Hyped NBA Draft prospects Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James were slated to take the league by storm since their teenage years. Such expectations weren’t placed upon Michael Jordan, even during his early college days. The story of Jordan getting cut by his Varsity team in his Sophomore year is a platitude by now. In other words, the young UNC guard had to prove himself time and again early on in his career.
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In a 1989 GQ feature, Michael Jordan revealed how people from his hometown in Wilmington expected him to ride the bench when he joined the North Carolina Tar Heels collegiate program. They thought that he’d end up working a minimum-wage job after his college stint and would never make it to the pros.
“Everybody in Wilmington expected me to go to North Carolina, sit on the bench for four years, then go back to Wilmington and work at the local gas station,” Jordan revealed, in the GQ interview.
However, an unfazed Jordan dusted off such speculations soon. He would prove them wrong in his very first year with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He earned the ACC Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 13.4 points per game on 53.4% shooting. The biggest moment of his college career, however, came during the 1982 NCAA Championship game, when he knocked down the title-winning shot against Patrick Ewing and his Georgetown Hoyas. 61,612 people in New Orleans witnessed His Airness hurl himself into the national basketball scene along with the clutch jumper.
MJ stayed two more years in North Carolina, finishing his NCAA career with 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Against his mother’s wishes, Jordan left the program with one year remaining in his graduation. He subsequently carved out a glorious career for the Bulls, skipping the gas station gig in North Carolina.
When people queried what he intended to do with his UNC degree, which he’ll complete eventually, all MJ had to say was “travel”. Knowing Jordan’s character, there’s no doubt that MJ used the ‘gas station’ jibe to push himself harder in his freshman year of March Madness. This tendency to scoop up all criticism and slander subjected to him and use it as fuel to drive his greatness, separated Jordan from a lot of his peers.
Michael Jordan stood in the way of Ewing’s legacy
The game-winning shot for UNC established Jordan as one of the most clutch players in college. Considering the gravity of the Finals stage, the guard became an overnight sensation and started building a fanbase in the basketball scene. He had mesmerized the 60,000+ crowd with his heroics that day. The fact that the shot came against college phenom Patrick Ewing and future NBA All-Star Guard Sleepy Floyd made it extra special.
This game-clinching dagger became an omen of MJ haunting the New York Knicks great Ewing from there on. During their playing days, His Airness didn’t let go of a chance to take shots at Ewing, mocking his inability to step up in big games. The high-flying guard had a 30-13 h2h record against the Center and won 19 of his 27 encounters in the postseason. During Game 3 of the 1991 Playoffs, Air Jordan roared through Ewing in what became one of the most memorable dunks of all time.
Jordan won five playoff series against the Hoya Destroya, without losing one. MJ became one of the major reasons why the incredible center never won an NBA title.
