Michael Jordan could never let anyone get the better of him. Perhaps that mindset is what allowed MJ to become the greatest of all time. But as long as someone would trash-talk him and push the right buttons, Jordan would respond and make sure that comes out on top.
This desire to be the best and always win is what so many fans love about him. After all, professional sports would be nothing without the desire to win and be the best. And no one athlete better exemplifies that attitude better than Michael Jordan.
This is why he is still such a revered figure, with his worn sneakers from his first game in the NBA selling for a whopping $1.5 million recently.
Riling up MJ is never a good idea. And former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller had to learn that the hard way. During a game against the Jazz in 1988, Jordan pulled off a slick move and dunked on point guard John Stockton. Stockton was an undersized player, so the move wasn’t especially tough for him.
As they were going back up the court, then-Jazz owner Larry H. Miller told Jordan to ‘pick on someone his own size’. Naturally, Jordan took the ball in the next position and proceeded to dunk on the Jazz’s center, Melvin Turpin. After dunking the ball, he threw a jab back at the owner, asking if Turpin was big enough for him.
“The story that summed the whole thing up. We were playing Chicago in Salt Lake. They switched and put John Stockton on him (Jordan), and he turned around and dunked on Stockton. So some guy (Miller) got up and almost followed him down the sideline saying ‘hey Jordan, pick on somebody your own size’. Next time down the floor, he dunked on Mel Turpin, and went over and looked at the guy and said ‘was he big enough?’.”
Michael Jordan was unstoppable on the court, and while he took most actions from others personally, that was his way of motivating himself to get the better of everyone else. This is a big reason why he was unbeatable in the NBA Finals and always knew what it took to put an end to his opposition.
Utah Jazz’s fans will probably never admit any love for Jordan. But he did play alongside John Stockton and Karl Malone on the 1992 Dream Team, and there was always mutual respect there.
When John Stockton gave his Hall of Fame speech, he poked fun at Michael Jordan for his infamous shot in the 1998 Finals, getting the audience to laugh, including Michael Jordan. One of the few occasions MJ let someone get a laugh at his expense.
But if anything happened on the court, there was never any doubt about Jordan responding. MJ knew that on the court, the only player who could stop him was himself. And he used that to his advantage, becoming one of the most dominant offensive players in NBA history.
