For years, I’ve been bothered by the widely held belief that a large part of Michael Jordan’s success was the result of his steel-reinforced willpower and his extreme competitiveness. It’s the idea that somehow his desire to win was stronger than anyone else’s and, because of it, he became the best basketball player in the world.
It’s like saying that Leonardo da Vinci was a great artist because he could get by on three hours of sleep a night. No, with a brush in his hand, he was unmatched. The man could post up in the paint.
Jordan’s dominance had a lot less to do with his get-up-and-go than his ups.