The Launch

I was into the NBA even before the Jordan era. Like most here in Asia, I followed players and not teams. We got the games via the UHF channel feed from the old Clark Air Base. I tried, and failed, to copy Bird and Magic, and ended up being a fat kid with a respectable 3-point shot, an awkward running baby hook, and funny-looking blind passes. I also wanted to copy Barkley but I cannot, for the life of me, get even just one inch off the ground. So, it was the trash talking that I picked up. Then came this skinny kid from Wilmington. He took flight and left the whole world gawking. No Internet then, so I turned to magazines. I had a bunch of them, all having Mike on the cover. So, every month, in Dau, while my much older brothers were secretly buying "Club" and "High Society" from PX stores, I would be browsing for Jordan magazines.

While waiting for a beer call I went digging through some of the boxes in one of our storage rooms. I knew I still had some of those Jordan magazines. Some, because majority, the better ones, have been given away to a friend who rode the Bulls-Jordan Bandwagon when they were already kicking everybody else's butts. (Yes Chris, that's you!!)

I found some.


A skinny kid in some Italian made shoes.


The same kid being helped up by a "fat" guy in shoes that kiddies today think was inpired by AJIVs. SMH.


The fat guy taking flight.


You can click the images for slightly bigger versions.