I got an MJ story to tell you. It was a preseason game against the Bulls my rookie year. So it’s 1990. It was the Bulls but not the Michael Jordan Bulls yet, know what I mean? It’s before the first three-peat. They were still getting beat in the playoffs by Detroit, in like ’88 and ’89. And so I’m coming in there, preseason, second pick in the draft. I don’t care who the hell Michael Jordan is. I’d seen him when I was coming up. To me it was like, O.K., he’s good … but he’s not all that. MJ was on the bench most of the game — I didn’t understand that it was just preseason and MJ doesn’t play hard like that in a preseason game. So B.J. Armstrong had me. I gave him 19 points. And I’m a rookie, so of course I’m talking crazy. I’m talking s*** to B.J. I’m running by the bench, saying s*** to MJ. I’m staring guys down. I feel great.

RIVAL

ICON

MUSE

BOSS

ICON

I have to weigh in on this GOAT conversation. Y’all I’m begging you, just stay humble on this one, and don’t question it. PLEASE. Not when it comes to Black Jesus. That man walking among us.

allen iverson

DECEMBER 6, 2018

RIVAL

by ALLEN IVERSON SHERYL SWOOPES QUENTIN RICHARDSON DARIUS MILES RON ARTEST FRANK NTILIKINA

by GARY PAYTON SHAWN KEMP DOMINIQUE WILKINS

by KOBE BRYANT ALLEN IVERSON WALTER IOOSS JR.

by CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW KEMBA WALKER CODY ZELLER MICHAEL KIDD-GILCHRIST

I’m lucky I got to see MJ in his prime, the early-’90s-MVP-coming-to-kill-you Michael Jordan.... It didn’t take anybody long to realize that when you played Michael, you could be coming off the best game of your life, playing at home, playing on your birthday — he could have the damn flu — whatever. All the odds could be in your favor, and then MJ would score 25 in the first half, stick his tongue out … just take aim at your entire organization. He lived for that.

SHAWN KEMP

MUSE

I grew up in Chicago. We watching WGN from inception, when Mike doing his thing, building his legacy, and making the Bulls what they were. You fast forward to Darius and me at Jordan camp, and we got on all this AND1 stuff, and after the game — after the little counselor game — we hoop and everything. He like, "Man, what y'all doing with this stuff?" We like, "Man, look." "I thought y'all was Nike guys." We like, "Jeff trying to work out the deal." "We waiting to see what's happening." And he's like, "Don't worry about it. Y'all gonna be with me." In that moment we didn't know what that even meant. We like, "Word." Fast forward, Jeff calling us the next day like, "I don't know what happened, but I guess Michael said you guys are gonna come be with him, be with Jordan or whatever, and they're gonna take care of everything." And so, I'm like — I just went from getting no bread and an apparel deal with Nike, who wasn't trying to throw me nothing but apparel. You was getting low bread, and Mike made them up the bread, and give me some bread. And then it was the fact that we was about to be with Mike. With Jordan Brand. The very first shipment. Kids in a candy store. It was so many boxes, boxes. Boxes so tall make everybody wanna fall. You getting one of everything. We had just went from thinking we was about to wear AND1s, and now you looking at it like the coldest dude ever. So, a for-real GOAT, hand-picked us, and said, "You up under this."

QUENTIN RICHARDSON

In the 5½ years that athletes have been sharing their stories with The Players’ Tribune, one subject has been a nearly constant source of inspiration: Every athlete, it seems, has a story about Michael Jordan. To some he was a rival. To others an icon — or a boss, or an inspiration or a muse. “I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era,” Jordan once said. And for athletes of all eras, it’s clear that MJ had an influence not only on basketball, but also on culture and society. To honor his legend, we’ve compiled a collection of our favorite stories about His Airness — all from the archives of TPT.

FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Me and Q got invited to Jordan’s camp, and that was mind-blowing. We had WGN, so we got every single Bulls game. MJ was a hero to every kid, but to us it was a different level. We get to camp the first day, and there’s MJ, in real life. Editor’s note: MJ is like your pops. As soon as he walks in the room, you straighten up. You’re on your best behavior. And when he starts playing with us, nobody wants to guard him. Remember, we’re kids. Who’s trying to go at MJ like that, for real? But me and Q are looking at each other like, Shoot, we ain’t scared. So I went at MJ hard ― and of course he’s MJ, so he got moves. He killed me. But I still went at him hard, and he started showing me respect. After the camp, I got a picture with him and everything, and I took it home and put it on the mantle like MJ was one of my uncles or something. And I remember my momma said, “What’s MJ like?” And I said, “Momma, it’s so crazy. Michael Jordan was out here cussin’. He talks just like us!” That was the first glimmer of hope, like … Oh damn, Michael Jordan is like me. He’s a normal dude. Maybe I can make it.

OCTOBER 24, 2018

DARIUS MILES

KNUCKLEHEADS + GUESTS

GARY PAYTON

But that wasn’t the end of it. Near the end of the game, I’m sitting on the bench, and MJ comes over to our bench — comes right up to me while the game is still going on. Coach is standing right there. Everyone on the bench is staring at him. “That s*** you talking in preseason?” The wild thing is, MJ isn’t even mad or nothing. He’s chewing his f***ing gum. “This is the real s*** right here. Welcome to the NBA, little fella.” The Bulls won the title that season, and then five more before he was done.

DECEMBER 21, 2017

GARY PAYTON

APRIL 24, 2018

I remember, Michael Jordan walks into our locker room, suit and tie. I'm like, What in the hell is he doing in our locker room? Is he coming to the training room? “Lace ’em up, it’s gonna be a long night.” I’m like, Did he just come in our locker room? I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked. He had 60 points that night.

Dominique wilkins

JANUARY 31, 2019

It was impossible to take a bad photograph of Michael Jordan. I shot him more than any other athlete during my 50-year career. Michael was the perfect combination — the right person in the right place at the right time — to lift up the Bulls and the city.

Walter Iooss Jr.

It became an obsession. I learned everything about the game, the history, the players, the fundamentals. Twenty-four years later, I pass my muse. What a journey this has been.

KOBE BRYANT

DECEMBER 15, 2014

BOSS

A few weeks later, we had the Bulls for the first time in the regular season, at home in Seattle. I’ve been working for it, waiting for it, I’m ready. And of course, everybody’s talking about how it’s the Bulls — how Michael’s coming to town. I’m like, O.K. I gave them 19. I know I can get down on MJ, no problem. So we go out there before the game, and everybody is shaking hands at the circle. MJ wouldn’t shake my hand. He turns to B.J. and he says, “Leave the f***ing rookie to me,” so everyone can hear it. S***, O.K., I’m thinking. Well f*** it then. Bring it on. The game gets going. I’m checking Michael, and I see Phil Jackson start calling plays — four, five, six times in a row, he’s calling plays for Michael. And Michael is scoring four, five, six times in a row. Michael is on a different level than I knew there was. In a matter of minutes, I’m in foul trouble. K.C. benches me. I didn’t really go back in the game much more after that. I remember I finished with no points — played about seven or eight minutes. MJ ended up going for 33.

I used to say to my cousins and my friends, "Someday I'm going to meet Michael Jordan." They were like, "Yeah, O.K." Like, "So am I." "No, it's going to happen. I'm telling you guys it's going to happen." I remember the first time I got an opportunity to meet him, it was right after the '93 championship, and he had invited me to come work his basketball camp in Chicago. I'm standing in the back of the room…. He walks in, and he stands in the middle of the court, "Where is Sheryl Swoopes?" My initial thought was, why? Why is he asking about me? And then my second thought was, but he knows my name. "Right here." He calls me out on the court. And now I am suddenly standing right next to my idol — because he was, and he still is, my idol. I'm just standing there like, what do I say? What do I do? "Watched you play in the final four." And I was like, "Thank you." Like one answer, right, thank you. He said, "You're pretty good." I was like, "Thank you." And then he said, "So people are saying you're the female Michael Jordan." And the kids were like, "Oh, ooh." And I said to him, "I never said that. That didn't come from me." He said, "No." He said, "I watched you play." He said, "You're pretty good." He said, "How about a game of one-on-one?" And I said, "Me and you?" He was like, "Yeah." I said, "Right now?" He was like, "Yeah." And the campers are like, "Yeah. Go play, go play." I can't say no. First of all, it's Michael Jordan, and second of all, it's his camp, right?

Sheryl Swoopes

APRIL 24, 2020

We get the ball. He's like, "Your ball first." So I get the ball. You would have thought I'd never played basketball before. I get the ball, and in my head I was like, "I'm not going to the hole because he's going to block it." So I take a shot, air ball, the kids are laughing at me. His ball, he gets it. He shoots, he misses. My first three shots were all air balls. At this point, right, I'm like, "Sheryl," I'm talking to myself. I'm like, "You got this. It's only Michael Jordan. You got to represent." I go, I shoot my next shot. I made it. I got a few kids cheering for me, but most of them are cheering for Jordan, right? Game goes on. We're going to seven. I think it was like 4–3. I was up 4–3. Now — and I know he's like, "O.K., enough of this." He goes, he scores, scores, scores. Now 6–4. I don't score anymore. Score is 6–4. He says, "Last point." The kids are sitting down, he gets the ball, and they're all screaming, "Dunk it! Dunk it!" They want to see him dunk, right? That's when the competitor in me came out, because he goes by me, and he gets in the air, and he's going up, right? He's about to throw it down. I don't know what came across me. I grabbed him from behind, and I just pulled him out of the air. I still have some pride, right? I'm like, "I can't let you dunk in front of me." Long story short, pulled him out the air so he missed the dunk. He won the game. But I got makeup, lipstick, everything on this North Carolina T-shirt of his. He ended up having to give me the shirt because he couldn't take the shirt with him with all the makeup on it. To this day, that's one of my favorite T-shirts that I have. That's my Michael Jordan story that I will remember forever.

Sheryl Swoopes

I was in Chicago 'cause I got drafted, and back then the open runs was at Hoops. Maybe like the fifth or sixth game I played against Michael. We was goin' hard, it was crazy. I was 19. Mike was posting me up — you can't let him get the ball, at this point he's the best player in the league. He averaged 25, he had been averaging 35. He was cooking everybody. He was grabbin' me, and I tried to get in front of him to deny 'cause you can't let him catch you, and I hit him in the ribs.

September 24, 2019

RON ARTEST

And I broke his ribs by mistake. I lived in downtown Chicago, and I couldn't get up out the bed for two days, thinkin' about Mike, right? Couldn't go to practice, nothin'. And then my agent called me like, “You gotta get up.” I said, “I can't get up, I just broke Mike ribs. I can't believe this, man.” And then Mike called me, yo. Mike hit me, “Who's this?” “Mike.” “Who? Oh, Michael Jordan. Oh, shit.” And he says, “Yo, it's all right, man. Don't worry about it. It happens, it happens.” And I was like, “Oh, alright. Cool.” And I went back to play. First time I met Mike, yo, it was crazy. He was out three months.

I will tell you what MJ told me when I was 16. I said, “Hello, Michael. Can I ask you, what is the key to all your success?” He thought about it. Then he said, “What you have to do is love basketball. You can’t be great unless you really love the game. Once you love basketball more than anyone else in the world, then you’re willing to sacrifice. You’re willing to wake up early. You’re willing to do what it takes to be the best. But first, you have to really love it.” It sounds simple, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense in my life. A lot of people are asking, “How good do you think you can be? What is your ceiling?” I don’t know the answer. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the NBA. But I do know that I really love the game more than anything. So there you have it — this is why he is the legend. I have been thinking about what he said for the past three years. Thank you for your advice, Mr. Jordan. Merci, GOAT.

SEPT. 28, 2017

Frank Ntilikina

ALLEN IVERSON

One time I was having some difficulties with my coach and Mike called — it's like 10 o'clock in the morning. You know he's puffin' on his cigar and I'm like put that out, man, it's early in the morning.

OctOBER 15, 2019

Chamique Holdsclaw

He's like, “Shut up and sit down.” He's like, “Let me tell you something. As a Nike athlete or whatever, you know I've been a supporter of yours.” He goes, “Don't you ever, ever, ever have a public battle with your coach.” You know, “You shut up and you just play your game.” The fans are going to get rid of the coach and he started to tell me about his experience when he was younger with Coach Collins. I think it was Doug Collins, and he was like how he had some adjustments, they didn't really get along and stuff. And, you know, I took that, you know, humble pie. Michael Jordan's talking to you — and ever since then I never said anything at another coach. You know, just let them do. The only thing you can do is be responsible for your play.

He called me up … and of course I recognized his voice instantly. (I remember thinking, even in that moment, you know, like — Damn. It’s MIKE.) And real calm, real cool, he just said, “Kemba, we believe in you. I want you to know that. We believe in you, and we expect great things.” Man, I’m not exaggerating when I say that those words from MJ changed my life.

KEMBA WALKER

I was imagining what I’d say to Michael. I’d tell him he was the best ever. I’d tell him how I watched him my whole life. For the 14-year-old Cody Zeller, it was all a dream. Then he said “Alright, I’m going to pass the phone on to Rich….” I froze. That meant it was Michael Jordan on the line. I scrambled to say, “Thank you, Mr. Jordan” — or maybe I just said, “O.K.” I have no idea. I had just rambled on for a minute to the best basketball player ever and I didn’t even know it was him.

CODY ZELLER

JULY 1, 2019

JUNE 26, 2019

I’m an 18-year-old boy, barely a year removed from high school ball in Jersey, and I’m on the phone with the greatest basketball player to ever walk the earth. And not only am I on the phone with him … HE’S CALLING ME! Michael Jordan. MJ. The GOAT is calling … me? “I just wanted to welcome you to our city,” he said. “And tell you that this town can’t wait to support you in all that you do. Charlotte is going to embrace you.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

MARCH 2, 2020

A legacy is built by more than what is seen. It is not given, it is earned.

MICHAEL JORDAN

THE LEGEND OF

MICHAEL JORDAN

On the biggest stage, I didn't shy away from that confrontation … Mike wouldn’t share information with nobody. But he did with me.

KOBE BRYANT

I never looked at somebody that didn’t look real. Like the goddam guy was glowing or something, man.

ALLEN IVERSON

MJ changed my life.

KEMBA WALKER

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty images

Photo by Ken Levine/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Randy Belice/NBAE/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

PHOTOs BY Lawrence K. Ho/LA TIMES/Getty Images, Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage, Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Bob Rosato/Getty Images

PHOTO BY sam maller/The Players' tribune

PHOTO BY VINCENT LAFORET/AFP/Getty Images

PHOTOs BY walter iooss jr./sports illustrated/getty images

PHOTO BY Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images

JANUARY 23, 2020

PHOTO BY Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

PHOTO BY Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

PHOTOs BY Streeter Lecka/Getty Images, walter iooss jr./sports illustrated/getty images

PHOTO BY walter iooss jr./sports illustrated/getty iMAges

Photo by Nathaniel s. butler/nbae/Getty Images

RIVAL

MUSE

ICON

BOSS

PHOTOs BY Streeter Lecka/Getty Images, walter iooss jr./sports illustrated/getty images

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