Michael Jordan rarely picks up a basketball these days.
In an interview with NBC's Mike Tirico during coverage of the NBA season opener on Tuesday, Jordan said it had actually been years.
But under pressure from Tirico, he remembered an incident that happened just last month.
Jordan, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time and known for his unmatched competitiveness en route to six NBA titles, rented a house with a basketball court during the Ryder Cup in New York.
When the owner arrived with his grandchildren for the meeting, he asked Jordan to shoot a free throw.
“When I went up to take the free throw, I was the most nervous I've been in years. The reason is that these children heard stories from their parents about what I did 30 years ago. So their expectations were 30 years ago, and I hadn’t touched a basketball,” Jordan said.
Tirico responded, “I hope you did.”
“Absolutely,” confirmed Jordan. “My whole week was about being able to please this child without even knowing if I could.”
Jordan, 62, joined NBC as a special contributor as the network regained live NBA rights for the first time in more than 20 years.
In an episode titled “MJ: Insights to Excellence,” he said he was making a conscious decision to prioritize time with family over being seen more in the basketball crowd.
However, he also acknowledged a desire to “pay it forward.”
“I have a commitment to the game of basketball … as a basketball player I have to be able to convey messages of success and dedication to the game of basketball,” Jordan said at halftime.
Jordan's presence was part of an evening in which NBC delicately connected the present with the past. In the intro, some players from that era were asked for their memories of when the game aired on NBC, and of course, many of them didn't have any memories since they were either not born yet or were very young.
John Tesh's iconic “Roundball Rock” soundtrack – the soundtrack that was NBC's NBA theme song until 2002 – is back, and with some help from artificial intelligence, the voice of the late Jim Fagan, the longtime NBC Sports announcer who was part of those NBA broadcasts a generation ago, is back as well.
Jordan starred in many of these games. Now he will speak during some.
And of course, that competitive fire still burns bright.
“I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts and go play basketball today,” he said. “Because that's who I am. This type of competition, this type of competition is what I live for. And I miss him. I miss that aspect of playing basketball.”
–with files from The Associated Press
