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Michael Jordan had more intensity and more will to win than any other athlete on the planet. For that reason, the six-time NBA champ’s typically regarded as the greatest of all-time, as his mental toughness and hunger for victory outweighed anything else — including his own physical attributes. It’s what separated MJ from his peers. It’s what drove him for those long days and nights of extra shots, working out and studying his opponents.
But that passion to be victorious definitely took a toll on Jordan, as it impacted his relationships with teammates, coaches and anyone who dared to get in his way of winning. Let’s face it, when a guy like Michael Jordan is the bar for success, it can be tough to motivate teammates to think the same way, and have them give so much for the chance to win.
While it’s easy to look back now and say it was all worth it for Jordan and his Chicago Bulls’ teams of the ’90s, his Airness seems to be wondering about the toll that his competitiveness may have taken on him. It’s why MJ was driven to tears while filming the upcoming ESPN documentary The Last Dance, where, in Episode 7, he discusses the price of winning, and the impact it had on his reputation as a player.
Per The Athletic‘s Richard Deitsch:
“Look, winning has a price,” said Jordan. “And leadership has a price. So I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn’t want to be challenged. And I earned that right because my teammates who came after me didn’t endure all the things that I endured. Once you joined the team, you lived at a certain standard that I played the game. And I wasn’t going to take any less. Now if that means I had to go in there and get in your ass a little bit, then I did that. You ask all my teammates. The one thing about Michael Jordan was he never asked me to do something that he didn’t fucking do.”
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“When people see this they are going say, ‘Well he wasn’t really a nice guy. He may have been a tyrant.’ Well, that’s you. Because you never won anything,” said Jordan. “I wanted to win, but I wanted them to win to be a part of that as well.
“Look, I don’t have to do this. I am only doing it because it is who I am. That’s how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don’t want to play that way, don’t play that way.”
It’s one of the rare times Michael Jordan lets down his guard, as he often holds back and suppresses his feelings. Sure, there’s the whole Crying Jordan meme, but, other than that instance during his Hall of Fame speech, there are only a handful of times most people can remember Jordan being vulnerable enough to actually tear up in front of others. There was his fourth NBA title in 1996 — which he won on Father’s Day, three years after his dad was slain — and a few other moments that come to mind, but, really, Jordan usually doesn’t show his emotions very often.
To see MJ talk about how his will to win may have led to a negative perception from some people is interesting. For a guy who never cared about others’ opinions during his playing days, it’s wild to think about any regrets he has, or if he questions his motivation and will to win while he was with the Bulls. But the fact that Michael Jordan even goes into such depths of the idea — and actually cried while doing so — should only make us more stoked to watch The Last Dance when it premieres on April 19.