Michael Jordan was one of those players who everyone wanted to be around but nobody could be friends with.
For former North Carolina Tar Heel Rick Fox, he understands that reality all too well.
As the former Laker explained to The Ringer, his relationship with Jordan changed once he joined the NBA, and the kindness they once exchanged was almost completely thrown out the window.
Jordan made it clear his kindness would stop the moment they stepped onto the NBA court on opposite sides.
“The Mike I know was the Mike that showed me how to be a shark because, A, I wanted to be like Mike. I had a front row seat to his greatness, and I’m telling you, for two summers, I got to drive his cars, live in his house. I was around him,” Fox says. “And then, as I became a pro, I shifted to ‘I can’t be this guy’s friend. He can’t be my mentor no more. I’ve got to find in myself a way to compete against this animal. I can’t look up to him anymore because he’ll eat me to death.’”
Jordan took the competitive spirit to a whole new level. He wasn’t just a guy who wanted to win games. He wanted to destroy his competition and viewed them as the enemy.
Talent and skill were obviously the main components of MJ’s game, but his killer mindset and determined spirit no doubt only enhanced what he was able to do in a league where everybody was trying to after him.
Doug Collins, Jordan’s former coach, once shared his own story of the basketball legend, detailing how his coaching debut against the Knicks was saved by the then-young MJ.
“Two minutes to go in the game, the game is tied,” Doug Collins said. “And so I come over, I’ve soaked through my suits. I’ve chewed my gum to where it’s a white powder around my mouth. So I sat down to talk to the team and I saw this Black hand come out with a cup of water.
“And I looked up and it was Michael. And he said, ‘Take this cup, drink the water, clean that shit off your mouth. I’m not going to let you lose your first game.’
“I think he scored the last 10 points of the game, had 50, and we walked off and I go, ‘What am I in store for here?’”
Jordan has been retired for nearly two decades now, but his footprint on the league (and basketball as a whole) will never be forgotten.
To this day, he continues to be a model and example for players around the globe. And while his level of commitment to dominating the game is hardly seen anymore, we can at least look back and appreciate his approach.
