{"id":231401,"date":"2025-10-22T02:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/231401\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T02:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:42:11","slug":"nba-legend-michael-jordan-reveals-most-recent-nervous-moment-in-rare-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/231401\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA legend Michael Jordan reveals most recent nervous moment in rare interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA<\/a> legend Michael Jordan<\/a> has spoken in a rare interview during the opening night of the new season.<\/p>\n

NBC is one of the new broadcasters of the sport in the US and was able to get the six-time champion to sit down for a series of interviews that will air across the season.<\/p>\n

Jordan, the greatest Chicago Bulls<\/a> player of all-time and arguably the greatest NBA player of all-time, has been elusive over the years, with the exception of his ‘The Last Dance’ documentary that dropped in 2020.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: LeBron surpassed for highest career earnings after new deal<\/a><\/p>\n

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READ MORE: Two big stars are gone but Australia’s NBA influence is growing<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Jordan speaks in a rare interview.\u00a0NBC<\/p>\n

Speaking with long-time sports broadcaster Mike Tirico, Jordan made the surprising revelation that he hasn’t played any basketball, casual or otherwise, in a long time.<\/p>\n

“I haven’t picked up a ball in years,” Jordan told NBC.<\/p>\n

“You don’t see a hoop anywhere around here (my house) right?”<\/p>\n

And he admits the last time he did pick up a basketball he was incredibly nervous about what he would be able to produce.<\/p>\n

“I was at the Ryder Cup and I rented a house from the owner and he came over to do pictures and grandkids and I was meet and greet and thanking them for allowing me to stay in the house and he had a basketball court,” Jordan said.<\/p>\n

“He said ‘I want you to shoot one free throw’ and I said ‘really? I’ve already paid for the house’.<\/p>\n

“So, when I stepped up to shoot the free throw, that’s the most nervous I have been in years. In years.<\/p>\n

“The reason being is those kids heard the stories from their parents about what I did 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

“So their expectation is from 30 years prior … and I haven’t touched a basketball.”<\/p>\n

Did the shot go in? “Absolutely”.<\/p>\n

“I got the most gratifying (swish). That made my whole week that I was able to please that kid not knowing if I could.”<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Jordan at the 2025 Ryder Cup.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Jordan is a regular at the Ryder Cup golf tournament, having been photographed at the event dozens of times over the years.<\/p>\n

As to why he agreed to return to the spotlight with NBC this season, Jordan said he feels the need to give something back to the sport.<\/p>\n

He admits the fire still burns within him to play the highest level, but knows that’s not possible at 62.<\/p>\n

“To pay it forward. I have that obligation to the game of basketball,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Not financially, I’m OK. More or less as a basketball player to be able to pass on messages of success and dedication to the game of basketball.<\/p>\n

“I love (basketball) like you wouldn’t believe (still). I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts and go out and play the game of basketball today, because that’s who I am.<\/p>\n

“That type of competition, that type of competitiveness is what I live for and I miss it. I miss that aspect of playing the game of basketball.<\/p>\n

“Being able to challenge myself against what people see as great basketball.<\/p>\n

“But it’s better for me to be sitting here talking to you as opposed to popping my Achilles and I’m in a wheelchair for a while.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA legend Michael Jordan has spoken in a rare interview during the opening night of the new season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-231401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}