Michael Jordan looked up to two people growing up, specifically his brother Larry Jordan and baseball player Billy Martin. In a vintage interview shot during his first few years in the league, MJ explained why he looked up to both of his idols.
“Larry used to be a very talented basketball player and still is. Whenever I was about his height, he used to wear me out in the backyard, and I guess from that determination just to beat him, I guess that made me work hard, and he’s just an outstanding basketball player at his height,” Jordan said.
Who is Larry Jordan?
Larry is the second child among the four children in the Jordan family. Growing up, Michael was often compared to him, which is how he developed his competitive gene. Both brothers used to play a ton of basketball games together, to the point that MJ admitted it was Larry who shaped his game.
“Man, my older brother Larry used to kill me!” Mike told Scoop Jackson in an interview for the July 1996 issue of SLAM Magazine. “He was older and bigger than me. He would beat me, talk to me, and not let me forget about it. What that did for me was make me work that much harder to beat him. He had no idea that I was going to end up taller than him. I look at my games with him as a great experience when I was young because I developed my love for the game, and it made me work harder to get better.”
Michael also once admitted that Larry was better than him in high school when the former didn’t make it to his varsity team. His older brother was actually the best player on that squad. Then, one summer, Mike went from being just 5’9″ to 6’4″ in under a year, which significantly improved his game.
He spent countless hours working on his craft. In two years, MJ went from being rejected by his high school varsity team to becoming one of the best prospects in the country, as he averaged 29.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game in high school.
Martin’s persona
Jordan looked up to Billy Martin and his swagger. As someone who also grew up wanting to be a baseball player, Michael wanted to mimic Martin on the field. This eventually manifested because he loved being on the basketball court.
“I just like his controversial attitude. He always aroused the fans and still maintains a good record,” Jordan said.
The two people MJ looked up to happened to play big roles in his personality and success on the court. Larry sparked his passion for the game and competitive fire on the court, while Martin shaped his killer persona.