan of him.” “I know that I stand here on the star before a crowd that included for- “conning” players by acting friendly The enshrinement ceremony took shoulders of so many,” Stringer said. mer teammates Scottie Pippen and toward them, then attacking them in place at Springfield’s Symphony Sloan also thanked his players, his Dennis Rodman. games. Hall, because Jordan was too big for former coaches from high school to “He makes one big shot and every- “I just so happen to be a friendly the Hall of Fame. The move to the the NBA, and late Utah owner Larry body thinks he’s kind of cool,” Stock- guy. I get along with everybody, but other building allowed for a crowd of Miller for sticking with him even ton joked. “I don’t get it.” at the same time, when the light about 2,600, more than double what during the team’s bad years.