Imagine If MJ Played In The Social Media Age

[FireDavidKahn]

Since we have literally nothing to talk about now that the season is cancelled let's take a deeper dive into NBA history. Let's hypothetically say that MJ played in an era with camera's everywhere and social media intertwined with everything.

This is a multiple long post that highlights some of MJ's incidents that would make him the most hated man alive (in the basketball world) if he played "in that world".

https://hiphopwired.com/243225/michael-jordan-bet-on-taking-mtv-vjs-virginity-during-dice-game/


Kennedy — who was a huge MTV VJ back in the ’90s — details the encounter in her new book “The Kennedy Chronicles” … explaining how she was having dinner with MJ and Russell Simmons at the Bowery Bar in NYC, when Michael broke out some dice.

Before long, Kennedy says, Jordan decided it was “time to play for something” … and said, “If I win, you come back to my hotel room with me tonight.”

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1943095-top-10-stories-of-michael-jordan-being-the-greatest-jerk-of-all-time#slide9


As a leader Jordan proved more tormentor than mentor. Many Washington players got the business end of a Jordan harangue, but he designated second-year forward Kwame Brown as the whipping boy…A source told SI that Jordan ritually reduced Brown to tears in front of the team.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1943095-top-10-stories-of-michael-jordan-being-the-greatest-jerk-of-all-time#slide7


'He's the most viciously competitive player I've ever seen. That's what makes him, I think, the greatest player ever. He has practically ruined [reserve forward] Rodney McCray for us.' When the two players are on opposite teams in scrimmages, the source says, "[ Jordan] is in Rodney's face, screaming, 'You're a loser! You've always been a loser!' Rodney can hardly put up a jumper now.’

[FireDavidKahn]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/471875-blashpemy-the-truth-about-michael-jeffery-jordan#slide1


Common perception is that Michael Jordan was the model teammate. It will tell you that he excelled at building his teammates up and bringing out the best in those around him. Nothing could be further from the truth.

One incident has Michael Jordan riding Bill Cartwright on a particularly bad night for Cartwright.

In the locker room Michael Jordan resorted to trying to embarrass Cartwright in front of the team. He was offensive to the point that afterward, Cartwright pulled him to the side and said

"Look, if you ever do anything like that again, you will never play basketball again because I will break both of your legs."

You probably never heard about that though, because MJ can do no wrong.

Another incident includes an actual physical confrontation with a teammate. The Bulls were in practice when Will Perdue laid a hard screen on Jordan. Imagine someone playing hard in practice!

This did not sit well with His Airness. He was infuriated to the point where he felt it necessary to punch Purdue in the face. Yes, you read right. To PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE.

Imagine if you will, an article comes out tomorrow that features a story about Kobe Bryant punching Pau Gasol in the face because he set too hard of a screen at practice.

Imagine LeBron James punching one of his nice guy teammates in the face like say, Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Imagine what the initial reaction and backlash would be if this happened once...now multiply it

Not only did Jordan get physical with Will Perdue, he also felt the need to punch Steve Kerr in the face! Jordan and Kerr were known to have two different opinions on the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was being voted on.

Kerr was a Players Union leader while Michael wanted to dissolve the Union. They had many heated discussions about the subject. One day during a practice, Steve Kerr was guarding Jordan.

Kerr was reportedly playing tough defense on Jordan- too tough for Jordan's liking. So much so, that he felt the irresistible urge to punch Steve in the face. And he followed through with it.

A Model citizen indeed. Not once, but twice did he feel that it was excusable to physically attack his TEAMMATES.

[FireDavidKahn]

https://www.elitedaily.com/sports/23-incredible-stories-prove-michael-jordan-still-greatest-time/720921


Then there's the airport gambling prank.

MJ was (and still is) a notorious bettor. During his days with the Bulls, he would bet with his teammates on whose luggage would come out first at the airport.

Jordan also used to make sure airport security would bring out his luggage first, meaning yes, he was a cheater.

...

He made coach Chuck Daly play him one-on-one at golf by forcing his way into his hotel room.
After losing to Dream Team coach Chuck Daly in a one-on-one golf tournament, Jordan forced his way into Chuck's hotel room the next morning by pounding on the door nonstop, demanding a rematch.

He wouldn't leave until he got dressed to play. MJ went on to win the second game.

...

They even bet on whose son has the biggest member.


According to this Reddit thread, Jordan put up a wager with his teammates on who's son has the biggest *****.

"Before the New York game earlier in the month, Jordan, Pippen, and Grant, all of whom had boys under three at the time, had debated for a half hour about whose child had the biggest *****. They eventually agreed it was Pippen's."

Pippen stay winning :roll::roll:


However, Jordan couldn't compete with Pippen in all areas.
This rivalry didn't just end on the court for Jordan and Pippen. According to the legend, Scottie was very well endowed, which legitimately bothered Jordan.

According to Johnny Bach, once again,

"You should have seen the girls Pippen had waiting for him everywhere we went. Madonna used to pick him up in a limo with a hot tub every time we went to LA. Michael used to tell Madonna he could satisfy her better, to which Madonna would tell him 'not a chance.'"

[FireDavidKahn]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/the-more-we-learn-about-jordan-the-more-the-myth-fades-20021216-gdfz2q.html


What about Juanita Jordan? Where is the wife in this scenario? In recently filed court papers, Knafel claims "Jordan told her not to be worried about his marriage, that he had a 'business arrangement' with Mrs Jordan, that he considered Mrs Jordan to be 'hired help' and that his agent and manager, David Falk, advised him to marry Juanita in order to maintain his favourable public image".

Apparently, Nike boss Phil Knight caught the bouquet. If this marriage was made in the boardroom, what happened to the husband who vowed to reconnect with his family upon his first retirement (before he dashed off to play baseball) and the dad who was jazzed to lead the car pools upon his last retirement (just before he moved to Washington)?

If, sadly, his family image was a cardboard cut-out, Jordan's basketball miracles were genuine, right? When Jordan created space by pushing aside opponents as if he were throwing open a curtain, he surely didn't foul anyone. When Jordan swiped a steal with the chop of a lumberjack, he didn't grab flesh.

No whistle, no foul, right? If the foes who have complained for a decade about Jordan's special treatment from the referees believe Knafel, they would find redemption for their paranoia.




Thoughts?

[Axe]

Holy copypasta man. 🙀

[3ball]

MJ scored 40+ nearly twice as often as anyone else, so his heroics, posters, and fadeaways would light up social media nightly, and more often than anyone else

social media would elevate him more than ever before

it would highlight his goatness more than ever before, which would drown out the occasional hater posting about his late night gambling or other exploits

Also, MJ already faced the most scrutiny of his day and thrived on it - his gambling exploits the night before playoff games was front page news and legendary.. still 6/6

[FireDavidKahn]

Holy copypasta man. ��

Took me only about 5 minutes to do it.

But it is quite long:roll:

[FireDavidKahn]

MJ scored 40+ nearly twice as often as anyone else, so his heroics, posters, and fadeaways would light up social media nightly, and more often than anyone else

social media would elevate him more than ever before

it would highlight his goatness more than ever before, which would drown out the occasional hater posting about his late night gambling or other exploits

Also, MJ already faced the most scrutiny of his day and thrived on it - his gambling exploits the night before playoff games was front page news and legendary.. still 6/6

Here 3ball seriously thinks a guy who punched multiple teammates in the face wouldn't be a big deal. Neither would a breaking story about trying to gamble away a girls virginity. Neither would a story about how he constantly get's into teammates faces and calls them losers 24/7:roll:

What if Lebron did those things, 3ball?

Even you'd be calling him the GOAT!

[Axe]

Took me only about 5 minutes to do it.

But it is quite long:roll:
Is that fast enough though? 🤔😂

[andgar923]

He’d be breaking records just to shut down Twitter

[3ball]

Here 3ball seriously thinks a guy who punched multiple teammates in the face wouldn't be a big deal. Neither would a breaking story about trying to gamble away a girls virginity. Neither would a story about how he constantly get's into teammates faces and calls them losers 24/7:roll:

What if Lebron did those things, 3ball?

Even you'd be calling him the GOAT!
most of the stuff you mentioned wouldn't come out anymore than it already did, and none of that is major or a big deal

what pro athlete doesn't womanize, gamble, or get tough with teammates - pretty benign - and since you aren't aware, you should know that fights in practice are standard, including HS and college, let alone the pros.. YouTube "Steve Blake fight" - that's the standard atmosphere in practice

[FireDavidKahn]

most of the stuff you mentioned wouldn't come out anymore than it already did, and none of that is major or a big deal

what pro athlete doesn't womanize, gamble, or get tough with teammates - pretty benign - and since you aren't aware, you should know that fights in practice are standard, including HS and college, let alone the pros

Ya...in 2020...gambling on a womans virginity wouldn't be a big deal...:facepalm

Leading a conversation about whose 3 year old son has the biggest *****...

Ya, that wouldn't be a big deal at all

[3ball]

Ya...in 2020...gambling on a womans virginity wouldn't be a big deal...:facepalm

Leading a conversation about whose 3 year old son has the biggest *****...

Ya, that wouldn't be a big deal at all
maybe you're a bible-beater or something and don't get out, but yeah, none of that stuff is anything at all, let alone something anyone would nock him for

[FireDavidKahn]

Is that fast enough though? ����

It's gonna be a long off season, mate.

I'm being blue balled from getting my basketball fix because of COVID-19. I'm not in the right frame of mind right now!

[FireDavidKahn]

maybe you're a bible-beater or something and don't get out, but yeah, none of that stuff is anything at all, let alone something anyone would nock him for

I wasn't talking about how I view this stuff, I am talking about how the media would.

2020...me too movement...no issue with learning that an athlete gambled for a woman's virginity...

Got it.

[Reggie43]

He probably has more rings due to all the extra motivation

[Whoah10115]

3ball is crazy.

But so are people obsessed with ripping Kobe and, now that they think LeBron has firmly passed him, wanna try and crack on Jordan.

Also crazy? The people who think anyone is half as good as Jordan.

And I am bored enough to get into this thread...regrets, already.

[3ball]

I wasn't talking about how I view this stuff, I am talking about how the media would.

2020...me too movement...no issue with learning that an athlete gambled for a woman's virginity...

Got it.
benign college stuff that wouldn't even get out because of the bro code, which STILL filters most things

for example, apparently Dwayne Wade was going broke gambling on planes with teammates and his financial advisor had to intervene - wade himself told the media this or it wouldn't have gotten out

.. this and most things still don't get out due to the bro code - look what happened to d'fagelo russell when he broke it

and we know MJ ran a tight ship - ain't shit getting out

[TheCorporation]

FDK stay slayinnn

[ClipperRevival]

You don't do what MJ did by being a nice guy. You have to be a bit off in the head to be that driven/competitive. Pre-requisite for the GOAT.

[LostCause]

Don’t think it would matter much, tbh

Jordan was already arguably the biggest man on the planet during the 90s. The fact you even know some of the things here attest to the fact he was almost always under scrutiny, good and bad, and people talked about him. There’s little doubt most athletes nowadays don’t say or do similar things yet it’s hardly made a big deal of (Remember the girl who exposed LeBron trying to hook up with her at the olympics? Hardly talked about today)

I’m not really sure what the expectation is here. You assume he wouldn’t be as popular? That people won’t like him as much? We just saw how much admiration and support the world had for Kobe, who has a rape accusation as well as other skeletons in his closet. The whole world loved him. If anything, he’d just seem more human but I can actually see him being even bigger (Jordan’s competitiveness would give ESPN endless talking points since he’d embrace rivalries and trash talking in ways no current superstar does)

[SpaceJam]

''We've taken the Good Boy image and walked away,'' Jordan added. ''We may have complained about it and told the teacher, or whatever, but we never tried to lower ourselves to that level. We didn't lose our cool or our heads. We maintained our poise.''

Imagine MJ saying this in the era of social media, 'but the Pistons were bullies, we had to tell daddy Stern' :(

[Bronbron23]

Here 3ball seriously thinks a guy who punched multiple teammates in the face wouldn't be a big deal. Neither would a breaking story about trying to gamble away a girls virginity. Neither would a story about how he constantly get's into teammates faces and calls them losers 24/7:roll:

What if Lebron did those things, 3ball?

Even you'd be calling him the GOAT! mj got away with what he could at the time. It was a different day. If he was playing now im sure hed adjust to the times. Hes a smart enough guy.

[Da_Realist]

Don’t think it would matter much, tbh

Jordan was already arguably the biggest man on the planet during the 90s. The fact you even know some of the things here attest to the fact he was almost always under scrutiny, good and bad, and people talked about him. There’s little doubt most athletes nowadays don’t say or do similar things yet it’s hardly made a big deal of (Remember the girl who exposed LeBron trying to hook up with her at the olympics? Hardly talked about today)

I’m not really sure what the expectation is here. You assume he wouldn’t be as popular? That people won’t like him as much? We just saw how much admiration and support the world had for Kobe, who has a rape accusation as well as other skeletons in his closet. The whole world loved him. If anything, he’d just seem more human but I can actually see him being even bigger (Jordan’s competitiveness would give ESPN endless talking points since he’d embrace rivalries and trash talking in ways no current superstar does)

This is just his insecure attempt to snipe at MJ. LeBron fans are just like him.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

He would be an even bigger celebrity...which is absurd.

At one point, Mike ruled sports and entertainment. Pretty sure he's still the most recognized athlete today.

[John Connor]

Pretty sure he's still the most recognized athlete today.

Nope. It's very likely Ronaldo.

LeBron James has a bigger name than Michael Jordan at this point. MJ was far more popular and favored, but LeBron is more famous. It's a product of the era in which they played.

[red1]

benign college stuff that wouldn't even get out because of the bro code, which STILL filters most things

for example, apparently Dwayne Wade was going broke gambling on planes with teammates and his financial advisor had to intervene - wade himself told the media this or it wouldn't have gotten out

.. this and most things still don't get out due to the bro code - look what happened to d'fagelo russell when he broke it

and we know MJ ran a tight ship - ain't shit getting out

you are such a pathetic loser. you actually believe your delusions. :oldlol:




MJ stans like you are the definition of insecurity - you're the biggest losers in the history of this board

[iamgine]

I'd imagine he'd changed his approach. He'd not punch his teammates. He'd be too busy promoting his brand. People usually adjust to the times they live in.

[jlip]

Some of you all are taking your fandom and near worship of MJ much too far. I have heard several professional athletes say that they are extremely glad that their careers did not overlap the era of social media considering some of the things they did when they were playing.

Without question, if some of the things that were mentioned by the OP had happened in today's climate, MJ would have been taken through the mud and dragged through the dirt. We literally have celebrities who was loved in the 90s and early 2000s suddenly getting castigated because of tweets from 10 years ago and allegations of impropriety from decades ago.

[warriorfan]

He would have been even bigger with all the extra exposure. It’s tough to imagine how large but that is what it would be.

[LostCause]

Nope. It's very likely Ronaldo.

LeBron James has a bigger name than Michael Jordan at this point. MJ was far more popular and favored, but LeBron is more famous. It's a product of the era in which they played.

If we’re talking currently, it’s debatable. In Jordan’s prime he was much bigger than LeBron is currently though

Today it’s debatable. Kobe was arguably bigger than LeBron as well (Bron bigger domestically but Kobe was huge globally, as we saw with all the tributes pouring in from everywhere)

[LostCause]

Some of you all are taking your fandom and near worship of MJ much too far. I have heard several professional athletes say that they are extremely glad that their careers did not overlap the era of social media considering some of the things they did when they were playing.

Without question, if some of the things that were mentioned by the OP had happened in today's climate, MJ would have been taken through the mud and dragged through the dirt. We literally have celebrities who was loved in the 90s and early 2000s suddenly getting castigated because of tweets from 10 years ago and allegations of impropriety from decades ago.

Youre over analyzing

Here’s an example. Kobe has tons of videos of berating his team, calling them soft, bitches, etc. called a ref a ******. Has a sexual assault allegation. Yet Kobe was still revered with great respect and adulation. Didn’t affect his popularity. Sure, you have a collection of people who want to talk about what he did wrong, but the overwhelming majority of people don’t really care

Short of Jordan blatantly raping a woman or beating her, then being recorded talking shit about her and women as well as publicly ridiculing the LBGTQ community, most folks would just brush everything else off. Not to mention his PR team was great too

[brutalBBQ]

Jordan took over from Magic in the 90s
LeBron will always be in MJs shadow, unless he gets another 4 rings

[pauk]

MJ scored 40+ nearly twice as often as anyone else, so his heroics, posters, and fadeaways would light up social media nightly, and more often than anyone else

social media would elevate him more than ever before

it would highlight his goatness more than ever before, which would drown out the occasional hater posting about his late night gambling or other exploits

Also, MJ already faced the most scrutiny of his day and thrived on it - his gambling exploits the night before playoff games was front page news and legendary.. still 6/6

:no:

Dan Majerle, Byron Scott, Derrick Mckey, Nate McMillan, Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller, Danny Ainge, Jeff Hornacek and Craig Ehlo... have been replaced by Lebron, Kobe, Giannis, Kawhi, T-Mac, Wade, Harden, Durant and so on and so on.... i love Jordan, grew up watching him and singing "if i could be like Mike".... he is the GOAT.... but to play around this/past decade would not equalize his 90s achievements/legacy....

[LostCause]

:no:

Jordans matchups would be much better than Dan Majerle, Byron Scott, Derrick Mckey, Nate McMillan, Reggie Miller, Danny Ainge and Jeff Hornacek.......

Not to mention... teams...
I get what you’re going for but Nate and Reggie shouldn’t be on that list. Both were excellent

[John Connor]

If we’re talking currently, it’s debatable. In Jordan’s prime he was much bigger than LeBron is currently though

Today it’s debatable. Kobe was arguably bigger than LeBron as well (Bron bigger domestically but Kobe was huge globally, as we saw with all the tributes pouring in from everywhere)

Kobe escaped mostly pre social media also. He got the beginning of it, but his career mostly avoided it.

And no it's not a debate with Kobe whatsoever. If LeBron died tomorrow, it would be even more shocking than Kobe's death and you would see very similar outpouring of emotions.

Remember, we're talking about who is more famous anyways... not about who the most loved is. And we're not talking about who was bigger in their prime... we're talking about who is bigger and more recognizable now. I was responding to a claim that poster made, and you're sidetracking for some weird reason.

Why are we even talking about this? I made commentary on a claim that person made. You're just arguing because, apparently, you somehow take offense to the idea that LeBron James is a bigger name than Michael Jordan right now... well... I don't know what to tell you other than to consider therapy.

[FKAri]

Lebron's def more popular than Kobe and it has very little to do with their basketball abilities. The marketing, globally for both was noticeably different.

[tpols]

I get what you’re going for but Nate and Reggie shouldn’t be on that list. Both were excellent


im not sure i follow pauk's logic. is he really trying to claim all those second rate guys and compare them to only top tier from now?

mj still had to see shaq, drob, mutumbo, zo, ewing, lambier, parish, malone etc. when he got by his initial man.

whose bran seeing today? rudy gobert or roy hibbert?

[3ball]

:no:

Dan Majerle, Byron Scott, Derrick Mckey, Nate McMillan, Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller, Danny Ainge, Jeff Hornacek and Craig Ehlo... have been replaced by Lebron, Kobe, Giannis, Kawhi, T-Mac, Wade, Harden, Durant and so on and so on.... i love Jordan, grew up watching him and singing "if i could be like Mike".... he is the GOAT.... but to play around this/past decade would not equalize his 90s achievements/legacy....
^^^ nonsense cherry-picking

here's the guys you listed and my counter is in parentheses:

Lebron (MJ), Kobe (Magic), Kawhi (Drexler or Hill), T-Mac (Dominique), Wade (Penny), Harden (Payton), Durant (Bird)...

And Giannis is a big man that mirrors Shaq or Robinson's type of dominance and winning, or even Malone or peak Barkley.

So MJ's era matches today's era at the SG and SF spots, while destroying today's game at the PF and C spots.. today's era only has PG's as it's lone advantage (which means weaker teams due to ball-domination.. today's era also has weaker teams due to team-hopping/talent-based winning vs. organic teamwork/superior brand of prior eras)

carry on

[Phoenix]

:no:

Dan Majerle, Byron Scott, Derrick Mckey, Nate McMillan, Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller, Danny Ainge, Jeff Hornacek and Craig Ehlo... have been replaced by Lebron, Kobe, Giannis, Kawhi, T-Mac, Wade, Harden, Durant and so on and so on.... i love Jordan, grew up watching him and singing "if i could be like Mike".... he is the GOAT.... but to play around this/past decade would not equalize his 90s achievements/legacy....

The list of players you listed as 'MJ's competition' weren't really his competition, in the sense that he was playing in a bigman era. So guys like Shaq, Ewing, Malone, Barkley, Mutumbo, Mourning would be more relevant 'roadblocks' compared to other shooting guards/wings of the era. People refer to all manner of subjective manner and accolades, but to me one of MJ's best arguments for GOAT is that he dominated an era he really shouldn't have. Conventional wisdom was to anchor your offense from the inside/post. MJ as a 6'6 wing was the best player at a point when the best player, just by how the game was played, 'should' have been a big. Even when you consider Bird being the best in the mid-80's, he could get down in the post and he had bigs in Parish and Mchale who could generate high volume offense from there. MJ never had that component on his teams. In fact he himself became that component, especially in the 2nd 3peat.

Furthermore the inverse of the argument that 'MJ didn't have those guys to deal with' is that those guys didn't have MJ to deal with either. We just saw a diet coke version of 97 MJ in Kahwi just win the championship. You put MJ on the right team( imagine him on this year's Clippers team, for example) and he's racking up championships. No, 6/6 likely isn't happening because there's more player movement. Even the Warriors weren't able to match the Bulls success and eventually fell to ego and injuries. Really, he wouldn't have to have a perfect finals record to be considered GOAT today, when you have little 15 year olds arguing that Lebron is GOAT while winning a championship once every 3 finals.

[r0drig0lac]

Nope. It's very likely Ronaldo.

LeBron James has a bigger name than Michael Jordan at this point. MJ was far more popular and favored, but LeBron is more famous. It's a product of the era in which they played.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/images/smilies/no.gif

[Soundwave]

LeBron still isn't that popular outside of "core basketball fans" in a lot of ways.

Jordan was famous in the way Princess Diana, Madonna, Michael Jackson were. In the 90s there were tons of people who had to have a Bulls shirt/cap/jacket or an Air Jordan one, even women, because it was a status symbol, "cool" brand to wear. And these are people that don't know anything about basketball or care.

90s "famous" was bigger than current day famous. Nowadays its been watered down and you have people like the Kardashians being famous and you can contact your favorite people though Instagram, Twitter, etc.

The 80s/90s were really the ultimate era of celebrity-ism I think.

[LostCause]

Kobe escaped mostly pre social media also. He got the beginning of it, but his career mostly avoided it.

Kobe just retired a few years ago. If people wanted to tarnish him or make a stand about something he did, they would’ve. Yet largely they didn’t


And no it's not a debate with Kobe whatsoever. If LeBron died tomorrow, it would be even more shocking than Kobe's death and you would see very similar outpouring of emotions.

I’m pretty sure his global popularity was larger


we're talking about who is bigger and more recognizable now. I was responding to a claim that poster made, and you're sidetracking for some weird reason.

Why are we even talking about this? I made commentary on a claim that person made. You're just arguing because, apparently, you somehow take offense to the idea that LeBron James is a bigger name than Michael Jordan right now... well... I don't know what to tell you other than to consider therapy.


FYI, there’s no upvote or And1 system here. No need to fish for those things saying dumb shit like that

You made a claim I disagreed with so I responded. It ain’t that deep. Similarly, you responded to someone saying Jordan was the most popular athlete in the world yourself so you just sound silly bitching about why you’re arguing about it now lol

[Axe]

Lebron's def more popular than Kobe and it has very little to do with their basketball abilities. The marketing, globally for both was noticeably different.
Then how come iggy says that kobe is actually harder to guard than lebron?

[FKAri]

LeBron still isn't that popular outside of "core basketball fans" in a lot of ways.

Jordan was famous in the way Princess Diana, Madonna, Michael Jackson were. In the 90s there were tons of people who had to have a Bulls shirt/cap/jacket or an Air Jordan one, even women, because it was a status symbol, "cool" brand to wear. And these are people that don't know anything about basketball or care.

90s "famous" was bigger than current day famous. Nowadays its been watered down and you have people like the Kardashians being famous and you can contact your favorite people though Instagram, Twitter, etc.

The 80s/90s were really the ultimate era of celebrity-ism I think.

I think I agree. There are far more media channels and outlets now per capita than there were in the 90s. Everyone was exposed to a much more narrow media and group of celebrities. ie your sports hero was more likely to be mine and your most heard song of the year was likely to be mine.