Michael Jordan is the GOAT for most NBA fans. There isn’t anyone that has reached his level of greatness in the eyes of most people. MJ was an unstoppable force when he was in the league, his playoff average is someone no one has been able to replicate. His scoring averages in regular season games were also incredible. Jordan was undoubtedly the best of the best.
Becoming as great as MJ took a lot of things. He was as far from being one-dimensional as any player has been. His offensive repertoire included shots from midrange as well as incredible dunks, especially early in his career. On defense, Jordan could lock just about anyone down, a huge part of what makes him the consensus greatest player of all time.
However, there was more to it than that. Jordan became who he was thanks to his obsessive need to improve, be the best, and win. He was motivated like few have ever been in the history of the game and used any number of slights to motivate himself, real or imagined. And the mental aspect of it is perhaps the most important, although Jordan had other ideas about what made him the best.
Michael Jordan On His Greatest Skill
Many have spoken about the various things already discussed as the reason for MJ’s brilliance. However, the man himself named an aspect of it that people often underrate.
“My best skill was that I was coachable.
I was a sponge and aggressive to learn.”
— Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/t8cu4k6xbI
— Ball is Psych (@BallisPsych) December 28, 2019
“My best skill was that I was coachable. I was a sponge and aggressive to learn.”
The NBA and basketball are unique in the aspect that one star can become the fulcrum of a championship-winning team. This means that individual players are put on a pedestal much greater than in other team sports. So to be the type of player that listens to coaching and makes the most of the advice on offer while being the biggest star ever is a huge mark in his favor.
That’s not to say that his other skills weren’t a reason for his greatness though, Stephon Marbury once spoke about being in awe of Michael’s basketball abilities.
“Jordan has so much flash in his handle that people don’t even realize because he wasn’t dribbling the basketball… He literally was like palming the basketball as he was dribbling the basketball. So, you can make the basketball go wherever you wanted to go.”
Everything needs to come together for a player to achieve a similar status to MJ’s talent level. But to be able to absorb the wisdom you need to improve is a large factor in it. There are many players in the modern game that could learn from this mindset.
