Michael Jordan was obsessive about winning. After losing to Christian Laettner in a ping pong game, he got himself his own table and practiced before beating him in a rematch.
Michael Jordan is best known for being the ultimate winner in NBA history. While he struggled in his early years to get to the NBA Finals, once he got there, he never lost. MJ was 6-0, claiming 6 championships, something that he made possible through hard work, elite talent, and an unquenchable thirst to win.
Michael Jordan's competitive spirit extended to everything he did, it was never just about basketball. He famously liked to gamble because he wanted to win money from those he was playing with. And the story of him forcing Head Coach Chuck Daly to play a golf rematch after losing to him is legendary in its own right.
When MJ was a part of the Dream Team in 1992, it seems he was at his competitive finest. The Chicago Bulls man was regularly trash-talking legends like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and he wanted to make his mark on the team. Another story from the time is when he played ping pong against Christian Laettner and lost, leading to a very predictable outcome.
Michael Jordan Ordered A Ping Pong Table To His Room After Losing To Christian Laettner So He Could Practice And Get His Revenge
The Dream Team was arguably the greatest basketball team ever assembled, and they enjoyed some legendary scrimmages on the court. But they were also having fun off the court. Speaking to Slam Online in a podcast in 2017, famous photographer Nathaniel Butler recounted the story of MJ's duel with Laettner and his reaction to the whole situation.
"These guys are all competitive. They see a ping pong table, the first thing is make the brackets. First thing. Boom. Boom. Boom.
"For some reason, Christian Laettner was good at ping pong. So, Laettner and Jordan in the finals. Like, there was some side action going on, we’ll leave it at that. Michael is playing ping pong, sweating, like fourth-quarter-at-the-free-throw-line kind of sweat. For some reason, Laettner beat him. He threw the paddle. He didn’t talk for two days to anyone.
"Come to find out, he had a ping-pong table delivered up to his room. No one knew about it. and he was practicing for the re-match. They had a re-match two days later, three days later. It was (something like) 21-4. He destroyed him."
The whole story is a quintessential example of just who Michael Jordan has always been as a person. Becoming the GOAT and becoming a millionaire is only possible when someone has this kind of single-minded dedication to winning and being the best. There's no telling just how intense things would have gotten if Laettner had beaten MJ again, but Jordan was never about to let that happen.
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