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Michael Jordan on why he wouldn’t have been ready for the NBA had he declared for draft earlier

Michael Jordan was coming off his junior season at the University of North Carolina in 1984 when the Chicago Bulls drafted him third overall. Even though one-and-done players weren’t prevalent back then, he once admitted that he would not have been as successful if he had been drafted as a freshman or sophomore.

In an interview with Marvin R. Shanken of Cigar Aficionado, Jordan was asked about his thoughts on college freshmen entering the NBA draft. He wasn’t a fan of the practice, going as far as to admit that even he wasn’t ready to join the league after two years at UNC. 

“You’ve got a lot of things you have to take into consideration,” Jordan said. “The lifestyle. Just the mental and physical demands of the NBA that these kids are going to be dealing with are tough. And their whole maturity level, not only for basketball but on the personal side, too, has to be taken into account. If I had been a freshman or even a sophomore, no matter how good I was, I don’t know if I would have been ready for what I had to deal with in the professional ranks.”

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Smith’s advice to MJ

In the first episode of “The Last Dance,” legendary UNC coach Dean Smith echoes Jordan’s sentiment about him not being good enough to make a jump to the NBA after his freshman year. He saw great qualities in him as a player, but knew he still needed time to grow. “He was very inconsistent as a freshman,” Smith said. “But he’s one of the most competitive ones we’ve ever had in our drills. He wanted to get better, and then he had the ability to get better.”

Jordan did get better, averaging 20.0 points per game as a sophomore compared to 13.5 points as a freshman. But more importantly, he was more mature. So, after his junior year, Smith encouraged him to turn professional and enter the 1984 NBA Draft. 

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“It was Coach [Dean] Smith’s call,” Jordan said. “I relied so much on his knowledge. The NBA was an area where I wasn’t too knowledgeable. My parents weren’t knowledgeable about it, either. And it was a great opportunity. Coach Smith felt that it would be the best opportunity for me to make it in professional basketball. Once he researched the situation to find out where I would go in the draft, then I started weighing the pros and cons.” 

It turns out Smith was right.

Jordan took over the NBA as a rookie and became an overnight sensation. He won the 1985 NBA Rookie of the Year award and displayed an unprecedented level of dominance in his third season, averaging 37.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. 

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Turning point in Jordan’s college career

One of Jordan’s greatest shots happened in the 1982 NCAA championship game between UNC and Georgetown. With just 17 seconds left in the game, he hit the go-ahead jumper to give the Tar Heels the lead, which turned into the game-winning shot after the Hoyas failed to score in the next possession.  

In an interview with Pat O’Brien on “Inside the Games,” Jordan revealed how that shot against Georgetown gave him the confidence he needed to be successful. He also knew that he could make it to the NBA because of it. 

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“That shot really initiated my career and gave me confidence that I could play on that level, and I could play with the big guys,” MJ said. “From that point on, I started to excel as a basketball player.”

As a sophomore, Jordan was named to the 1983 Men’s Consensus All-America First Team. And in his junior year, he won the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award and the Rupp Trophy. He was also named AP Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year, USBWA Player of the Year, NABC Division I Player of the Year and Sporting News Player of the Year. 

At that point, people knew he had the potential to be great in the NBA. But a few — perhaps excluding Smith — felt he would become arguably the greatest basketball player ever.

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