“Had enough?”: When Michael Jordan at age 23 took on His Airness at age 39 in perhaps the greatest basketball commercial that Nike has ever featured the Bulls legend and Charlotte Hornets owner in

Amulya Shekhar | 07/03/2022
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When Michael Jordan turned 40 while playing for the Washington Wizards during his last bow, sentiments ran pretty high.

It is safe to say that perhaps no other athlete across sports has had the impact that MJ had on basketball. There were other dominant athletes before Jordan came along – Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving immediately come to mind.

But nobody was anywhere near as watchable, as much of a showstopper as the 6’6″ uber-athletic MJ. I mean, how does a rookie start getting GOAT comparisons from his Olympics head coach BEFORE he makes his NBA debut? Bobby Knight certainly thought so in 1984.

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It wasn’t long before the whole world echoed the exact same sentiments as the legendary Indiana Hoosiers coach. When Michael retired from basketball for the first time in the wake of his father’s untimely murder, it was like the entire world went into mourning.

But 23 came back as 45 once, and then as 23 again on the Washington Wizards for a third and final spell. And nothing underlines the deep love that Michael Jordan had for his craft better than one of his commercials from his Wizards tenure.

This amazing Michael Jordan commercial shows him playing 1v1 against his 23-year-old self

Michael Jordan embarked on his first scoring title run when he was 23 years of age. That was his 3rd season in the league, and he’d just come off dropping 63 points on the all-time great 1985-86 Celtics squad at the Boston Garden. He averaged 37 points per game that year – still a post-merger scoring average record.

23-year-old MJ would absolutely give any and every player in NBA history the business on both ends. On a nightly, possession-to-possession basis. But if there’s one player in history who’d be absolutely ready for that challenge, it had to be his own 39-year-old self.

This commercial, appropriately titled ’23 vs 39′, gives us an insight into the psychopathic mindset of MJ.

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These are the moments that underline exactly why MJ warned us all he really might return to professional basketball during his Hall of Fame induction speech back in 2009. They also form the backbone of why his legacy will legitimately never be topped on a basketball court.

Post Edited By: Amulya Shekhar
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About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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