Former NBA player Jason Richardson recently shared a story from his rookie season when he was put in a position to match up against NBA legend Michael Jordan. Jordan, who was 38 years old and playing with the Washington Wizards at the time, was not too pleased with his mark. While detailing his experience on “Podcast P with Paul George“, Richardson said:
“My first career start was against Washington. I’m seeing my matchup – it’s Mike. I’m like, ‘Oh s**t, I’m guarding Mike? Oh, it’s on.”
“First play of the game, it’s for me. It’s ran for me. I catch the ball, I see Mike, I’m like, “Oh yeah.” Try to make a move, Mike steals the ball, goes down, boom! Scores a point.”
“Next play, I’m guarding him in the post,” he continued. However, the former Warriors guard also recalled what Jordan’s reaction was to seeing Richardson as his match-up. “They got this young a** rookie on me? Oh hell nah! It’s about to be a long night for you, young m**********r. It’s about to be a long night.”
The panel shared a few laughs as Richardson continued by saying, “Long story short, Mike had 32 that night. I had 8. And he talked s**t to me the whole night.”
Richardson added that he wasn’t sure how to approach the match-up at the time. “I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I didn’t idolize Jordan, but I watched him, and I respected how good he was.”
“This man is at 38 doing this to me. How am I going to survive in this league? He’s 38 and he’s controlling me, he dominated me… This man is 18 years older than and he’s punking me on court, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Richardson’s experience with playing against Jordan tracks with virtually every player’s first match-up against the NBA legend. Even in the twilight of his career, many considered him to be one of the toughest players to guard in the league.
At 38 years old, Jordan had returned to the NBA, coming out of retirement for the second time in his career. While he had certainly lost a step, his shot-creating ability persisted, allowing him to routinely find himself in a position to score.
During the 2001-02 season, he notched an average of 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 41.6% from the field. It is important to acknowledge that Jordan had taken two years off from the game at this point. In light of this, his stats are beyond impressive.
Jason Richardson Was Enamored By Michael Jordan’s Winning Mentality
Although Richardson was drafted by the Warriors, he eventually found himself on the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2007-08 season. While this was eventful enough, what drew attention at this time was the fact that Jordan had become a minority owner in the team.
Richardson admitted to seeking the mentorship of Jordan. However, his experience led him to believe that no one would ever reach the legend’s level purely due to the 6x champion’s mentality. While speaking on “Podcast P with Paul George“, he said:
“We had conversations on certain things he would do or how he approached the game. But you know, that’s Mike. Mike is just different, he’s cut different.”
“Even being around him when he wasn’t talking about basketball, just how competitive he was, his nature of just wanting to win. Nothing matters more than winning.”
Richardson’s experience with Charlotte was short-lived, as he was traded to the Suns midway through his second season. Meanwhile, Jordan went on to buy a controlling stake in the franchise shortly after. However, he eventually went on to sell it to a team of investors in 2023.
