Michael Jordan was an enormous figure in the NBA during his legendary career. Jordan was one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world during his stint in the NBA, and dominated the rest of the league. While Jordan’s competitiveness and desire to win have been spoken about to a great extent, one NBA legend thinks his fundamentals are not spoken about enough.
Inside The NBA’s Kenny Smith was one of the many former players who were asked to speak about Michael Jordan for his NBA 75 video. While talking about Jordan, Smith noted that Jordan never got credit for being the most fundamentally sound player that ever lived. Other facets of his game such as his explosive offense and constant fighting spirit almost overshadowed his fundamental soundness (0:40 onwards).
“The thing that Michael Jordan doesn’t get the most credit for, probably would be that he is the most fundamentally sound basketball player that ever lived. If you look at all the highlights, you see the dunks, you see the jumps from the free throw line. But when he’s on defense, the correct hand on the passing lane. When he’s boxing out, he turns the correct way. When he’s in defensive position, his weak side, he’s on the right side of the ball. He’s the most fundamentally sound basketball player, who was the greatest athletes. Most guys who are super athletic don’t do that. To me, that’s the one thing he does not get credit for.”
Several other NBA players spoke about their opinions of Michael Jordan. Larry Bird noted that Jordan was better than every other player even in his era. Whereas Dwyane Wade, who grew up in Chicago watching Michael Jordan, said that his presence was that of a superhero.
Jordan influenced so many players that we see in the league today. Some of the best players in the world like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, and all of them grew up watching Jordan and idolizing ‘His Airness’.
