In the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls were the best team on the planet. Not only that, but they were global superstars, and it was all thanks to Michael Jordan. Alongside Scottie Pippen, Jordan and the Bulls won six championships in eight years, completely dominating the decade.
Countless NBA legends were unable to get over the hump and win a championship due to Jordan’s dominance, including guys like Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing. And while San Antonio Spurs big man Davis Robinson was able to win a ring by the end of the century, Jordan still had an impact on his entrance into the league.
Robinson was 24 years old by the time he first stepped foot on an NBA basketball court in 1989, and during “The Ring of the Rowel San Antonio Spurs Docuseries,” which has been produced by the Spurs, he detailed Jordan’s mental warfare when he first entered the NBA.
“My biggest eye-opener coming to the NBA was Karl Malone wants to pound me into the ground, you know, Michael Jordan wants to talk trash with me before the game,” Robinson said. “I mean, why would he do that?, like, there’s no advantage to him talking to me before the game.”
He said this was all a part of Jordan’s mental warfare.
“Then you start to see that mental aspect of the game, he wants to own me,” said Robinson.
Robinson is one of the best players in the history of the game, yet Jordan was able to make his presence felt from the jump.
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Story originally appeared on Lonzo Wire