In the final column of a revealing three-part series, BJ Armstrong talks exclusively to Sky Sports about former team-mate Michael Jordan
Thursday 31 March 2022 08:32, UK
When you know Michael Jordan personally and especially when you knew him at the peak of his basketball-playing powers, it can actually be quite uncomfortable talking about him.
That's because we knew Michael – while the fans knew the superstar, the persona he portrayed when he was in the spotlight.
With MJ, such was his transcendent ability, that spotlight followed him wherever he went and I never got the chance to see him from the fan's perspective, from the viewpoint of an outsider.
The character, the 'Air Jordan' figure that he created, was something that I think he did because, truthfully, he wasn't fully comfortable being a star. I don't know that for sure, but his ability was so ridiculously incredible that he had to create something which allowed him to cope with it.
I think he recognised that persona and he understood the business of what that person meant to the league, to the team, to the fans, to nearly everyone except those of us working closest to him.
But as I mentioned, one of the things that's always I found interesting about him is that on a deep level I don't think he ever wanted to be a star. I don't ever think it's occurred to him to say, 'I'm playing the game so I can be this transcendent superstar'. It was more like something that he knew he had to tolerate and put up with.
It didn't enter into the equation of the real reasons why he wanted to play but I think he understood that it was part of what was going to come with the territory when he made the commitment to be the very best version of himself. I think it was so incredibly simple to him, that he never even thought twice about it because he never ever allowed Air Jordan to enter into the locker room, or a conversation.
That's testament to the team-mate he was but it also gets me thinking: what tools did he use to ensure he managed to become that very best version of himself?
Obviously, after playing in the league and working in the front office in Chicago, I've had an opportunity to peek behind the curtain at thousands and thousands of athletes and I have never seen anyone like MJ.
People would immediately think about the ridiculous level of talent he has but I think his main gift is his discipline. He has an incredible amount of discipline, more discipline than I've ever seen, and there's nothing - I repeat, nothing - that was ever going to get in his way. Nothing was going to stop him and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to give the very best effort at all times.
That concentrated level of discipline and dedication far exceeds people those who are just wanting to be something or talking about being someone in the league. They may have the talent to do it but with a lot of people the question is 'do you have the discipline to do it?'
Everybody wants to get up at eight and work out but some days, for whatever the reason may be, they don't quite get up to eight to workout. He had that motivation, every single day.
I don't care how hard you work, you're not going to be better than him. He's got more talent and he has the discipline to work just as hard or outwork you because he's going to get his reps in every day. The light switch never went off. Pairing that talent with that discipline, to me, you can't match it.
A lot of athletes know what work they need to put in to help them be successful but another thing that just made Michael Jordan different is he knew what not to do. He had an incredible, incredible sense of discipline to say 'no'. That is a very rare thing when you ascend to the elite levels of sport.
At practice, if people would say 'man, you've got to you got to tone it down a little bit'. No.
'You can't play that hard for 82 games'. No. He knew what not to do.
'Oh, you're a star you can do A, B or C'. No. 'You're a star player, you can demand that this guy does that'. No.
Now, did he have that discipline because he had this incredible belief in himself? Probably. But he always, always knew what not to do.
'Do you need help?' No. 'Can you win with this team?' 'I just need guys. We're gonna play hard. We'll figure it out'.
How did he know that? If you were playing and you played hard, he respected you. He never came in said 'I need better players. I need more help. I need more'. How did he know this? Where did he learn that? Where did he have this level of belief and confidence in himself to play at that level? Where do I find this magic potion?
I think a big part of it is he just knew what not to do at any given time but you knew when the game started he's just going to lay it on the line.
As an NBA player, sometimes you get "in the zone". Maybe you'll make your first three or five shots and you'll be thinking 'tonight is my night'. Well, MJ had tapped into that before the game even started. Normally it takes some event to happen to get into the zone but he had already decided 'tonight is my night – and whether I make my first five shots or I miss my first five shots, I know this is my night and it's going to happen for me'.
Now, that level of confidence is a little different. Normally, if you miss your first five shots, you'd begin to think 'well, maybe that's not my night. I've got to do something else'. It didn't matter with him and, how he got there, I can't tell you. You know, I've probably shot a million shots over the course of my life but I recognised that some nights it just wasn't falling. If it's tough going with the shot, then I knew it was my job to figure out how to do something else to contribute to winning.
Somehow, though, that didn't seep into his head. I remember one time he missed something ridiculous, like his first dozen shots in the game. He hadn't made a field goal going into the fourth quarter but, wow, he didn't lose an ounce of confidence! That night, I was passing him the ball because I just wanted to see when he was going to finally say, tonight's not my night. It never occurred to him.
I'm pretty sure we still won the game and, the next night, it was like it never happened.
On top of all of those things, though, I have never seen a competitive drive like Michael Jordan's. For me, when you encountered it, it was just something you knew you hadn't seen before, I think that's why everyone who comes in contact with him mentions it. He's a competitor, through and through, at the utmost level. That's what everyone knows. When you see the other players, that's what they know. When the fans came to see him, that's what they knew. You got a chance to witness someone who drove himself to the absolute limits and even pushed those limits.
It's not just confined to basketball, either. If you're playing cards or something, there's no switching that off. Whatever you're playing with him, it's the same. That's not an act, you don't teach someone to be that extreme.
For all of us who played with him, whether it was in practice or an elimination game in the playoffs, he could play 48 minutes the night before and we could travel right across the country from Sacramento to Chicago and if there's practice the next day, he will be ready.
Then, he will repeat that - over, and over, and over again. It's insane, but he will do it and he will find a way that will push himself to that level. Giving up is not an option, being tired, having an excuse… no, he will find a way – that's just his makeup and the more extreme the conditions, the better he will get.
He played his best basketball when he was hurt. It was a running joke on our team: 'Is MJ hurt?' And if he was hurt we were even more confident because he could just tap into a level that made him even better. I don't know if it forced him to focus more or exactly how he was able to do it. I've seen him play with some serious injuries, things you shouldn't be playing with, and sometimes he looked twice the player he did normally – and that was already amazing.
It's a gift, to have that level of talent and to have that level of drive – but it can be a curse at the same time, it's an all-in-one deal. In order to survive, you have to be aware that there's the person and then with it there's, the character, persona or the competitor or however you want to term it. If there isn't balance there, then the train is going to go off the tracks.
The ultimate genius of Michael Jordan is that he managed to do all of that and achieve success and fulfilment on and off the court - and he did it in a way that is completely inimitable.
BJ Armstrong is a regular pundit on Sky Sports Heatcheck every week. Watch more live NBA games (TV listings here) on Sky Sports this week, subscribe to view the live action.
