Brendan Haywood, who was part of the Dallas Mavericks’ 2011 championship-winning team, also played alongside Michael Jordan at the Washington Wizards. The 20th pick of the 2001 NBA draft got to play alongside the Bulls legend for two whole seasons. During this time, Brendan had a stunning encounter with MJ during training. According to a video posted by InspiredByHoops, Haywood was stunned to see a 40-year-old Jordan working out alone, hours before the rest of the team clocked in for training.
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Michael Jordan retired from the NBA three times. After his first two retirements, he came back a third time to lead the Washington Wizards. Jordan had his fair share of injuries during this time but still managed to outwork much younger players, as Haywood revealed.
Brendan Haywood was shocked to see Michael Jordan training alone in the morning
Haywood revealed that the incident occurred during his sophomore year, which was the 2002-03 season. MJ had led the Wizards in points and assists the previous season and was 40 years old.
Haywood revealed that he came into training early morning at 10 am when the squad was expected at 11. Expecting to see the gym empty, he was stunned to see MJ working out alone:
“We coming off a trip. Dude was 40 years old outworking everyone. Practice at 11, I get there at 10. At 10 I hear the ball bouncing. I am thinking, who in there already? Open the door, he already there. I was like what you doing here? He is like, you asking me the wrong question. You need to ask the question, “why I beat you here,” young fella. This dude has all the championships, all the accolades, he is still working this hard. That was my Michael Jordan moment.”
Haywood claimed that instead of treating his early arrival as a big deal, MJ wanted to know why he had managed to beat the youngster to training. This came as Haywood’s very own “Michael Jordan” moment when he realized exactly what went behind his unparalleled greatness. And this is not the only case where MJ was rough with his teammates.
Michael Jordan regularly meted out rough treatment to teammates
Jordan was notorious for the rough treatment he often meted out to his teammates. Himself striving to be the best, MJ would regularly ask his team members to go the extra mile.
Whether this was in training situations, or during matches, MJ simply always wanted his teammates to be their best versions. A range of teammates on Netflix’s The Last Dance documentary talked about this side of MJ.
Jordan wanted to win at all costs, and would regularly talk trash to his teammates during practice. According to CNBC, the Bulls legend was described as an “a***ole” and a jerk by many of those who played with him.
