As an 18-year-old, Michael Jordan vowed to be the hardest work North Carolina Tar Heels coach Roy Williams had ever seen.
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Michael Jordan retired as one of the greatest basketball players we’ve ever seen. The Chicago Bulls leader concluded a distinguished 15-year career with 10 scoring titles, 6 championships, 5 MVPs, and 6 Finals MVPs, among a ridiculously long list of achievements.
However, MJ wasn’t always a talented player. As shocking as it sounds, “His Airness” was actually cut from his high school’s basketball varsity team. And even during his time at the University of North Carolina, according to then-coach Dean Smith, a freshman Jordan was “inconsistent”.
“He (Jordan) was one of the most competitive [players] we’ve ever had in our drills,” Smith said. “He wanted to get better and then he had the ability to get better.”
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Little did Jordan know that his life would change forever after making a promise to his coach.
“Michael Jordan never freaking turned it off”: Roy Williams
Then-assistant coach of the Tar Heels Roy Williams recollected how Michael stated he had worked as hard as anyone back in his high school. However, Williams responded:
“I told him, ‘Excuse me. I thought you just told me you wanted to be the best player to ever play here.’”
According to Roy, an 18-year-old MJ vowed that he would be the hardest worker UNC saw.
″‘I’m going to show you. Nobody will ever work as hard as I work,’” Williams says Jordan told him.
For the next few years, the world saw Jordan absolutely dominate college basketball. MJ averaged a staggering 20/5.5/1.6 and 2.2 steals as a sophomore and 19.6/5.3/2.1 and 1.6 steals as a junior before entering the 1984 draft.
“He never freaking turned it off,” Williams says.
Being one of the most dedicated basketball superstars helped the future-Chicago legend win all the silverware possible. Crazy to believe that MJ switched his gears and stuck true to the promise he made as a teenager.
