Michael Jordan is generally considered the greatest in NBA history, and there’s no doubt that he was an extremely dominant player in the 1990s. He managed to three-peat twice with the Chicago Bulls and had an unblemished 6-0 record in the NBA Finals. It is highly unlikely that we’ll ever see a player match Michael Jordan’s accomplishments in the game.
Recently, John Salley shared a story that illustrated just how good Michael Jordan was. He shared his experience as part of the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls team, claiming that he knew the team was not going to lose that year because every opposing player was afraid of Michael Jordan. (1:04:55)
I knew we weren’t going to lose… When you walk in you already know you’re going to win? When you walk in. You see the other guys looking at you… Everybody was afraid of Michael. Everybody.
There is no doubt that Michael Jordan was a player that instilled fear in his opponents. This sentiment from John Salley isn’t unique, and Steve Kerr also stated that everyone was “just afraid of him”.
“Well, he wasn’t humble. But in a good way. Like he was, Michael just dominated games spiritually, emotionally.”
“You walk out there on the floor and you looked down, cuz I was an opponent many years playing against Michael. You walked on the floor back then and you looked down you saw him, and you were kinda like, I don’t think we are gonna beat this guy…everybody was just afraid of him.”
It is clear that Michael Jordan had a mental edge over his opponents, and that definitely played to the Bulls’ advantage. Michael Jordan dominated opponents in every facet of the game, and it must have been difficult to play against a player that had an answer for everything you did.
Larry Bird Once Revealed That Pacers Players Believed They Couldn’t Win Against Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan dominated the Eastern Conference during the 1990s, and it is clear that he demoralized many franchises and players during that time. In fact, Larry Bird once claimed that his players were afraid of Michael Jordan, adding that the team “was convinced they couldn’t beat the Bulls” while he was there.
“One of the most frustrating games of my short coaching career was when we played Chicago at the United Center during my first season,” Bird explained in his 1999 book Bird Watching, via Sportscasting. “Every guy on my team was turning down shots. They were completely out of sync. It was a difficult game for me to watch, because my guys kept hesitating. I didn’t know why they did that. I had never seen them do that before. Then I realized — it was Michael Jordan. My team was convinced they couldn’t beat the Bulls as long as Jordan was there.”
“I told my guys, ‘The next time we play Chicago, I want you to knock Michael Jordan flat on his butt if you get the chance. That’s part of the game, understand?’ But they wouldn’t do it. He had them too psyched out. Michael Jordan played the mind game better than almost anyone. He really knew how to get inside people’s heads.”
This is a wild story to hear, and it is insane to think about that the Indiana Pacers players were even afraid to do anything overly physical against Michael Jordan. However, this sentiment is understandable, as Michael Jordan was simply too good for anyone to beat in his prime.
It is unlikely that we’ll ever see a player like Michael Jordan ever again. While there have been many great players since his era, there is only one Michael Jordan. We will not see a player this dominant for a long time, if at all in the future.
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