To have a great Michael Jordan today, the rudimentary items and people he faced when he was a child all played a particularly important role.
Michael Jordan is considered a king who cannot lose his throne in the basketball world, having won so much glory from the individual to the collective level, people began to look for the reason why MJ could shine so much. So, it turns out it all started when he was a child.
James and Deloris Jordan built a home in Brooklyn, New York. They have five children: Ronnie, Deloris, Larry, Michael and Roslyn. Among his siblings, Michael Jordan is very close to Larry, they are only 11 months apart in age and so there are always similarities between the two.
“We have a pit in the garden to grill meat, we use it as a tool to play baseball, tennis and basketball. If I lose, Michael won’t let me stop, he forces me to play Only when we win do we get a break, mom sometimes has to intervene to calm our temper,” Larry Jordan shared with ESPN in 2009.
In fact, the competition between Michael Jordan and his brother Larry Jordan was only for the purpose of scoring points in his father’s eyes. At the age of boys, they begin to want to assert themselves and need recognition from their parents.
But accidentally the clashes between the two brothers blew up Michael Jordan’s will, which he shared in the documentary about his life The Last Dance.
Larry Jordan appears in The Last Dance
“When you compete with someone you love so much, it ignites a fire of will. And I always felt like I was fighting Larry for my dad’s attention. I like that kind of confidence, When I can defeat the person I love the most, no difficulty will be enough to knock me down.”
Michael Jordan’s legendary number 23 shirt is a shirt number that basketball people always have a certain amount of respect for. That number turns out to also originate from MJ’s rivalry with his brother.
When Larry Jordan entered high school, he decided to use the shirt number 45. Michael Jordan therefore chose the number 23, which has half the meaning of his brother but will become the most important number. And in fact, in 1vs1 matches in his backyard, Michael Jordan gradually surpassed his brother
Larry Jordan was always the person MJ trusted the most
“I won most of the 1vs1 matches, Michael was very angry about that. But he wasn’t impatient, Michael practiced a lot, a 10 year old kid already knew what to eat to get taller, what to exercise to stay healthy and when MJ started surpassing me in height, I couldn’t beat him anymore,” Larry Jordan recalled.
Not only did Larry play an important role in forming Michael Jordan’s aggressive personality, Larry also always closely followed and supported his younger brother’s career. From the tragic death of his father, to the decision to switch to baseball and then return to the Chicago Bulls to reap glory, Larry was always present in Michael Jordan’s path.
Like the play of two boys half a century ago, Larry Jordan has now decided to retire to the position of Charlotte Hornets human resources director. He is still the mysterious person behind Michael’s unprecedented success. Jordan.