Michael Jordan spent three years at the University of North Carolina playing as a Tar Heel, from 1981 to 1984, before entering the NBA draft as a top pick. Blessed with quality teammates, such as Kenny Smith and James Worthy, the aspiring hooper worked hard day in and day out to be the best player on the team. Worthy once revealed how the two used to constantly talk smack to each other to push their limits. After his three-year stint in college, Jordan played 15 years in the National Basketball Association and earned a whopping total of $90,000,000 in salaries. MJ was once asked which one of the two stints he enjoyed the most, to which he had a rather shocking response.
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Jordan’s Tar Heels are known for their prominent ‘one-and-done’ practice for top prospects today. However, if his head coach in college, Dean Smith hadn’t stepped in, MJ would’ve stayed on for yet another year, spending all four years in college. However, Smith believed that the young man had no more basketball to learn at UNC. He was already prepared to be one of the best players in the NBA, in just his rookie season. Here is what Jordan said on the matter, during his interview with Marvin R. Shanken in 2005:
“It was Coach [Dean] Smith’s call. I relied so much on his knowledge…Coach Smith felt that it would be the best opportunity for me to make it in professional basketball.”
Michael Jordan opens up on why he enjoyed playing basketball at UNC the most
During the same interview with Marvin R. Shanken, Michael Jordan was asked where he enjoyed playing the most, college or the NBA. To this, most fans would probably expect Jordan to name the league, given how much money he earned and the success he achieved. However, despite winning just one NCAA title in his three years there, MJ declared UNC as his clear favorite. Here is what he said.
“By the time I got to Chicago, I was drafted three, so everybody knew I was at least decent. But at North Carolina, when they recruited me and asked me to attend the university, it was an opportunity to prove myself. Up to that point, everybody had heard that this kid is pretty good, but we don’t know how good. He came from a small town. He wasn’t preseason All-American.
‘He wasn’t in the Top 100 High School kids. He didn’t attend AAU games, and he was not a ranked player in the nation’. The University of North Carolina really gave me the foundation that it took to become a basketball player… That was by far the purest experience for me, and the most satisfying.”
Admittedly, it does make sense why Jordan prefers his time at UNC, rather than the NBA. Given the many controversies that he had to face in his professional career, and the constant, exhausting media attention he got, the more basketball-focused, peaceful environment at college does seem like heaven. It’s likely he viewed it that way.
Jordan’s most iconic moment as a UNC Tar Heel
Michael Jordan had a myriad of highs during his time at North Carolina. However, the one that was undoubtedly the most famous was his shot to win the game against Georgetown in the National Championship Final in 1982. Take a look at the magnificent shot in the YouTube clip by March Madness below.
This was the shot that took him from just ‘Mike’, to ‘Michael Jordan’.
