When Michael Jordan decided to enter the 3-point contest… and failed miserably
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There is a reason Michael Jordan is still hailed as the GOAT here in 2022.
It’s no secret the average player today is more skilled than what was the case back in the 80s and 90s. And by extension, many have made the case that the same should hold true for superstars from the two eras.
However, even the individuals with that thought process hesitate to displace MJ’s crown onto anyone from the current era. And that’s because he could do it all.
Of course, he was perhaps the biggest scoring threat of all time. But more than that, he could play make when it was needed, and shut down the other team’s best player, all while retaining his grace as a leader.
But, there were times that lustrous sheen of his came off for a little bit. And during these times he looked pretty close to the worst athlete to have ever touched a basketball.
So, how about we bring one of those rare instances back?
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Michael Jordan couldn’t even make 10 shots in his one and only appearance in the 3-point contest
Even at his best, Michael Jordan was a bit iffy as a 3-point shooter.
At the end of his playing days, the man retired as a career 32% shooter from deep. And this was one 1.7 attempts per game.
Not great, especially by today’s standards.
However, the man did have spurts of quality from beyond the arc. In fact, in his 6th season in the NBA, he came into the All-Star break shooting a smoking hot, 39% from there.
MJ being MJ, he was feeling himself, so he entered the 3-point contest.
Unfortunately, what happened next wasn’t His Airness’s proudest moment.
Michael Jordan holds countless records, but not all of them are positive.
In 1990, MJ set the record for the worst ever performance in the 3-point shooting contest, mustering just 5 of 25 shots.
Here’s what happened: pic.twitter.com/pZH0yMNWlq
— Kicks (@kicks) October 14, 2022
In case you may have been wondering, Michael Jordan is the one bricking almost every shot, on the right side of the clip. Overall, he made just 5 shots. That’s it.
Frankly, this is embarrassing. And we can’t see fans of LeBron James letting this pass lightly either. But, at the end of the day, no one can be god, even when it’s something they choose to do.
Not even if they’re very literally called ‘Black Jesus’.
How bad was Michael Jordan at shooting from deep when he first entered the NBA?
Michael Jordan wasn’t a particularly great shooter when he first came into the NBA. In fact, it was the weakest part of his game by a country mile back then.
But hey, it’s Michael Jordan, right? How bad could the worst part of his game really have been?
Well…
MJ did not enter the league as much of a three-point shooter.
In fact, over the first five years of his NBA career, MJ only hit a combined 58 threes and did so while shooting roughly 20%. pic.twitter.com/R9W62elj9f
— Kicks (@kicks) October 14, 2022
Suffice it to say, he was no Stephen Curry from beyond the arc.