Michael Jordan is the consensus greatest of all time for many basketball fans. The Chicago Bulls legend recently sat down with ABC Australia to talk about The Last Dance Documentary. While on the show Jordan was even extensively asked about his Bulls teammate and Australian big man, Luc Longley. While talking about Luc and The Bulls, Jordan agreed with a statement made by Longley, about the difficulties of living a normal life after having played a competitive sport. Jordan even shared a story where he even told his wife, how being competitive could even become like a ‘curse.’
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Longley and Jordan played together during the second three-peat era from 1994-98. Though the duo had a turbulent relationship during their playing days, they both always respected each other. The friction between the two happened mostly due to Jordan’s ‘dictatorial’ and almost ‘carnivorous’ style of leading his team.
Michael Jordan talks about how his competitive spirit is almost like a ‘curse’
Jordan was recently a guest on ABC Australia. While on the show, Jordan was interviewed extensively about his playing days and The Bulls. The Hall Of Famer, during the interview, went in-depth into his mentality and explained his competitive drive he is ‘extremely hard’ to switch off.
Talking more extensively on the subject, Jordan said:
“Uh, part of my struggles after the game is my competitive drive. You know, I was such a competitive player, and every day I felt the need to always get ahead of my opponent. Well, when you’re out of sports and you’re in, you know, in normal life, you know. You don’t shed that armor that you have coated yourself with, it’s just you have to find your way around it. And that’s frustrating. You know, and I tell my wife all the time that I’m cursed. I’m cursed from a competitive standpoint that, you know, I cannot watch or compete or be a part of things without competition”.
Shaquille O’Neal recently took to Instagram to share a reel from the above-mentioned interview.
Just like Jordan, Shaq too was extremely competitive and was a dominant force in the league. The big man sharing the clip, where Jordan talks about the difficulties of shedding the competitive spirit, is definitely a nod to a struggle that even Dr. O’Neal can understand.
Luc Longley didn’t like Jordan’s rules and his treatment of his fellow teammates
Jordan’s sudden retirement after his first three-peat with the Bulls had left the team in a shock. The team added many pieces such as Steve Kerr and Luc Longley while Jordan was gone. On his return to the team in 1994, Luc would take some time to adjust to Jordan’s ways of playing the game. Talking about his experiences Luc Longley said:
“He was pretty brutal in assessments of his teammates and I probably didn’t appreciate that very much to start with, but it all worked out pretty quickly.“
Longley and Jordan would soon enough become much closer, with Longley even saying:
“In fact, I was injured for a stretch and it was then I think Michael realized how much he liked having me around.”
The two would go on to win 3 Championships together and Longley would leave the Bulls in 1998, the same year Michael Jordan decided to hang up his sneakers and go into retirement for a second time.
