Michael Jordan is viewed as the greatest basketball player to ever play in the NBA. One of the greatest abilities that Jordan possessed was never wavering from taking clutch shots during the playoffs.
He has many iconic game-winners during his career, such as hitting the final shot vs. the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, winning the sixth NBA title of his career. But not every player possesses that clutch gene. Jordan once provided a very simple explanation for the ‘pressure’ that players feel during clutch situations.
“Some guys in the league right now, their regular seasons are different than the playoffs,” Jordan explained, per ESPN. “Why is that? Because it’s a different kind of pressure. Those guys, when it gets stripped down, don’t believe in themselves. They aren’t sure they can hit the big shot, so they can’t. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Jordan then mentioned how lack of practice is the primary reason why some players feel pressure when taking clutch shots.
“If you have doubt or concern about a shot, or feel the ‘pressure’ of that shot, it’s because you haven’t practiced it enough,” Jordan said. “The only way to relieve that pressure is to build your fundamentals, practice them over and over, so when game breaks down, you can handle anything that transpires.
“I could beat you one-on-one, from the free throw line, or with a defensive stop. And if you put three guys on me, I’d beat you with a pass to my teammate for an easy open shot.”
Jordan concluded: “People didn’t believe me when I told them I practiced harder than I played, but it was true. That’s where my comfort zone was created. By the time the game came, all I had to do was react to what my body was already accustomed to doing.”
During his career, Michael Jordan scored 28 game-winners, including some iconic buzzer-beaters. But even the great Jordan missed a few clutch shots in his career.
Most notably, Jordan failed to clinch Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals vs. the Los Angeles Lakers with nine seconds left on the clock. Jordan’s jumper went in and out of the rim.
Instead of sulking about that missed jump shot, Jordan led the Bulls to four consecutive wins in the series and won the first NBA Championship of his career. He averaged a stunning 31.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 11.4 APG in the 1991 NBA Finals.
Michael Jordan’s Secret To Success
Failure is an important part of any sport, including basketball. Even the greatest player of all time failed numerous times in his career.
The differentiating factor was how Michael Jordan bounced back from failure. Jordan famously revealed the secret behind his success in a 1997 commercial for Nike.
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Learning from his mistakes, Jordan became the GOAT. All aspiring athletes need to learn this quality from Jordan if they want to have a long and prosperous career in the NBA.
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