Michael Jordan was able to multitask as the world’s best basketball player while also playing copious amounts of golf. His former teammates tried to emulate him, but Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant weren’t quite in the same class.
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There are a lot of aspects to the greatness of Michael Jordan. The man was obviously a killer on the hardwood, putting on shows on a nightly basis. But it wasn’t just his on-court dominance that fueled his legend.
Jordan had an unmatched aura and charisma that allowed him to charm his way around with reporters. He’d often be found playing cards with the likes of Ahmad Rashad and other NBA journalists. The famous scene from The Last Dance, where he plays dice with the United Center guard bears this out.
On top of that, his extracurricular activities saw him stay up late nights on the road, gambling and drinking. He’d often go on golfing sessions instead of taking rest before games. However, these activities didn’t seem to affect his performance that much. Jordan truly was built differently.
He wasn’t, however, the role model for his teammates in this regard.
Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant tried to emulate Michael Jordan, but failed miserably
Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen went on to be All-Stars later on in their careers. They can attribute this to working hard at their skills and playing on a damn good team.
However, if they’d tried to do what MJ did early in their careers, they wouldn’t have reached these heights. According to an SI article from 1999,
“The other young and talented Bulls, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, both of whom came to Chicago in ’87, resented him even though they were awed by his talent.”
“Worse for the Bulls, Pippen and Grant sometimes tried to emulate Jordan’s frenetic style and failed miserably, causing the team to be inconsistent.”
“I remember interviewing Jordan in the trainer’s room before a game in the late 1980s. At the same time he was answering my questions and getting his knees iced, he was perusing a golf magazine, listening to jazz on his Walkman, entertaining Jesse Jackson and doling out tickets to the high-haired rapper from Kid ‘n Play.”
Jordan preferred the company of his own childhood friends
In addition to being somewhat a failed role model, Jordan was also aloof from his team. According to the same writer – the esteemed Jack McCallum – he preferred the company of his old friends:
“Jordan didn’t help relations with his teammates either. He didn’t hang out with them much, preferring the company of close buddies, Wilmington N.C homeboys Adolph Shiver and Fred Whitfield, and Howard White, Jordan’s personal Nike representative.”
Years later, it is obvious that some of his tension with Scottie Pippen stems from this time period.
