The life of Michael Jordan

Brut America

He didn’t make his high school varsity basketball team at first — he was too short. Then, he became one of the best athletes in the world. This is the story of Michael Jordan.

Transcript

00:00Sure, you have to think positive, you can't go into a situation where, you know, I'm not home,

00:06where you're trying to achieve something and you think negative,

00:09and you let negative thoughts come in. You have to think positive.

00:12Basketball for me was a hobby. You know, I played it as a hobby,

00:30but I went to school to learn about life and how to make the right choices.

00:43When he was five years old, Michael Jordan nearly cut off his big toe with an axe.

00:49Back then, his handles needed a little work.

01:01Actually, I started in baseball when I was six, and then my family, my father took my brother and

01:07I to a basketball, to YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, and got me started in basketball when I was 12

01:12years old. And from that point on, I've been in love with the game of basketball.

02:12A lot of us who get paid extra money to be role models and do things off the court,

02:38but we have to live with the expectations that people have for us. I mean, and that's the

02:43challenge that you, once you accept that money, then you accept that challenge, you know, and

02:47you try to do it the best way possible. But, you know, that's just life.

03:38I

03:54want you to feel the tears that I felt when I won the first one.

03:58Yeah.

04:05Those tears and that pain, and I wanted that feeling at the end of every year, and that's hard.

04:13It's like a dependency.

04:28To say that I'm the best, it's hard to say because I'd never played against, you know,

04:32Dwayne Wade. I never played against, you know, some of the guys back in the early days. So,

04:36I mean, it's a great compliment, but, you know, I don't consider myself the best ever played.

04:58So,

05:28so,

05:41so,

05:54what do you think about this Hollywood scene? It's different. I don't know if I want to do

05:58this as a livelihood, but at least I got the chance to experience it once.

06:12So,

06:21so,

06:37I've been viewed as a role model for 14 years now since I've been in the league, and

06:43I've always accepted that as a responsibility. But I think, in all honesty, and the things that

06:47my parents have always taught me is that the true role models are the parents and the people

06:52that see you the most, and that's teachers. And I always held them up with the, you know,

06:57with the utmost respect that, you know, what they were giving me, the knowledge that they

07:02were giving me was an opportunity to utilize that knowledge to achieve my dreams.

07:15So, this young team is going to have to learn that every time you go out and play the game

07:20of basketball, you got to be at your best, you know, no matter who you play, you know,

07:25and with me on the team, everybody expects you to play the best every single night.

07:45So,

08:15so,

08:27he's more than just a logo, more than just an internet meme,

08:36he's more than just a charitable donor or a business owner committed to diversity.

08:41So, there is a reason you call somebody the Michael Jordan of.

08:47Michael Jordan of neurosurgery, or the Michael Jordan of rabbis, or

08:52the Michael Jordan of outrigger canoeing. They know what you're talking about.

09:00Because Michael Jordan is the Michael Jordan of greatness. He is the definition

09:06of somebody so good at what they do that everybody recognizes him. That's pretty rare.

09:36So,

09:50for me, it's like coming back and helping out someone who you absolutely care about and

09:55that you knew and you grew up in that same environment that they're battling and trying

09:59to survive.

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