Michael Jordan truly dominated the NBA during his playing days. He won numerous titles and reached a stature that most can only imagine. Jordan had many weapons in his arsenal and used them wisely as per the needs. Be it a killer midrange shot or dunking all over a defender, MJ could do almost anything.
If there was something that Jordan never embraced was his 3-point shooting. For most of his career, he was a mediocre shooter from beyond the arc. Fans have always wondered what if Mike improved that aspect of his game? Would he rank higher on the all-time scoring list? Most likely. But what is the reason behind Mike’s negligence of the three-point shot?
‘His Airness’ explained it in an interview back during the 1992 NBA Finals. The Chicago Bulls legend said:
“My three-point shooting is something I don’t want to excel at because it takes away from all phases of my game. My game is fake, drive to the hole, penetrate, dish-off, dunk. When you have that mentality of making threes, you don’t go to the hole as much. You go to the three-point line and start sitting there, waiting for someone to find you. That’s not my mentality, and I don’t want to create it because it takes away from the other parts of my game.”
Jordan’s go-to moves during his prime were majorly focused on inside scoring. If he were to revamp his game, it might have done more harm than good to his skill set.
After all, he did once tried it in his career and it didn’t end well for him. We are referring to the time Jordan took part in a 3-point contest and performed awfully. In fact, Michael still holds the record for the worst performance in NBA history in a 3-point contest.
Moreover, during MJ’s era, the league as a whole didn’t rely much on shooting from beyond the arc. The game was a bit more physical at the time and the players honed their inside scoring skills. If he did play in today’s era, he might have managed to be at least a reliable three-point shooter if not immensely good at it.
