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MJ? MJ.

There's something to be said for a reputation. I know that, and I understand that. Michael Jordan is widely considered to be the best basketball player of all time - a claim which I won't dispute. He is a living god to the city of Chicago, and if you badmouth him in any way, locals will take it worse than if you'd said unkind things about their wives/mothers, etc.

In Europe, when someone asks where we're from, Jenna answers Chicago, and if I answer, I say Cleveland via Chicago (or something like that). Invariably, everyone's response will mention one of two names: Barack Obama or Michael Jordan. But Jordan *much* more often than Obama.

For the most part, I get it. He was the most dominant player for the better part of a decade. He was the face of the NBA. He starred alongside Bugs Bunny in one of cinema's greatest accomplishments. That's all true and inarguable.

But there's a big part that I don't really get.

For instance, I have a student of age 9. He asked me about basketball at our most recent lesson. He's been to Miami because his parents love Miami (side note, it certainly seems to be the most popular tourist destination in the US from Italy, or at least right there with NYC). I told him my favorite team is the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is who LeBron James plays for. His response was basically "Oh, yes, LeBron James is very good! And Chicago? Michael Jordan very very good!"

Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls in 1998. He sat out for three full seasons, then rejoined the Washington Wizards for two seasons, retiring for good in 2003.

This student was born in 2005. I don't understand. Has he been watching youtube clips? Has he just been drilled with this from a basketball-happy mother or father? Did he do independent research and have to write an expository essay at school? Do they talk about MJ during Italian soccer telecasts?

The problem is that he doesn't speak enough English to articulate his response or really explain any of it, which is frustrating.

We get asked things by people who are getting signatures for (probably fake) petitions, and if they hear Chicago, you can bet they'll respond with something about Michael Jordan. I guess my real question is when will that wear off? It's already pushing 20 years and a president from Chicago. Is this a bad thing for the city? Will they never get out of that shadow in the same way that (to a smaller extent) every Cleveland team lives in the shadow of none of the others winning championships? It's all very strange to me.

I don't think I have a point. It's just a weird thing to notice while living in another country.
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