Archive for chicago bulls
Upper Deck: Home of the No. 23
Posted by: | CommentsVery few people would argue with me if I said that Michael Jordan was the best player to ever step on to a basketball court. What many don’t understand is that Jordan was not simply blessed with unbelievable talent. He was never the fastest player on the court, nor the strongest. He didn’t even make his high school basketball team the first time he tried out. Something else made him great and it was something that no one else at the time seemed to have: heart. One thing that can’t be taught is having the passion and drive to persevere through hard times. Jordan lived by the motto of “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Jordan displayed this passion for the game his whole career. This is the reason that he is also one of the most respected basketball players of all time.
When Jordan entered the NBA in 1984, he quickly emerged as a rising star. Since then, people have been in a rush to anoint someone else as the “next MJ.” The title has gone to many unworthy people such as Grant Hill, Jerry Stackhouse, Penny Hardaway, and even J.R. Rider! Many felt that the closest comparison to Jordan would be Kobe Bryant. But that was before LeBron James entered the league. Like Jordan did, James wears uniform number 23, largely out of respect for his favorite player of all-time. That isn’t the only thing James mimics about Jordan. James has undergone Jordan’s offseason and regular season workout routine. When Jordan finishes a regular/postseason, he takes a couple of weeks off, and then gets right back to work. He chooses one facet of his game that he could improve on and works on that during the entire offseason. This is the same regimen that James employs. Additionally, James can seemingly fly like Jordan, and also shares a similar understanding of the game.
For all of these reasons that symbolize greatness is why Upper Deck signed an exclusive partnership with James. He has joined his idol – the other No. 23 – as an exclusive representative of Upper Deck. Not only is James following Jordan on the court, but off the court as well by making smart and timely business decisions. Jordan has been an exclusive partner with Upper Deck since 1991. He is also one of the most successful sports businessmen of all time, a moniker James would like to wear as well.
James got off to the right start by teaming with Jordan and Upper Deck. Their job now is to help revitalize the trading card industry, and reaffirm Upper Deck’s position as the industry leader. If you would like to collect any trading cards or memorabilia that boasts a signature from either of these living legends, look no further than Upper Deck. We have several pieces of autographed memorabilia that would more than satisfy any collector.
One of the more intriguing pieces in our inventory is a Jordan-autographed Bulls game-used floor. Between 1996 and 1998, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dominated the NBA like no other team in history, setting the record for victories in a single-season (72-10, 1995-96) and over a three-year span (203-43, 1995-98). Upper Deck presents a direct link to that historic era with a familiar section of the playing surface, an authentic piece from the 1996-98 United Center floor featuring the Bulls team logo. This amazing showpiece measures 8’ x 8’ and will be signed and custom inscribed by Michael! Be the first to own this extremely rare 1-of-1 piece of memorabilia by visiting www.upperdeckstore.com.
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Thoughts on the NBA Finals, Celebrations, Kobe and M.J.
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Congratulations are in order for the Los Angeles Lakers, who captured the 15th NBA championship in franchise history on Sunday, defeating the Orlando Magic 99-86 to secure the 2009 NBA Finals in five games.
Alright, wait, hold on. Before I continue, I have to find a quiet place to write this post. Man, let me tell you, Amazing Happens at NBA post-championship celebrations!
Okay, truthfully, I’m not reporting from a raucous post-game party at Amway Arena or at a Lakers’ victory parade. But the excitement for Kobe & Co. is palpable here at Upper Deck corporate offices as well.
People here feel a special connection to the performances of Kobe and the Lakers. Sure, we’re some 95 miles from Staples Center, and there’s a natural tendency to cheer because of the proximity. But when you have an exclusive partnership with the Lakers star and receive far-reaching creative license from his management group (not to mention encouragement and input from Kobe himself to explore new concepts and develop innovative products), you can’t help but feel like you’re part of Team Kobe. Case in point: The highly successful Shepard Fairey art series that was advertised in Hollywood last year:
It kind of reminds me of when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were winning NBA titles in the 90s. I was in the early days of my employment here at Upper Deck and I remember we couldn’t hide our enthusiasm for M.J. and the Bulls’ abundant success.
As many of you know, Michael was and still is an official company spokesperson. I can’t tell you all of the number of cool and fun M.J.-related projects that we’ve been a part of, and among other things, I feel privileged to have chosen dozens of his trading card photos dating all the way back to Upper Deck’s first basketball card release in 1991. When he won, we felt like we won, too.
Getting back to Kobe and the Lakers, we’re excited about getting some new memorabilia pieces ready for Lakers fans. Call it “Upper Deck Doin’ Work.” Kobe was at the top of his game and we want to make sure his memorable performances are reflected in our new productions. In fact, one of the items we’re confident fans will like is the shot shown above this post, a powerful image of Kobe currently being pre-sold at UpperDeckStore.com. The preliminary design is subject to change but I think you get a feel for where we’re going.
With that said, stay tuned for more Kobe collectibles from us. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to put the “Pardon Our Confetti” sign out for any visitors to the building. Like I said, we tend to get a little excited at times.
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Brag Photo of the Week: United Center Floor
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to the debut of our new weekly feature here at Upper Deck Blog: the Brag Photo of the Week. Nice, clean and simple, we’ll post a new photo every week of something cool in the building that is intended to make you very jealous.
Following up from my post last week about how Michael Jordan ruined my childhood, I just had to see this floor for myself before it got packed out. Down to the warehouse I went, with nothing more than a camera, a ladder and the memories of Jordan absolutely destroying the Knicks on this very floor.
The United Center floor is in one piece here, but these are currently being shipped out to be divided up for our Upper Deck Authenticated Michael Jordan game used floor product. For more details, click on the images above. Aside from providing a little piece of history to collectors, a portion of the proceeds will go to CharitaBulls as well.
Tomorrow: a very significant day for sports, and America as a whole.
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Michael Jordan, Greatest of All Time. Ruined My Childhood.
Posted by: | CommentsI’m sorry, but there’s just no other way I can start this post. I grew up a huge Knicks fan, and without fail, every year, Michael Jordan and his legendary Bulls team were there to crush my city’s hopes and dreams for the title we craved (we couldn’t even get it done in 1994 when he was gracious enough to retire for a little while, but that’s another post). To this day, even though I think fondly of Ewing, Oakley, Starks and Harper, that memory always comes accompanied by the image of Jordan holding yet another title.
Great memories, these are not. The fact that I even put the words “Jordan” and “Knicks” into a YouTube search shows you how dedicated I am to my job. Ouch. Note how at the beginning of the clip, Ahmad Rashād talks about how Jordan’s shooting wrist is injured. Then watch the rest, and ask yourself if it even mattered. At about the 0:50 mark, you see Starks trying to guard Jordan before realizing it’s futile, looking on with equal parts awe and disgust.
As much as it pains me to say it, Jordan was the best in the history of the game. Period. Not only that, but the “best of all time at his sport” tag is so definitive and inarguable that the phrase “He’s the Michael Jordan of _______” has become a permanent part of our lexicon. How many times have you heard that phrase? How many players have been (unfairly, with a wink at impossibility) compared to him since?
I know I’d like to be “The Michael Jordan of”, well, anything.
The Michael Jordan of Depositing Checks
The Michael Jordan of Playing Fetch With My Dog
The Michael Jordan of Knowing When the Milk in the Fridge Will Expire
You know what’s telling? I picked ridiculous things here, but I actually sound most ridiculous claiming to be the Michael Jordan of anything. It’s a level of excellence that is practically unattainable (unless your name happens to be Tiger…)
So with absolutely no shock to anyone, Michael Jordan was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday. When it comes to enshrining legendary athletes, people often say, “This guy shouldn’t just be in the Hall of Fame, he deserves his own wing!” If that’s true for other athletes, then I think it’s an obligation to build Jordan, I don’t know, another building attached to the current hall? This may seem like hyperbole, but last I checked they’ve got these hanging in the United Center:
SIX CHAMPIONSHIPS. Hard to top that in any sport, and we all know it wouldn’t have happened without him.
I would show what we’ve got hanging in Madison Square Garden, but I can’t. Want to know what came up in Google when I put in “knicks championship banners”? Nothing. I tried many different iterations of this query, got frustrated, wept for my childhood and gave up.
Now, we do a lot of cool things here at Upper Deck that any sports nerd would geek out over. We had an inkling that MJ might be elected to the Hall of Fame, so we went ahead and prepared appropriately. In the world of sports memorabilia, there are signed balls, signed bats and signed cards, all of which are great collector’s items. This, however, is very unique:
You’re not seeing things: we took the actual, authentic floor that Jordan and those Bulls teams played on in 1996, 1997 and 1998 (all championship years, please don’t make me show the banners again), split it up, and put it into these authenticated, framed memorabilia pieces. Being that there’s obviously a limited amount of United Center floor to go around, each piece is limited to 223.
Featuring trademark Upper Deck quality, these are each individually numbered and authenticated. There are four versions available, depending on which aspect of Jordan’s game you want to highlight: dribbling, driving, completion of a two-handed dunk, and a shot where he’s in mid-air, about to score two. Probably on my favorite team. You don’t see a defender in the shot, but one could very well be there. Not like it would have mattered.
Sorry to get all Don West on you there, but look: Jordan signs autographs for us and those are great pieces, but we’re now talking about owning a piece of where the history happened. In my case, where the misery happened, but what can you do. He was Michael Freakin’ Jordan, and it’s not like the Knicks (or any other team) were going to stop him.
I should point out that the last time we won a championship, Phil Jackson himself was playing forward for New York, in blue and orange. Sigh.
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