Michael Jordan was so competitive, it nearly cost him a long career
In ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance,’ it was revealed that Michael Jordan played a bit prematurely before he was 100 percent cleared from a serious foot injury.
The first two episodes of ESPN’s riveting ‘The Last Dance’ documentary set the foundation for what the remaining eight episodes will be and what themes they’ll carry. They told important backstories on Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the dynamic that was the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls.
One of the most interesting aspects of the first two episodes, though, occurred when discussing Jordan’s injury during his sophomore season. He broke his foot and only managed to play in 18 games that season.
After breaking his foot three games into the season, Jordan was shut down for more than four months. He returned to action on March 15 and was placed on a strict minutes restriction. In the documentary, Jordan decided to play even though there was a 10 percent chance that he could reinjure his foot.
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In the documentary, it was said that Jordan’s career could’ve been over had he reinjured his foot. Because of his competitiveness, though, Jordan took the chance on that possibility in order to drag his team to the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Thankfully, Jordan didn’t reinjure his foot and managed to play the final 14 games of the season (and three games in the postseason). The minute restriction eased heading into the playoffs where he put on an absolute show against the vaunted Boston Celtics ( they would go on to win the NBA Championship that season).
Jordan would go on to average 44 points, six assists, and five assists per game in three games against the Celtics. Even though Jordan and the Bulls lost all three games against the Celtics, this was part of the start of Jordan’s rise to superstardom.
It was interesting, to say the least, that this injury was much more serious than perhaps many remember. Personally, I didn’t know there was that much more to Jordan’s foot injury and how serious it actually was during his sophomore season.
Next. The Last Dance: Scottie Pippen emerged as the star of episodes 1 and 2. dark
To think, there was a chance that Jordan could’ve messed it up even worse and perhaps thrown a dynasty away just because of his extreme competitiveness. It was a pretty amazing revelation to hear in the documentary.