Michael Phelps says he idolized Michael Jordan growing up and tried to act just like him ... right down to being an "asshole" to his teammates.
But, Phelps says it was all in the pursuit of greatness -- and guess what, IT WORKED OUT!
"To put it quite blunt, everyone saying he was an asshole," Phelps said to Yahoo Sports ... "But I would say the same thing about myself."
"I was an asshole when I was training because I wanted to help everybody make sure they had the same exact chances I had.