Michael Jordan: Best there ever was, or will be

Even as he stood in the ballroom of a downtown Detroit hotel on Monday for the announcement of his election to the Hall class of 2009, the same snowstorm that swirled outside blanketed a statue erected almost 15 years ago in front of the United Center in Chicago - The House That Jordan Built - a few hundred miles to the south.

The figure cast in bronze atop a granite base soars toward the sky, a basketball at the end of its outstretched arm. The pose captures almost perfectly the illusion of Jordan: that he could fly. But down near the bottom, where the statue is affixed to the earth, is an inscription that captures the reality: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be."

What made Jordan that, and more, was not the string of NBA scoring titles, regular-season and finals MVP awards, not even all the championships he won. A few members of the exclusive club he will formally join upon induction into the Hall come September boast accomplishments just as outsized.