Michael Jordan is an absolutely ruthless person when it comes to competing with people. Jordan doesn’t want to just win, he wants to win and send a message of dominance to anyone who may have any lingering doubts. By the time he retired in 1998, he had solidified himself as the greatest player ever with a sixth championship. But Jordan was ready to compete in the locker room 15 minutes after the buzzer had sounded.
Legendary sportscaster Dan Patrick was waiting to interview Phil Jackson and MJ after what was their ‘Last Dance.’ Patrick decided to jokingly goad MJ by saying he wanted to come into the league and challenge MJ.
Michael Jordan gave a response that shocked Patrick and left him with a memorable story for life.
“He just hit the shot to beat the Utah Jazz, it’s the perfect way to go out. He’s going into business, retirement, whatever he’s gonna do with his life… Michael would come in his socks, his jersey would be untucked, full of champagne, and with a Cuban cigar, and a big smile on his face. Phil Jackson is already in there waiting to go on… We are at commercial break and Michael says to Phil, ‘you’re gonna be around doing this, I’m not.’ He’s basically asking coach if he could do it first. He sits down and we do the interview. He loves being challenged, he loves it when you have fun with him. He was competitive that way. He gets up and we go to commerical and Phil Jackson gets up.”
“I say, ‘hey, it’s a shame you’re retiring man, because I wanted a piece of you.’ So, he’s got the game ball with him and a cigar, he’s like ‘how would you guard me MFer?’ And I got my suit and tie on. ‘Come here, let me see how you would guard me MFer.’ So I go and put my forearm in the middle of his back and he’s like, ‘is that all you got?’ He gave me this look like, ‘yeah, you’re lucky I am retiring.’ And he walked out the door.”
Jordan was incredibly competitive, and the fact that he wanted a journalist to show him how they would guard him is incredible, especially if he was on his way out of the sport.
A Competitive Fire Breeds Winning
If an NBA player isn’t ready to compete with everything that they’ve got on the court, they won’t ever be a high-level winner. The reason why Jordan stands above everyone is because of his incredible competitive nature. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and others who have come close to challenging MJ’s greatness carry that same mentality.
Going on the court and wanting to destroy your opponent is what helps the elite players separate themselves from each other. Moments of greatness are birthed out of competitiveness on the court, and Jordan embodied it like nobody else in this sport, as players said they wanted to be like Mike.
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