“Larry Jordan’s Brother”: Michael Jordan’s High-School Coach Once Claimed MJ’s Legacy Would Have Changed if Older Sibling’s Height was 6ft 2″

Michael Jordan’s elder brother Larry Jordan was one of the toughest competitions MJ faced during his formative basketball years. If it were not for his size, the elder brother could have surpassed his iconic brother. Their high-school coach Pop Herring believed that the 5’7” Larry Jordan had a drive that could rival or even surprise 6’6” Michael Jordan’s intensity. In MJ’s 2014 memoir Michael Jordan: The Life, author Roland Lazenby quotes Coach Herring who proclaims that if Larry was taller than six feet, his stardom could have surpassed his younger brother’s legacy. 

During their high school days, Larry and MJ were teammates at Laney High School, in Wilmington. The younger brother was the team’s ace while his elder brother played much fewer minutes. As per the coach, if Larry had been over six feet tall, he would have surpassed Jordan even if the latter had a 4-inch height advantage. In this hypothetical, Michael would be known as Larry’s Brother rather than vice-versa.

“Larry[Jordan] was so driven and so competitive an athlete that if he had been six two instead of five seven, I’m sure Michael would have been known as Larry[Jordan]’s brother instead of Larry always being known as Michael’s brother,” proclaimed Pop Herring as per the 2014 memoir.

Coach Herring firsthand saw how Larry used his physicality to keep MJ off his feet. Larry was a quick leaper and had one of the quickest first steps one could ever see. However, his diminutive size restricted his chances in the NBA where the average height was around 6’6” in the 1980s. It meant that his brother’s size was the average norm in the league.

Michael Jordan held his brother in high regard as a hooper

Growing up, the two Jordans went toe-to-toe, and before MJ had his growth spurt, Larry was dominating him. In one of the segments during the 1987-88 season, MJ’s elder brother was giving him buckets. The 5’7” athlete could rise up and also dunk the ball, which is why amidst the exhibition of athleticism, the 1988 Steals Leader says, “When you say Air Jordan, I’m[Michael] #2, he’s[Larry] #1”

While he showed love for his brother in the clip, these two had animosity as hoopers. They would get into a fight and had to be separated from their parents. There was a stretch when MJ tasted constant defeat for more than one and a half years. Father James Jordan believed that after tasting defeat after defeat against Larry, Michael channelized his best game. The fiery spirit of Larry perhaps lighted the embers of unbridled energy for top honours in his 10X NBA scoring champion brother.