During his final year with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan reflected on his illustrious career and broke down his innate abilities. As most fans know, His Airness was always brimming with confidence, but he often made a conscious effort not to shy away from stating facts. MJ tried to explain why he was such an unstoppable basketball player.
Jordan was certain that he had always wanted to play a position where he could fully utilize his analytical skills. In basketball, it’s evidently the point guard position.
However, MJ said that despite knowing the Xs and Os, his ability to destroy any opponent had always stood out, which is why he ultimately dominated at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
“I don’t know. I think I have good hand-eye coordination. I always felt I could be a wide receiver in football. I ran a 4.3 40 back in college. Of course, it was with the school’s watch. In all sports I’ve always wanted to play the position where you can dictate the outcome of the game — pitcher, a base-stealer, quarterback. I can throw a football about 60 yards. But it’s my knowledge of basketball that is really high,” Jordan told ESPN in 1998.
“I know every facet of the game, every trick of the trade, every little motivation, every little technique. But mostly I know how to attack people,” he continued.
Mike’s other skill
Unlike other NBA greats, Jordan was fond of studying mathematics and coming to class. Even though he ended up becoming a basketball player, MJ was still proud to be really good with numbers.
“I’ve never had an IQ test, I don’t want to know my score. I know I’m good at math. I was a math major at North Carolina, until I missed too many classes because of basketball. My sophomore year I switched to geography. But I’m good with numbers. If I study math principles, I can remember them,” Jordan added.
Unbeatable but not the GOAT
Jordan’s skills were undeniable from the moment he played his first game in the NBA. But while Mike’s legacy doesn’t need any further explanation, people eventually began debating about his case as the GOAT.
If you ask MJ, nobody could ever declare who the clear-cut GOAT is, simply because there was no way to find out.
“I never played against Wilt Chamberlain, I never played against Jerry West, to now say that one is greater than the other is being a little bit unfair,” Jordan once said. “I won 6 championships; Bill Russell won 11. Does that make Bill Russell better than me? Or make me better than him? No. Because we played at different eras.”
MJ fans could give a hundred reasons why he could beat anybody and why he is the GOAT. But as it turns out, Jordan did not agree with the sentiment due to the time constraint and the fact that each era has its own greats.