Michael Jordan Gave Jamal Mashburn a Masterclass on Basketball IQ
Mashburn learned that there was a-whole-nother level to basketball after chatting with Jordan.
Basketball is a sport.
Sports are often seen as a physical activity.
And sometimes, a player can get away by being the most athletic person on the court.
Or that’s what Jamal Mashburn thought anyway.
In his younger years in the NBA, Mashburn thought he could get by with his strength and size. And he did find success relying on his physicality.
He was a 6-8, 240-pound small forward who averaged 19-plus points in his first few seasons by bullying his defenders.
But even though Mashburn was able to put up good scoring numbers, his game still had another level to it.
And he found this out after a chat with Michael Jordan.
On The Old Man and the Three, he told JJ Redick that Jordan showed him how to be more strategic with his scoring and why he should manipulate the defence.
Mashburn started by telling a story of how he had the “fortune” to play a one-on-one game against Michael Jordan during a shootaround at the 2003 All-Star game -Jordan’s final one.
After the game, they chatted and Jordan was able to break down his strengths and weaknesses “analytically” and gave him a solution, which amazed him.
”I always knew Michael Jordan was great but when I chatted with him and he was able to break down my game, analytically… ‘Jamal you like to go left 80 percent of the time, pull up with the right hand’ and different things like that. But then he gave me a solution. ‘Go right two or three times in the game.’
Mashburn then revealed the reason why Jordan gave him the solution that he did:
“And then he gave me a story: ‘Dr. J and Larry Bird passed it down to me to play the game within the game.’ And then I said, ‘What are you referencing?’ [Jordan said,] ‘Like, well, in the game sometimes, I’m not just going to score. It’s how I’m going to score. So Jamal, if you go right two or three times in the game and you make a pull-up jump shot or right-handed layup or whatever it is, you’re balancing out your game and keeping the defence off-balance.’
“This man went through every All-Star and chatted about their strengths and weaknesses off the top of his head. And I sat there and I was like, ‘I thought I knew a lot about basketball, but he’s on a different level.’”
Mashburn implemented these tactics immediately and dropped 50 points on 51.5 percent shooting in a win against the Memphis Grizzlies a few games after Jordan’s masterclass.
Then, a few weeks after that, he scored 40 points on 51 percent shooting in a loss against the Orlando Magic.
And that’s the power of knowledge.
Support the Newsletter
Want to get better at basketball?
Check out my Old Man Game Activity Guides. They’re convenient training guides that’ll help you work on your fundamentals and conditioning.
Click here to learn more about them.
Read These Articles
Via The Blog:
Via The Newswire:
Zion: 'If I'm in the All-Star Game, I'll do the dunk contest'
Paul Pierce And Draymond Green Looked Back On The ‘They Don’t Love You Like That’ Moment