Michael Jordan wasn’t exactly known for being friendly or kind to his teammates. He did make some exceptions as it turns out.
Advertisement
The insurmountable success that Michael Jordan has achieved over his illustrious career seems unattainable. Winning the championship 6 times and three-peating twice as a teams’ main man is stuff that only legends can achieve. Along with it came a whole lot of baggage, however.
Religious hunting for success and bringing out the best in your teammates is not exactly the easiest job in the world. Being regarded as a prick is part of the parcel, as one generally ends up crossing the line of decency in such situations. MJ’s teammates were scared of him, which in turn made them scared of failure.
Despite his reputation, however, it seems that he did have a softer spot for some colleagues.
Also Read: When the 6x NBA champion flew down to New York to recruit Nets forward Jayson Williams
We all know how MJ gained respect for Steve Kerr from the famous incident narrated in The Last Dance. Another similar story, however, has a surprising protagonist. Since his second comeback with the Washington Wizards, MJ has apparently maintained a great relationship with incumbent Clippers head coach Ty Lue.
A recently surfaced report has revealed how Ty Lue had MJ’s ear during his time with the Wizards. His then-teammate Brendan Haywood remarked, “Ty could say something that Michael Jordan might not have wanted to hear from me or Jared Jeffries, but his delivery was so cool that he got the message there and he wasn’t offensive”
Another source with the Wizards re-affirmed the sentiment. “Tyronn was so interested in the educational aspect of what people do when they come out early, and he’s talking to Michael Jordan about it”.
Michael Jordan reportedly was very close to Tyronn Lue, who recently coached the Clippers to their first-ever Conference Finals appearance.
MJ was not the only legend that Ty was close to. He was a journeyman role-player for most of his career, hence has played with a lot of superstars. Ty was reportedly very close to Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming, and Tracy McGrady.
It’s very interesting to see how Ty Lue had a way to cross the ego-barriers of superstars and be close to them. He has had a very successful coaching career in his post-playing days, winning a championship with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. Ty has also received tremendous praise from superstars like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. It’s been said that players inadvertently drift towards Ty Lue, and are more likely to buy into his systems.
Ty Lue was praised in the postseason for his willingness to make adjustments in crucial situations, and bringing more out of his players. Between being close to legends and getting desirable results, the man must be doing something right.
