Jordan: ‘They thought I’d end up at a gas station in my town’

On February 17 next year, that is, in 2024, Michael Jordan will be 61 years old. Then, on April 16, It’s been 21 years since he last played on an NBA court. This was the end of that strange phase for the Wizards, a journey that has only become more confusing and unsettling as the years have passed. This happens sometimes. Air JordanA myth that will forever wear a Chicago Bulls jersey. On June 14, 1998, his final game in his unfathomable legend was played in Salt Lake City. as we all knowrobbing Karl Malone, yo-yoing to the other side of the court, a furious feint on Brian Russell and a shutout (86-87).

This is undoubtedly the most iconic basket in NBA history. This is his sixth championship ring in eight years.second 3 Peat. He was 35 years and 117 days old at the time, and he scored 45 of the team’s 87 points to avoid a (final 2-4) Game 7 that would have been a nightmare for some physically and mentally exhausted Bulls teams. It felt like a funeral. bake: last dance, you already know. At the height of the NBA, Jordan transformed the house Larry Bird and Magic built from the ashes into a supersonic highway Johnson. Game 6 of the 1998 Finals was watched by 35.8 million people and had a rating of 22.3. The NBA is swallowed up by the public. At its peak. Michael Jordan at Olympus.

But what was this myth like before it emerged?It’s always a pleasure to go to the newspaper library and see what’s written in the newspapers so

without the patina that now inevitably has on everything about Michael Jordan Thanks for what we know about Michael Jordan. This is a simple equation. Newspaper libraries, for example, extensive magazine coverage Q March 1989 cover. The first sound is still more than two years away.Wearing a suit and tie, pinballing and sharing space with the report explains this Why women like hairy men anyone What is an ideal place for vacation? Michael Jordan looks back on his unfinished road to the NBA throne in words from New York reporter David Breskin.graduated “Michael Jordan is on his own track,” highlighting the superstar’s origins, in the boy born in Brooklyn but forged on the streets of Wilmington, North Carolina. As he struggled between the rim and baseball bat, few saw a future NBA star in him. Not to mention, who was certainly the best player of all time: “Everyone thought he was going to go to North Carolina, sit on the bench for four years, then come back to Wilmington and work at a gas station.”

Jordan was 26 years old when the report was written.I’ve played He signed an eight-year, $26 million contract with the Bulls, but by then his annual off-court income had reached about $5 million.. The empire grew, and the importance of athletes, not to mention African-American athletes, changed as he became a gold mine. Ads are recorded throughout the day. Working all day long and taking strict care of his body put him at odds with his first teammates when he arrived in 1984 on an ailing Bulls team.Article recalls how Jordan was scared During the preseason, at an Illinois hotel, his teammates were found partying in a room: alcohol, marijuana, cocaine… He got nervous, told them to have fun and left. He was nervous, wondering if this was ultimately the only thing the NBA had to offer him. But he didn’t hesitate, not by much: “If they get mad at me for trying to develop positive habits, it’s because I’m stepping on some very soft feet.”

That Jordan comes from Q He is a player looking for his ultimate gear, the ultimate engine of the game. In the first few years, some thought he had achieved more, and then the public began to unanimously respect him. exhibit What substance, more shots to the basket and more points than the Storm Chicha

Letting his team grow: “When I focus on my game, I don’t think anyone can stop me. It’s a very strong feeling, and the connotation is very strong: When I catch the ball, you’re at my mercy.. There is nothing you can do and nothing you can do. My defender listens to me and I can play with him like a puppet. This is something I wouldn’t do on the street, in society. But in the game…yeah. “

The first job in the hotel was very short-lived

Jordan looked back on his childhood. An ax accident nearly cost him a finger, so what would be a brilliant career. He was only five years old. He almost lost a thumb and that was his first childhood memory.Cut pain, fear and combustion When a neighbor mistook alcohol for kerosene, she ended up spraying kerosene on the wound. He never joined his brother in growing tobacco, and when his mother forced him to find a summer job, he tried working as a maintenance worker in a hotel: “I quit immediately. It wasn’t for me. I couldn’t keep strict time.” watch. I never worked again.” Fortunately, basketball came naturally, albeit late.It took a while for his body to recover grow Few people count on: “No one in my family is over 1.80. So I asked my mother how tall the milkman was and how tall the postman was…“. Later, in 1989, he still did not talk about formal relationships, and he felt uncomfortable when he had to combine success with his personal life: “There are no women in my life. I don’t trust anyone but my mom. So you could say she’s Defender of the Year“.

In the article, Jordan also spoke candidly about an issue that later came up repeatedly when assessing his legacy: race.Jordan broke taboos and entered territory that many African-Americans have yet to tread: “I think they started to see me as a person, like that. Not like a black man. I think that was uncharted territory for society. I It’s nice to be a pioneer. When I ask not to be seen as black or white, I mean to be seen as one. I know what my race is. But I see those white kids, when they’re not old enough, Can’t understand how they see me when it comes to anything. If they see me and like watching me play, see me as a person and like it, I think I’m accomplishing something. But if I fail, their parents will come over and know what they will tell them. They might make you stop thinking Michael Jordan the person

and think Michael Jordan the black man“. The price of fame? Here’s another aspect I’m just starting to understand: “It’s a compliment to be on the altar. But it’s painful to see one person above others. If I go to a restaurant, I probably don’t have to pay. But poor people have to pay by washing dishes. And I, Those who can afford it don’t have to pay.”

At that time, Jordan had “only slept five or six hours a day”: “I woke up from nightmares. There was always something I did wrong.” I’ve robbed banks, I’ve done cocaine, I’ve succumbed to the pressure of drugs, I’ve drank too much… these are my nightmares, I did something that would ruin a lot of people’s perceptions of me. That was the worst thought for me, what if I made a mistake, what would people think. Everyone thinks it’s easy to be Michael Jordan because of all the good things that have happened to me, but what scares me the most are the bad things, the bad things that could ruin our image of Michael Jordan. This is my biggest fear. “