Michael Jordan got to the top of the mountain and stayed there thanks to his relentless pursuit of greatness. Jordan’s singular focus was on winning, and on the latest installment of MJ: Insights To Excellence, he was asked whether today’s players have that same kind of mindset to achieve greatness.
“It’s hard to be hungry when you have,” Jordan said. “Simple as that. I mean, if you don’t have, you are willing to do whatever to have. So my mental approach was, go in, do my job, be the best basketball player I can be, and all the chips and everything outside of that, I had people that were handling that. But basketball court, I’m handling it, right?
“Now it’s like a prerequisite, everybody has to have a logo,” Jordan continued. “… I’m pretty sure I’m part of the reason why everybody tries to get a logo and brand, but the thing is is that that brand established based on what I did on the basketball court. I didn’t put the brand before I put the work. I put the work first, and then the brand evolved based on the work.
“A lot of times it’s different,” Jordan added. “You see it in every sport, not just basketball. Football, baseball, everybody’s walking around with a logo and their hat, and I get it. But whatever I did here is never going to affect what I do on the basketball court.”
Jordan, in many ways, laid the blueprint for players on how to be successful not just on the court, but off it as well. He is a billionaire today, and the Jordan Brand is a big reason for it. Jordan and Nike’s relationship began all the way back in 1984, and his excellence on the court helped that partnership flourish.
The iconic “Jumpman” was introduced as the primary logo of the brand in 1988 when it appeared on the Air Jordan III, and is now arguably the most iconic in sports today. By the time that happened, though, Jordan had established himself as a superstar in the NBA. He had won his first scoring title in 1987 and was on his way to winning MVP in 1988.
Nowadays, we see players show off their logos and whatnot even before they have achieved anything of note. Their focus is on building their own brand and profiting from it. Jordan wants the primary focus to be on basketball, but he acknowledged that today’s players are in a completely different environment than he was because of social media.
“I like to think that, if I was playing today,” Jordan stated. “I like to think that no matter what, my game is gonna validate whatever I try to participate in away from the game. It’s really tough for the kids today, and most of them do a great job of navigating what you’re talking about, as you understand that this is always going to be what you’re remembered for basketball, and your love for basketball should always be pure.”
Jordan hopes that he will be remembered for what he did on the court, not the commercial aspect. He definitely doesn’t have to worry about that after winning six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, a DPOY, and 10 scoring titles.
