The REAL Reason Why Michael Jordan CRIED In 1984 Olympics -- REVEALED!
Michael Jordan did not get any special treatment when he joined the USA Basketball Team for the 1984 Olympics. In fact, the NBA legend cried that year.
Discipline For Life
Michael Jordan trained with the legendary coach from Indiana, Bobby Knight. Those who have trained under him described him as the old-school, break-you-down kind of coach. During his coaching years, he also lived by the principle "I-say-jump-you-say-how-high."
Knight was like that with everyone, including Michael Jordan who was first drafted to the USA basketball team for the Olympics that year. Jordan was obviously a great player and the star of the team, but he had to earn the respect of his coach and his teammates.
In fact, when the USA team won against West Germany by 11 points, Bobby Knight was not happy about Jordan's and the team's overall performance.
According to the report by the NBC Sports Olympic Talk, Knight asked Jordan to apologize to his teammates for a six-turnover performance over their win against West Germany.
"You should be embarrassed by the way you played," Knight yelled at Jordan, according to the book "Michael Jordan: The Life" written by Roland Lazenby. In 2016, the story was confirmed by Sam Perkins, Jordan's former teammate at North Carolina and the Olympics.
"He told Michael that's the worst he ever played," Perkins said in a radio interview. "Now, Michael's going to deny this, but he cried."
For what it's worth though, Jordan -- who was on the team with future Hall of Famers Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing --led the team in scoring throughout the contest with 17.1 points per game.
While the NBA legend may not admit to crying, he was reportedly touched by how Bobby Knight emphasized the role that he played with the rest of the team. MJ was not playing the game alone, he had his team with him.
A Lesson Learned
Michael Jordan knew what Bobby Knight meant, so before the gold medal win they had against Spain, he left the coach a note. While preparing to brief the team for the pre-game points, Knight found a note written on a yellow piece of paper from a legal pad.
"Coach: Don't worry. We've put up with too much s- to lose now"
Back then, Knight knew that he touched the life of MJ. The success that Jordan achieved in his professional basketball career did not surprise the legendary coach at all. He knew Jordan was going to make it big.
In his book published in 2002, Knight admitted that he has kept the note Jordan left him.
"And I don't have any doubt about its author. By then, I knew what Michael Jordan's handwriting looked like. I looked at that note, and everybody was watching. Michael had his head down, but he couldn't resist looking to see what I was going to do. All I said was, 'Okay, let's go play,'" Knight wrote in his book.
Team USA took down Spain in the 1984 Olympic Finals with a 95-65 victory. Jordan finished with 20 points, earning him his first Olympic gold medal. After which, his career in the NBA began and therest was history.
Eight years later in 1992, with several of his friends in tow, Michael Jordan was back in the USA basketball team for the Olympics. He was joined by good friends Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley. The star-studded squad, as expected, claimed yet another gold for the nation that year.
