In a recent interview with Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan revealed the only athlete that intimidated him.
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During his 15-year tenure in the NBA, Michael Jordan feared nobody. The 6x NBA champion believed that he could score a bucket on anybody. Additionally, he even wanted to guard the opposite team’s best player.
MJ struck fear in the hearts of his opponents, but no NBA player ever did the same to MJ. However, the Bulls legend recently confessed during an interview with Steph Curry at the Ryder Cup about fearing one golfer named Ian Poulter due to his fiery aggressiveness at the golf strip.
Everyone remembers the 2012 Ryder cup, where Ian Poulter rallied his European team to make a huge comeback win. The Europeans came back from a 10-5 deficit to win 14.5-13.5 on U.S. soil. The event came to be known as the “Miracle at Medinah”.
Michael Jordan, a golf fan, was present at Medinah that day and decided to rattle Poulter and test his mental toughness. MJ stayed next to Poulter and stared him down the whole time.
Nonetheless, Poulter kept his calm, responding by stroking birdies the last five holes himself to help his team win. This impressed MJ. However, it is not surprising that MJ gravitates towards Ian as they both had a competitive fire like no other.
Michael Jordan talks about Ian Poulter with Steph Curry.
Michael Jordan, and Steph Curry, both are avid fans of golf. They both recently took part in the Ryder Cup this year at the Whistling Straits. Post-match, both MJ and Steph sat together for a 1v1 interview.
In the spirit of the competition, Curry asked Jordan who he would be scared to go up against on the European team, and MJ had an easy answer, and said –
“I’m not scared of anybody… but Ian Poulter. I used to go and watch him all the time. If I’m in any of his matches or walking down, he finds me after he makes a good putt, and it’s like, Man, I didn’t do anything. I like you and support you, but, I stay away from him when I’m walking. I won’t go watch him.”
Quite obviously, that decision of not watching Poulter again arises due to the incident that happened in the Ryder Cup in 2012.
Very few athletes could keep calm and talk back to Jordan like that. MJ knew right then and there Poulter was one of the few people on this earth he couldn’t intimidate.
