A former teammate of Michael Jordan explains how he became the greatest player of all time and sustained his success in the NBA.
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The NBA has seen many great players over the years. And while there is stiff competition from LeBron James, most of the NBA community still considers Michael Jordan to be the greatest to ever do it.
To call Michael Jordan’s career a successful one would be the understatement of the decade. At the end of his career, ‘His Airness’ was a 6-time NBA champion, 10-time scoring champion, 5 MVPs, and 14 All-Star appearances. That right there is the strongest case to date for the greatest player of all time we have seen thus far.
Many have wondered how Jordan managed to sustain his greatness for so long in his career. The answer to this question had been a mystery for the longest time. But, a former teammate of the player recently revealed the answer to the world.
“He was a guy that took no prisoners”: Darrell Walker on Michael Jordan
Darrell Walker only spent one season playing alongside Michael Jordan. During this season though, he became an NBA champion and a very close friend of the Hornets’ owner. Speaking on the topic of his greatness on the ‘Field of 68’ podcast, here is what he had to say.
“MJ had that in him when at all costs. He was a guy that took no prisoners, but all the great guys didn’t take any prisoners. Bernard King didn’t take it to prisoners, Isiah [Thomas] didn’t take any prisoners, so when you’re a great one like that you have some DNA in you that’s this that’s ultra-competitive.”
• 28.7 PPG
• 21 straight 20+ point games
• 17 30+ point games
• 11 35+ point games
• Most 4th quarter points in the NBABest Bulls scorer since Michael Jordan pic.twitter.com/bEILej5VEt
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) March 4, 2021
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Walker’s comments certainly make sense. It has always been clear to the NBA community that Jordan was always a competitive beast. However, it is interesting to see how deep that competitive spirit ran for the former player.
Many have complained that the players today just aren’t as competitive or even close to as driven as Michael Jordan was during his glory days. We hope that players today can learn from his example, and hopefully replicate his success in the future.