Former NBA star and current Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway knows that when it comes to Michael Jordan, it is always no holds barred.
Hardaway recently detailed Jordan's competitiveness, saying that the NBA legend is always out to prove he is the best in whatever he does (via Jason Munz of Memphis Commercial Appeal):
“Michael definitely is (overdosed) on competitive nature,” Hardaway said. “He’s always having to compete in every single thing he does. He lives for speed. He lives for the competitive nature. He’ll bet everybody in the (golf) group on every single thing. ‘I bet I can drive it farther than you. I bet I can hit it closer to the hole than you. I bet I can make this putt — $10,000 to your $1,000.’ I mean, that’s just who he is.”
There was a time when Hardaway and the Orlando Magic looked like the team most likely to supplant Jordan and the Bulls as the preeminent NBA title contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Hardaway was becoming one of the best players in the league, a tall point guard in the mold of Magic Johnson as someone who could do it all on the floor. Orlando also had a dominant big man in Shaquille O'Neal.
The Magic had defeated the Bulls in the 1995 playoffs en route to an NBA Finals appearance, as Jordan was unable to shake off the rust after attempting a comeback from playing minor league baseball.
But Jordan came back as motivated as ever the following year. The Bulls won 72 games during the 1995-96 regular season, and they swept the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals before capturing their fourth NBA championship.
The Magic were never the same. O'Neal left for the Los Angeles Lakers the following summer, and Hardaway's career would become plagued by injuries.
Michael Jordan was so ruthless and competitive that he single-handedly kept a host of Hall of Famers from winning titles. Of course, he also prevented Penny Hardaway and the Magic from ascending any further.
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