Transcripts

SPEAKER: Michael Jordan announcing his retirement today. Jordan, of course, is considered by many to be the best professional basketball player in history. He joined the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and has been the NBA's leading scorer for the past seven years.

Clyde Turner knows basketball. He played for the Gopher College Team from 1971 to 1974. He was drafted by Milwaukee of the NBA, ended up playing pro ball in Europe. He is the manager of family alternatives in Minneapolis and runs a summer education and basketball camp for children. He joins us now. Good morning, sir.

CLYDE TURNER: Good morning.

SPEAKER: Thanks for coming or for joining us on the phone. What's your impression? Let's start with basketball first. What's your impression? Do you think Jordan was the greatest player ever?

CLYDE TURNER: I certainly think he was one of the greatest players ever. I would put him right at the top, you know what I mean? There's been some other great players. And I could list with James and Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, of course, Magic Johnson, who recently retired as well. And there's some others that we can throw in there as well who was also great players, but I would rate him right at the top, no question about that.

SPEAKER: He had an amazing impact on kids, or so it seems. Is that your impression, too?

CLYDE TURNER: Well, it definitely. I mean, through his the products of his shoes and sweatshirts and t-shirts and hats and his image.

I mean, he had a godlike type image. And also his physical attributes and success that he had on the basketball court were just, I mean, just fantastic. So, I mean, it was overwhelming the kind of input that he put into being a professional basketball player as well as a role model and mentor, for not only youth but as well as adults as well.

I mean, I certainly appreciate it watching him and seeing him over the years perform because he always gave 2,000% every night, every time he came out, no matter how weak the opposition was or how tough the opposition was.

SPEAKER: In terms of his impact on children. Do you think he's been a good role model? I mean, he has gotten involved in some controversies, especially in recent years, apparently involving gambling and the rest.

CLYDE TURNER: I think he's been a very good role model. I think no one is perfect in this society. I think it's unfortunate when all that weight and responsibility has to be put on a professional athlete, or a politician, or a CEO of a corporation or a social worker like I am. I think we have our weakness and we have our strong point.

And if gambling was a weakness on his part, I don't think he was destroying anybody mentally, emotionally, and physically. There's a lot of issues that's going on in our society today where we have drugs. We have violence. We have high unemployment and a lot of other things that I could list, that's detrimental to our society and our country.

He wasn't a part of that. He gave folks hope. He gave them great entertainment. He gave them the hope of maybe-- if you set your goals high enough, that you can achieve as well. And the little negative publicity came out about the gambling part. But I don't think that should keep him out of the hole of Fame and has been one of the best role model, professional athlete we've ever had in this country.

SPEAKER: Do you see any problem with athletes like Michael Jordan becoming such visible salesmen for products in this case, for example, very well known as a Nike salesman? Does that cause kids, especially to spend way more money than they should on shoes, and the rest? Should athletes be a little more circumspect about that?

CLYDE TURNER: I think so. I think there needs to be some research that goes into that in terms of how it can affect the young population, as well as the old population, too. I realize you're saying the youth, but I think they need to evaluate that further to determine. Because if you get a child that lives in poverty and don't have the resources to purchase a $125 tennis shoes-- advertisement on television is a strong persuasion. It's sort of like rap music and other persuasion that we have in society. And if it becomes a fad or a peer pressure thing where I got to have those tennis shoes to be like everybody else or to be like Mike, then I think it can become a problem and become a burden on that family, on that particular child.

SPEAKER: Last question for you, sir. Do you think-- are you hoping that Michael Jordan will remain in the public eye, do something to keep himself visible to people as a role model of some sort?

CLYDE TURNER: Certainly I think that he's got another calling. I think right now violin is the number one killer in our society, and I would like for him to team up with Hillary Clinton, with politicians, the business community, with the church community, with the prison systems, all the other systems to come together as a collective entity to deal with the issue of violence.

And I really think that he could be an important player in that development. I realize I'm throwing out an idea right now, but I think he can make it happen. I certainly would like to have him as my point guard in doing that, considering all the things that he's done in professional sports.