Michael Jordan laughs at the current NBA: "I never believed in load management"

Michael Jordan once again made his views clear on the ethics of effort and responsibility towards fans. In the second installment of the series “MJ: Insights to Excellence”, aired on Tuesday by NBC, the six-time NBA champion spoke candidly on the topic of load management, the practice of resting players in certain games to preserve their health.

“Well, first of all, it shouldn't be necessary,” stated Jordan in the interview with Mike Tirico. “I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove myself. I felt that the fans were there to see me play. I wanted to impress that guy who probably worked really hard to be able to buy a ticket.”

Jordan emphasized that this motivation also extended to those who came to watch him with the intention of booing him. “Yes, because I know he's probably yelling at me and I want to shut him up. He's calling me all kinds of names, and I definitely want to silence him. You have a duty: if people want to see you, for entertainment, I want to go out and put on a show, right?” he explained.

The former player recalled that this mindset accompanied him since his early years in the league. He recounted playing with an ankle sprain at the beginning of his career because he wanted to make a name for himself. But the most iconic example came in the so-called Flu Game, the fifth game of the 1997 Finals against the Utah Jazz.

Jordan shared that on that day, he suffered food poisoning and was sick in bed until an hour and a half before the game. Without warming up and visibly weakened, he jumped onto the court and scored 38 points to lead the Bulls to victory, putting them one win away from the title. Exhausted, he ended the game collapsing onto his teammate Scottie Pippen's chest.

The Utah miracle

“I would find a way to go out and play, even if it was just as a decoy,” he recalled. “Once you're out there, you never know what might happen. The emotions, the situation, the team's needs... all of that drives you to say, 'I'm going to tough it out no matter what.'”

The Bulls would win that championship and repeat against Utah in 1998, when Jordan sealed his sixth ring with an iconic shot over Bryon Russell with 5.2 seconds left. Although many Jazz fans still claim that he pushed off his defender, the shot remains one of the most remembered plays in NBA history. So much so that in the Utah arena, there is still a wireless network named “JordanPushedOff,” an ironic nod to that action that defined an era.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Michael Jordan se ríe de la NBA actual: "Nunca creí en el load management"