Michael Jordan was so impressed with a young Chicago Bulls star that he tried to take him under his wing.
Michael Jordan is a notoriously difficult man to impress. Jordan had a high bar for excellence and always demanded the best.
Jordan wasn’t just harsh on himself, but also on the people around him. To get on Michael Jordan’s radar, you had to be an excellent player
But one young player impressed Michael Jordan so much, that he tried to bring him to the Washington Wizards.
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When Michael Jordan came out of his second retirement in 2001, he knew that he had to be in the best shape possible. Now 38 years old and having not played in three years, Jordan faced quite a challenge.
Much like he did in 1996 on the set of ‘Space Jam’, Jordan began inviting several current NBA players to work out with him so that he could get back into shape with them during the summer.
Players like Penny Hardaway, Stephon Marbury and Paul Pierce would be invited to Jordan’s summer training sessions to play scrimmage games.
“The first time my team won, and he went and sat in the corner…. I felt my game going to a whole other level.
“At 40 years old he went up and dunked with one hand. That was cold.”
But one player caught Jordan’s eye, and Jordan did his best to spend as much time with him going forward.
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One of the players who caught the eye of Michael Jordan was Jamal Crawford. Crawford told the story of being invited to Jordan’s workouts on Paul George’s podcast.
He then noted that on his first day at the summer camp, he actually played on the opposing team against Jordan, and even won the game.
Jordan was so irked by the loss, that he reportedly asked to work out and play with Crawford for the rest of the summer.
He explained: “MJ said I could meet him… I took off there so fast. It was just me and him in the weight room… I can’t stop looking at him. I’m not even talking, because I don’t want to ruin his workout.”
Crawford said his game improved playing with Jordan, and people started to notice. He added that Jordan was so taken by him that he even tried to trade for him.
While that didn’t come to pass, Jordan did help Crawford out by getting him to star in a Gatorade commercial. Crawford played a younger version of Jordan in a commercial, and it was at MJ’s behest.
“He tried to trade for me, then he picked me to be in a commercial with him.
“You dream about being in the NBA, you dream about playing with Michael Jordan, you don’t dream that the owner’s going to pick you to be a younger him, where you dream that at?!”
Crawford earned Jordan’s respect. One can only imagine how well the two would have played together on an NBA team.
Jamal Crawford had a wonderful career in the NBA. He would win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award three times in his career.
Michael Jordan saw greatness in Jamal Crawford. And it was in those training camps that the two got to know each other very well.
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