On October 6th, 1993, Michael Jordan announced his first retirement. He was 30 at the time. During the preceding period, the Chicago Bulls won a three-peat, which no team has been able to do, except the ’96-’98 Bulls and the L.A. Lakers in the early 2000s.
Jordan’s father was murdered close to this stage in his career, which added to his loss of focus at professional basketball.
In March 1995, due to a Major League Strike in baseball, Jordan announced, “I’m Back.”
At age 32, after two years out of the NBA, and with Hakeem Olajuwon playing his best basketball, there wasn’t one commentator, analyst, or player in the league, who believed that Air Jordan would return to his previous self.
On May 18th, 1995, in a critical play versus the Orlando Magic, led by a young Shaquille O’Neill, a rising star named Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael and caused Jordan to lose the series. After the game, Nick said that he couldn’t have done that to pre-retired Jordan.
Across the league and in the media, an obituary-themed summer was drafted, citing how impossible it was to come back at age 32 with all the young talent and many key players at the prime of their careers, but Jordan didn’t take a break that summer.
The following year, 1996, the Bulls won the championship. In 1997, at age 13, I saved _Bar-Mitzvah _money and flew to see the playoffs myself. I caught two post-season games, one against the Heat and another against the Hawks.
Jordan won the championship again and completed a three-peat, raising him to legendary status, in 1998.
Making comebacks is next to impossible, but when done, often the lessons learned prove resiliency.
Since bottoming at $5,900, Bitcoin is already up close to 40% and trading above $8,100.
I’m currently in Alaska and will be sharing with you this coming Sundaymany of the priceless ideas one can formulate when in this type of inspirational environment.
One of the towns we baked salmon at, during our time here, is called “Liarsville.” It is named after the mainstream press, which reported the vast wealth made by the prospectors during the 1898 gold rush, without detailing the incredible hardships the prospectors suffered along the way.
Their purpose was to sell papers, which meant telling the public what it wanted to hear. Similarly, the bought-and-paid-for corporate media outlets of today, which are owned and financed by Wall Street interests, don’t want us to make a killing outside the stock market with cryptocurrencies because they can’t capitalize on it, so they have been bashing Bitcoin for years.
Forbes, in 2011, wrote a piece about the end of Bitcoin. Then, in 2015, it was USA Today’s turn. We’ve seen plenty of newspapers running with this theme over the past three months as well.
There is no end to Bitcoin – there are only major hiccups, like the ones Jordan experienced and many other athletes, stocks, and ideas before Bitcoin and after, in the years to come.
Today, Bitcoin is proving, with every 24 hour period that goes by, that $4.1B worth’ of transactions can securely be exchanged using its blockchain.
The difference between previous slumps for cryptocurrencies and the one we just experienced, which started in January and looks to be ending now, is that this time the entire world has witnessed how phenomenal blockchain technology is.
With the coming addition of a retail-focused ETF, we expect this sector to deliver us with a second opportunity to make obscene returns like we experienced in 2017.
Pay attention.
Best Regards,
Lior Gantz
President, WealthResearchGroup.com
