I didn't hear the Jordan Hall of Fame speech live. It was on at the bar I happened to be at, but at no volume, so the only impressions I had was how close to tears he was at the start, and that he had chosen David Thompson to stand up for him at the hall, which struck me as nice, bringing a childhood hero up with him. Oh, and that Coach Smith looked well.
Well, now I've heard the speech – if you haven't, it's down below – and I don't see what the fuss is about. It wasn't a great Festivus airing of grievances, he was thanking these people, and at the same time showing the almost pathological competitiveness that's driven him. It was a speech by a player to primarily other basketball players, and if the injections of humor are geared towards basketball players, well, you go with what you know. The fact that his audience is smiling and laughing, and genuinely so, not just putting on show for the sake of the cameras, is all the indication you need about what kind of speech it was. It was a heartfelt synopsis of his career, and I'm not sure anyone could sum up his career any better.
And if they did, well, Jordan will go back and give another speech. And keep giving them until he wins.