Michael Jordan : Worst 3-Point Shooter Ever?

OK fine, I’ll admit right off the bat that this headline is somewhat misleading. There is indeed a lot of truth behind it too as you’ll soon find out.

Michael Jordan, a living legend of the NBA who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2009, was definitely not known for his accuracy behind the line. He was in fact considered to be one of the best and most impressive slam-dunkers ever to play the game.

He changed the way the game was played by consistently dunking with impressive amounts of flair. Spinning around, gyrating his arms, in your face slam dunking… he made basketball more exciting for the viewer. Not that dunking wasn’t already part of the game, but he did it consistently in grandiose style, like no one ever had before. He could jump higher and farther than what most people had come to expect.

He wasn’t known for shooting from the line at all, in fact he literally JUMPED from the line. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness".

Jordan was utterly relentless. He was a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court. If you didn’t play your best, he had no qualms about humiliating you. He even admitted so himself in an interview where he said that he expected not only his own teammates to play to the best of their ability but also his opponents, because anything less would tarnish the integrity of the game itself.

I remember watching my television set dazzled and amazed at how great he was. Never a dull moment when Jordan was on the court. The Chicago Bulls were my favourite team, and they rarely disappointed me when I was a teenager.

I mean, nobody can debate the facts. The Chicago Bulls are known for having one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. Yup, TWO times. There’s only ever been 5 three-peats in NBA history and the Bulls have 2 of them. Michael Jordan played a major role in most of those victories.

Jordan retired in 1993 after his father was brutally murdered. On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, saying that he lost his desire to play basketball. Jordan later said that the death of his father three months earlier helped shape his decision.

Wait, what? Yup, you read that right. James Jordan was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina, by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery, who carjacked his Lexus bearing the license plate "UNC 0023". His body, dumped in a South Carolina swamp, was not discovered until August 3.

Green and Demery were found after they made calls on James Jordan's cell phone, convicted at a trial, and sentenced to life in prison. Sorry for the depressing turn this article has taken, but I’m writing about Michael Jordan, and this shit actually happened.

Fun fact for you younger people out there, Jordan also played Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, although his talent was not quite as elite in baseball as he was in basketball, it’s nonetheless quite an impressive achievement.

Jordan made an NBA comeback in 1995, leading the Bulls to another three-peat. Did I mention they’re the only NBA team to have ever achieved a double three-peat? Oh right, I did mention that. Deal with it. Jordan is a god on the courts. Deal with that too if you must. BOOYAH!

Jordan was irrefutably iconic, he led his team to six world championships. What Jordan was not, is a great free-thrower and three-pointer like Larry Bird or Stephen Curry. Was he actually the worst shooter ever though? Definitely not.

Except for one time, where he was, let’s be honest, terrible. That time was the 1990 all-star game. He’s currently tied with Detlef Schrempf for the worst 3-point shooting competition record for the fewest points scored in any round, with a total of five. Yup, FIVE.

No, we’re not talking about Shaquille O’neal, although he was definitely notorious for being a bad shot, it’s Jordan who holds the record in the all-star game shooting competition.

I’ll finish this article with the following thought… if you wear a pair of Air Jordans, but you don’t know anything about the man, take those fucking shoes off and donate them to someone who can actually really appreciate how formidable Michael Jordan really was and everything he’s achieved. Michael Jordan is an inspiration, not a fashion statement.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Point_Contest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan