Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA, Basketball, Chicago Bulls
Ben McCrum
NBA legend Michael Jordan didn't hold back when he discovered that he was set to be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Having established himself as perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, it came as a surprise to nobody when the NBA decided to honour Jordan by inducting him into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
The former basketball star won six NBA titles, was a five-time MVP, six-time NBA finals MVP and maintained a 6-0 record in those MVP finals during his storied 15 season long career.
Therefore, when he discovered that he was set to join the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in the NBA Hall of Fame, you'd assume that he'd have felt honoured and be excited about the news.
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However, this wasn't the case, and 'MJ' didn't hold back when revealing how he really felt about making it into the Hall of Fame.
When the time came for Jordan to join his fellow NBA legends in the Hall of Fame, the former Chicago Bulls star admitted that seeing his name cemented in the sport's history felt less like a honour and more like a definitive ending to his career.
"Not now. It's a tremendous accomplishment, don't get me wrong," Jordan admitted, via Basketball Network.
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"I don't want to diminish that for anybody else. But for me, it signifies something so finite and the end of something. Basketball is my love and I can never envision an ending of something like that. That passion that I have for the game until I'm dead and gone."
Jordan started playing basketball when he was just a kid growing up in North Carolina and later went on to make his college debut 1981 before joining the Chicago Bulls as the third pick in the 1984 NBA draft.
And for Jordan, his induction into the Hall of Fame marked to his journey within the sport and a brutal reminder that time waits for no man in professional sports.
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However, these feelings didn't stop Jordan from accepting the honour at the ceremony in September 2009 with a speech that raised more than a few eyebrows.
Taking to the stage, a tearful Jordan didn't just thank the NBA for the honour as he also took the time to hit out at several people while reminding the audience that he was the greatest.
"This wasn't a Hall of Fame induction speech, but a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria," wrote a report from Yahoo Sports.
"He had a responsibility to his standing in history, to players past and present, and he let everyone down."