FanHouse Michaeljordan

I would argue that Tiger Woods is the most recognizabe athlete on the planet. Sure, more people might know the name "Michael Jordan" or "Brett Favre" but I firmly believe that 90 percent of the world's population who get a chance to see Tiger immediately recognize him. (Does that make sense? No? Moving on...)

Anyway, he was introduced at the halftime of the Stanford-Cal game Saturday (he's a Stanford alum), when Cal fans decided to boo him. Tiger appeared rattled at first (ostensibly looking around for Mr. Weekley) before recovering and claiming that the Cardinal would take care of business in the second half.

MILWAUKEE -- Three guys in the stands have their shirts off and are jumping up and down at a Wisconsin sports event. One has their favorite player's number painted onto his chest and the other two are adorned with the initials of the player.

So what is this, a Green Bay Packers game and it's 25 degrees outside?

Nope. It's 72 degrees indoors, and it's a Milwaukee Bucks game.

The player is rookie sensation Brandon Jennings. In a matter of weeks, the point guard has made the Bucks relevant again.

DENVER -- Do as I say and not as I do.

Or, at least not what Kobe Bryant once did.

While bound for free agency in the summer of 2004, the Lakers star openly spoke about teams he might consider. But Bryant now says Cleveland star LeBron James is making the right decision by deciding earlier this week to stop talking about his impending free agency.

"He doesn't need to,'' Bryant said in an interview with FanHouse while in Denver for Friday's 105-79 loss to the Nuggets. "He did the right thing by not talking about it. I mean, what can you say?''

The Heat drew mostly guffaws when it retired the jersey of Michael Jordan, who never played one second for the franchise. Heat prez Pat Riley suggested it was a move to honor the game's greatest player, but most saw it as a silly bit of marketing showmanship.

MJ attended Thursday's Heat-Cavaliers game with Riley -- the TNT broadcast crew noted that Scottie Pippen also sat courtside, and suggested it might have been some subliminal "pair with Dwyane Wade!" messaging to LeBron James. MJ's presence made the game a bit more weird, and led to a rare political statement from LeBron: he thinks players should stop wearing No. 23 out of deference to His Airness, and he plans to lead the charge by switching to No. 6 next season.

Take it from the pioneer who started this idea of cozy, contractual relationships between the shoe giants and the NCAA schools: adidas has screwed up this time.

Sonny Vaccaro speaks from experience.

"What a PR nightmare for adidas. This should have been a no-brainer,'' Vaccaro said. "It's nothing but a personal thing against Michael Jordan.''

At issue is the recent decision by adidas to severe its relationship with the University of Central Florida, which has a contract that requires all of its athletes and coaches to wear adidas products.

With the start of the 2009-10 season looming, NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Madison Square Garden is the crown jewel of NBA arenas. It's the oldest building in the league, and has hosted a ton of special moments throughout its history. Many of those moments likely helped shaped the hoop dreams of many of the league's current stars.

Of course, no one had a greater influence on making MSG a special place to play than Michael Jordan (sorry, Knicks fans). Since Jordan, every NBA player has wanted to come to the Garden and put on a show.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Thursday, there are 5 days remaining.

It takes five years of retirement for a player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Make it 10 for Dennis Rodman, who always did things differently. He did win five NBA titles.

If you think that Michael Jordan caused a commotion with an unconventional acceptance speech last month when he headlined the Class of 2009, just wait until Rodman shows up in 2010 wearing a dress and lipstick.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Friday, there are 11 days remaining.

The NBA All-Star Game every year is filled with players who never score 2,000 points in a single season.

Karl Malone did it a record 11 consecutive seasons, the most significant statistic he recorded during one of the greatest careers in NBA history.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer is a huge sports fan who tells us that he use to be a boxer and these days he enjoys golf. In this FanHouse exclusive we talk to Cedric at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California (not to be confused with the Sherwood Forest -- home of Robin Hood). Cedric who hangs out with lots of top athletes tells us about the time he was doing Vegas with Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley.

Check out the video after the jump.

Tamir Goodman is retiring. This might not mean much to you because Goodman is better known as "The Jewish Jordan". (This always struck me as weird, although I've since taken to calling Michael Jordan "The Gentile Goodman".)