The Jordan legend mushroomed again. He was named to the ACC’s first team and to the AP All-America team, although he didn’t take the national Player of the Year award away from Sampson. Jordan did finish second in the AP national Player of the Year award, and the Sporting News named him its College Player of the Year. “He soars through the air,” the sports weekly noted. “He rebounds, he scores (more than 1,100 points in two years, a school record), he guards two men at once, he vacuums up loose balls, he blocks shots, he makes steals. Most important, he makes late plays that win games.”
Regardless, Jordan plunged into a deep funk at the abrupt end of the season. “It left a bitter taste in my mouth,” he said later that year. “Maybe I got spoiled, winning the NCAAs as a freshman.” He was also upset with certain teammates who he felt lacked the necessary competitive drive. Such questioning of teammates came to be a common theme in his life, which he often acknowledged. “It was hard to deal with a guy who wasn’t competitive,” he later explained. “I was always testing that aspect of my teammates’ character on and off the court. You pick on them to see if they will stand up. If they don’t take it, you know you can trust them to come through when the pressure is on in the game.” He explained that he became better at dealing with these issues as a professional, although many of his Bulls teammates would disagree.
David Mann remembered things turning quiet on the hallway in Granville Towers with the disappointing end to the season. “Nobody spoke about it.” Finally, Mann mustered the courage to ask Jordan how he felt about NC State winning the national title. “He said, ‘You know, I’m mixed. I kind of like State, but it should have been us.’ ”
It would later be reported that Jordan took up golf to soothe his raw emotions in the wake of the Georgia loss, that he was taught the game by Buzz Peterson and Davis Love III, who was then an All-American golfer for UNC. There was some truth in the story, although it happened more gradually.
Peterson had played high school golf and knew Love, whose father had given Dean Smith golf lessons. Peterson, Love, and Roy Williams spent many days on the links, and Jordan didn’t like feeling left out. Love recalled that he began tagging along. “He ended up coming out riding in the cart and eventually wanted to play, so Buzz and I rounded up a set of clubs and some old balls and got him started.… We kind of created a monster,” Love remembered. Brad Daugherty, Matt Doherty, and several other players also joined the group from time to time. Competitive as ever, Jordan and his teammates were drawn to the driving range to work on their swings.
“A lot of the players would come down and play,” Love recalled. “One time Coach Smith said, ‘All the players are down on the driving range. Could you send them back up to the gym?’ ”
“It was fun to get to know him and watch him grow,” Love said years later. “The best thing about golf for him is that it gives him something to do away from the crowd, away from his celebrity status. I think that’s why he likes it so much. It’s hard to do and it’s a challenge, but it’s also a release for him to get away from basketball.”
There were other outlets besides golf, Art Chansky recalled. “They had the campus championship softball team at Granville Towers with all the basketball players, and Michael was a big star. I think he was the shortstop. That drew big crowds to the campus intramural fields. But the guys were not like they are today, where they can live in apartments. Back then they all lived in Granville Towers and they all hung together. It was something. It was a different day. He was on his way to being a star, although no one had any idea about what kind of star he would become.”
Pan Am
Jordan may have needed a break from basketball, but the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, soon called him back. He was more than eager to try out for the US team after the NCAA disappointment. It would be important international experience, but mostly, it was just basketball.
“I couldn’t wait for the next game,” he would remember.
The tryouts for the Pan Am squad brought together dozens of players from two US amateur teams. Jack Hartman of Kansas State coached the team under the watchful eye of Indiana coach Bobby Knight, who had been picked to lead the USA in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Ed Pinckney remembers Jordan playing with a fury and talking trash like Pinckney had never heard it talked, even in New York. “There must have been a hundred guys trying out for this team,” Pinckney recalled, “and they split us all up. I will never forget how he played during those tryouts. They split us up into groups of four. I was on his team. Bobby Knight was on this scaffold in the middle of the court and he would overlook all the courts. I think there were some other coaches up there with him. With Michael on our team, we did not lose a game. It was ridiculous. You played each game to seven. They had this clock and you played until seven or until the clock sounded off.”
The process was designed to maximize competition, but Jordan actually minimized it, Pinckney said with a laugh. “We’d go to one court, and we’d beat a team seven to nothing. He’d score every basket. We’d go to the next court and win seven to three and he’d scored five in a row. Maybe somebody else got a layup or something. It was a joke. That’s when I said to myself, ‘He’s out of control, he’s so good.’ ”
Pinckney and Jordan made the team with Chris Mullin, Leon Wood, Michael Cage, Sam Perkins, Mark Price, Wayman Tisdale, Anthony Teachey, and several others. Hartman took the team to Kansas to play two warm-up games against a collection of NBA players, including Larry Drew and Eddie Johnson from the Kansas City Kings.
“Certain guys were talking about the NBA,” Pinckney recalled. “We all knew Michael was going. There wasn’t any question if he was going. He knew he was going to the NBA. But we all kind of wanted to see how we would match up. He dominated those two games. He was stealing the ball. It was the first time I saw him do his rock-cradle dunk. He had no problem playing against those guys at all, at all. I mean he just stood out.”
The hotel featured a small par-three golf course, which immediately attracted Jordan’s attention. “The only thing he wanted to do when we weren’t playing basketball was play golf,” Pinckney remembered. “We practiced, and that guy would come back and he’d spend his time there. That’s all he did. He’d go do that and then we’d go practice. It was the same deal when we went away. He just loved to play. I know he didn’t sleep much. He hung out with Leon Wood all the time. Those guys went everywhere together.”
The team played an exhibition game in Puerto Rico, en route to Venezuela. Teachey recalled that although the Puerto Rican players on the other team may not have been able to understand Jordan, that didn’t stop him from trash talking. “He always believed in letting those guys know that we pretty much invented the game. He was very competitive when we traveled abroad. And he wasn’t shy about it.”
From there, Team USA made its way to Venezuela for the August games, and discovered that their dormitory was little more than a concrete shell. Lon Kruger, who would go on to a career coaching in college and the NBA, was the team manager for the event. “The village wasn’t completed,” Kruger recalled. “The windows weren’t on. The doors weren’t on. We looked at each other like, ‘What’s going on?’ ”
Jordan took one look at the bare concrete, then pitched his travel bag on the floor and said, “Let’s get to work.” Hartman was struck by the all-business approach, no whining or complaining about the accommodations.
“Michael Jordan stepped up and said, ‘This is the Athletes’ Village. We’re okay,’ ” Kruger remembered. “And when Michael said it, everyone else was good with it.”
Wood, who would later become an NBA referee, remembered Jordan’s attitude as “there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
“We’re here to get our medal,” Jordan told his teammates. “Let’s go about our business.”
The Americans faced eight games over twelve days against international teams. In the first game, the Americans fell behind Mexico, 20–4, and Jordan aggrava
ted the tendinitis in his right knee. He fought through it to help deliver a win. He played with pain in the second game, against Brazil, and scored 27 points, including a dunk that secured Team USA’s come-from-behind victory. Afterward, he sat with his leg encased in ice. “It’s a tendinitis injury from way back,” he told a reporter. “It won’t be a problem. Besides, I wouldn’t miss playing now for anything.”
Despite the injury, Jordan attacked each successive opponent, Pinckney remembered. “He’s stealing the ball on defense, hitting post-up shots on offense. If something didn’t go right he was pissed. He played with a fury. He was kind of like the leader of the team, so when you were out on the court, you had to bring it. Guys we were playing against were foreign pros and played ball overseas in Europe and in South America. You’re talking about playing against older guys. He’d get out there and he didn’t care. It was like, ‘Bring it or get somebody else out on the court.’ ”
Jordan struggled at times with his outside shot during the event. It was actually point guard Mark Price who came through, Billy Packer pointed out. “Our guys didn’t play well. We played a lot of zone. We didn’t do a lot of running, and the other teams were not intimidated by our kids. Mark Price was probably the guy that pulled out more games than anybody. Michael was good but he wasn’t great.”
Jack Hartman was plenty impressed, however. “This kid takes it to the hole as hard as anybody ever has,” the coach said afterward. “Sometimes I felt cheated coaching him. Michael created so many incredible moves I wanted to see them all again on instant replay. But I couldn’t because I was there, live.”
Jordan led the team in scoring, averaging 17.3 points over the eight games. He may have missed out on a second NCAA title, but he now had an international gold medal.
No sooner had he returned home than Deloris Jordan took one look at her exhausted son and told him to forget about going out in search of pickup games. “Enough,” she said. “You’re going to stay home.”
To make sure of it, she took away his car keys and told him to do something he never seemed to have the time or inclination to do. She demanded he get some sleep.
Chapter 13
SYSTEM FAILURE
ONCE RESTED, JORDAN headed back to Chapel Hill late that summer of 1983. “The freshmen were already talking trash. I had to see what they had,” he said. Dean Smith had pulled in two forwards from the Parade All-American team, Joe Wolf and Dave Popson, but it was the point guard he had recruited from New York who piqued Jordan’s interest. Kenny Smith had already earned a nickname, “The Jet,” and he aced Jordan’s test for competitiveness. He had both speed and quickness aplenty. He wasn’t above scoring but, like Jimmy Black, he understood the game and the role of a true point guard. With Buzz Peterson back from injury and sophomore Steve Hale having shown that he was capable of playing big, Dean Smith had a good mix competing for the position.
“It’s the toughest position to adjust to here,” he explained to Sports Illustrated. “We throw so much at them.”
The biggest thing the coach threw at them was Jordan himself, recently immortalized by “The Jordan” sandwich on the menu at Chapel Hill’s Four Corners restaurant—crab salad on a pita.
Jordan’s leadership relied on more than instilling the fear of a scolding in his teammates. No one on the team, including freshmen, wanted to let him down. It was not something Jordan articulated. As he often explained, he wasn’t much of a rah-rah type. More, he played all out, and insisted on the same from his teammates, as Pinckney had described on the Pan Am team. Often he could motivate them with a mere frown. None of them wanted to be the target of his furrowed gaze. Mostly, he presented a picture of efficiency. “Coming from New York I’ve seen so many players with great talent waste it,” Matt Doherty, then a senior, explained at the time. “Michael puts every ounce of talent to use.”
The veteran roster seemed focused on matching Jordan’s intensity. Brad Daugherty was now a year older and much stronger. Perkins was already a two-time All-American, and as Jordan had explained to a skeptical Jack Hartman, “He’ll be there when you need him.” Carolina had admirable depth in the post with junior Warren Martin. Doherty was the small forward, and Curtis Hunter was back from a foot injury to provide depth on the wing.
Jordan, too, was very much a different player now, polished and determined. Duke guard Johnny Dawkins had observed his growth. “Jordan goes all out,” he said. “Not just physically, like he used to, but now he outthinks you. Back door here. Lob to me here. Good defensive play there. Of all the players he’s the most impressive.”
Which meant that North Carolina for 1983–84 was a very special college basketball team, one of the top teams of all time, according to Billy Packer. “It was amazing. That team was Dean Smith’s best team. You’ve got to figure, it had the backcourt, the frontcourt, the explosive scoring, all the things, the size. They had the experience. We’re talking about guys that could really play at the highest of levels. You’ve got three starters who were on the national championship team in terms of experience.” Brad Daugherty and Kenny Smith would both enjoy excellent NBA careers with Jordan and Perkins, Packer pointed out.
It was, the broadcaster said, looking back in a 2012 interview, a team for the ages, better than Smith’s two teams that won national titles.
Kenny Smith was a talkative sort who would slip down to Jordan and Peterson’s room in Granville Towers for late-night bull sessions. Smith’s excellent court vision and passing ability bonded him quickly with Jordan on the floor as well. Their alley-oop connection soon became a thrill button for delighted Carolina fans.
The Tar Heels reeled off twenty-one straight wins (the first seventeen victories were by an average margin of 17.4 points) to open the season before suffering their first loss February 12 at Arkansas. The ACC had moved on from its one-year experiment with the three-point shot, which meant that Jordan’s shooting percentage rose to 55.1. His scoring dipped slightly to 19.6, but his focus and energy brought raves from the media.
He surprised sportswriters in the midst of the winning streak one day in January by showing up with his head nearly bald. “My dad’s bald, so I figured I might be bald one day,” he told them. “I wanted to get an advanced look at it and know how it feels.” They began laughing at his explanation, so he quickly confessed, “Actually, it was just a matter of the barber cutting more than I told him.”
His pate glistening, he produced highlights at almost every turn. But his close to Carolina’s 74–62 victory at Maryland in January left Lefty Driesell stomping and fussing. Dean Smith would tell people that the phrase “tomahawk dunk” was coined that day. Others would call the shot a cradle-rocker. The ACC would later use the footage in a promo. The play subtly seeded the idea that Jordan could fly. And once again, it surprised Jordan himself.
“Before you know it,” he later recalled, “I’m cranking the ball back, rocking it left to right, cuffing it before I put it down.… The breakaway after that seemed like a chance to try something new.”
For Billy Packer, the dunk was a revelation. “I never saw him do that spectacular thing until that dunk that the ACC used in a promotional tape where he cupped the ball up in Maryland and threw it down in a wide open break,” the broadcaster said. “Because at Carolina you just didn’t do that. If you had a fast break opportunity, you went in and took a proper layup. You didn’t tomahawk the ball and dunk it when you’re all alone. It was like, ‘Holy mackerel!’ That’s the first time I ever saw the unbelievable athleticism and dexterity. That’s the first time I saw it from him.”
Indeed, Dean Smith called Jordan into his office the very next day. He first pointed out that Kenny Smith had been available for a throw-ahead on the play, and then reminded Jordan that such displays were not the Carolina way.
“He never wanted to show up an opponent,” Jordan explained.
Art Chansky recalled that Smith refused to allow producers of his TV show to air the footage of the dunk. “He told Woody Durham and
his TV show producers that he didn’t want that play in there because he thought that showed up Maryland a little bit, on that breakaway. He was pissed at Michael about that.”
Jordan accepted his coach’s correction, although he did later point out that such displays were “part of who I was, a way of expressing myself.”
Anthony Teachey asserted that if you paid close attention, you could see that Jordan wasn’t entirely happy with the situation either. “I think there were times in college that it frustrated him, because he didn’t have the freedom to really expose his talent like he wanted to,” Teachey said in a 2012 interview. “The limitations frustrated him once he got in college because of the lack of freedom. I could see it, because in high school he didn’t have Worthy or Perkins or those guys on his team. The frustration came with the lack of freedom. He controlled it very well.”
Teachey thought Jordan had displayed remarkable maturity in restraining his considerable talent to play in Smith’s system. “I don’t think he could have played for him in high school,” Teachey said. He observed that Jordan had dramatically adjusted his game to fit in at North Carolina, and had never gotten credit for having the character to make such an adjustment.
The good times rolled on for another month, until Jordan scored 29 in a win over LSU, a game marked by an ugly “frustration foul” from the Tigers’ John Tudor as Kenny Smith was going in for a breakaway score. Tudor swung hard across Smith’s face, and the freshman guard tumbled on his arm under the basket. Jordan rushed up and shoved Tudor before being pulled away by the officials. Smith missed eight games with a broken wrist, and while backup Steve Hale played very well in his absence, the injury was viewed as a factor in breaking Carolina’s momentum. It always seemed there was one injury or another that altered the course of the best seasons for Dean Smith’s teams.
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