Michael Jordan led the bulls without a single hint of fear or doubt. Even when he faced the formidable and violent Detroit Pistons, he refused to back down. His confidence and anger motivated the Bulls to rally behind his war cry. And though the Bulls ultimately emerged victorious, Michael gained infamy as a brutal dictator. But contrary to his image in the Last Dance, His Airness allowed a few teammates into his inner circle.
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To be fair to Michael, he could never have been capable of truly understanding the people around him. He just functioned on an entirely different plane of mental and physical strength. To be understood and heard by Jordan required giving as much of your blood and sweat to the team.
So, understandably, Jordan’s inner circle was rather small. Despite more than a dozen teammates, Black Jesus only allowed Scottie Pippen, Mike Brown, Horace Grant, and Charles Oakley to get close to him. However, he showed his respect and affection in a rather unorthodox manner.
Michael Jordan made his teammates wrestle in his suite
In his book Michael Jordan: The Life, Roland Lazenby revealed an odd ritual involving MJ and his Bulls teammates. This involved the four, including Pippen, named above. Scottie Pippen, who was undeniably the Robin to Michael’s batman, and the second-best player on the team, also partook in this silly but perhaps competitive activity.
Roland: “It was in Phoenix in his hotel room,” Lacy Banks said, recalling one such occasion, “and it was Mike Brown, Scottie Pippen, Charles Oakley, and Horace Grant. Michael had a suite and they were in there wrestling like kids and throwing each other over sofas. I was thinking, ‘This is for members only.’ This was Michael’s inner circle and very few players were allowed to ascend into the inner circle, that sanctum of Michael’s. They were saying things like kids would say, like, ‘You can’t beat me.’ Corny stuff. They had the wrestler’s stance and they would attack like sumo wrestlers. It was a test of strength, a rite of passage.”
Perhaps this wasn’t strange to Jordan. Maybe for him, it was just one of the ways to bond with his teammates.
MJ grew up in a competitive household
As a child, Michael was endlessly competing. With his brother for the crown of the more athletically gifted. With his father to establish his worth. With his mother to prove he could find amate and become successful.
It wasn’t that there was a lack of love between all these involved. But the Jordan household just showed worry and affection differently than the norm. After all, James and Deloris worked endless hours just to make ends meet.
Michael carried this tradition of competing with him to the Bulls. He changed the culture there and wrestling your suite with the boys was just another shape of the same spirit of challenge.
