Michael Jordan was an incredibly gifted athlete. His vertical leap and hang time were so incredible that on occasion he astonished himself with it. He admitted this in 1986 to Sports Illustrated.
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This was the first interview Jordan did after returning from his left foot fracture early in his second NBA season. At the time, the injury was said to bear the potential to affect his career. So, while the Chicago icon was confident in himself, he was likely slightly stressed about whether the injury would hamper him on the court.
However, this made him appreciate his athleticism a bit more. When he spoke about a dunk against Milwaukee, this became palpable. He admitted that watching the footage back gave him chills every single time. Jordan said,
“I wish I could show you a film of a dunk I had in Milwaukee.. It’s in slow motion, and it looks like I’m taking off, like somebody put wings on me. I get chills when I see it.” He smiles, as thrilled by what he did as any observer could be. “I think, when does ‘jump’ become ‘flying’? I don’t have the answer yet.”
The Bulls guard revealed he almost took his athleticism for granted and never bothered measuring how high he could soar as most other players did. However, he knew he could fly. Jordan explained,
“I’ve never had my vertical leap measured… but sometimes I think about how high I get up… I was really up against New York in our first game. On my last dunk I think I was close to eye level with the rim. Sometimes you just hit your wrists on the rim, but this time it was my elbows and everything. I almost overdunked the whole rim.”
The six-time NBA champion also revealed why he spread his leg wide apart when he took off to dunk, like in the iconic Jumpman logo. He said,
“I always spread my legs when I jump high, like on my Rock-a-baby, and it seems like I’ve opened a parachute, like, that slowly brings me back to the floor.”
Jordan’s ability to hang in the air longer than any other player could earned him the nickname ‘His Airness.’ He could leap to take a jump shot above a taller opponent, but his feet wouldn’t hit the floor well after his opponents’ did.
He also won the Dunk Contest with a slam where he took off for the rim from near the baseline, a feat that at the time was considered improbable. Jordan’s athleticism not only left the world in awe but also the Bulls guard himself.
