Debunking The Myth That Michael Jordan Couldn't Go Left

Videos like this have been popping up all over social media by Jordan supporters, showing that Jordan could go left. Some videos showcase Jordan driving left and finishing with his right hand.

This led the believers of Jordan's left-hand struggles to mention that he can't actually finish with his left hand. Other videos then showed nothing but left-handed layups by Jordan, proving that Jordan could finish with either hand on the left side.

In fact, one of Jordan's most famous shots of his career, the switch hands layup, featured Jordan finishing with his left hand.

This apparently wasn't enough to prove the doubters wrong, but Jordan fans had more evidence to support their claims. A video of Michael Jordan calmly shooting a left-handed free throw emerged, proving Jordan was very comfortable using his off-hand.

Still, all of these highlights are just that, highlights. Like the videos of Jordan struggling to go left that have taken over basketball social media, are lowlights. It's easy to push whatever narrative you want by showing certain clips of a player struggling.

You can do this to any player, like in the video below of Stephen Curry. If you showed a video of Curry missing every shot to a casual fan, they might believe Curry is one of the worst shooters of all time.

Since this is an easy way to change the narrative in your favor, using just video clips isn't the best way to prove a point. Luckily for Jordan fans, there are some documented shooting charts that will prove Jordan did just fine on the left side of the court.

The question that remains is: how well did Jordan shoot going left?

Michael Jordan's Shot Chart

The theory of Michael Jordan not being able to go left isn't a new one. Back in the 1980s, when Jordan first entered the league, that was the scouting report on Jordan.

Teams made game plans to force him left, including the Detroit Pistons and their famous "Jordan Rules." Even as recently as a few years ago, former players have spoken about Jordan's struggles going left.

George Gervin, who was Jordan's teammate when the Bulls legend scored 63 against the Boston Celtics in the 1986 playoffs, said this about Jordan in a 2017 interview:

"I'm a student of the game… Mike couldn't go left. I'd just get on the right side and make him go that way. He was dominant right. Until he made that adjustment in his career, he didn't take off. Once he made that adjustment, he could go both ways and get by you, lights out."

Jordan certainly struggled to go left when he first entered the league. That is a fact. But as Gervin said, Jordan did, in fact, make an adjustment and could go both ways.

If the statement of a former player who played against Jordan fails to convince you that Jordan did indeed develop a left hand, then the actual tracked shot attempts of Jordan should be sufficient. It is worth noting that the NBA started tracking a player's shot attempts only from the 1996-97 season onwards.

In the 1996-97 season, where Jordan won his ninth scoring title, as well as his fifth championship, you can see Jordan was efficient from all over the court. This includes the left side of the court.

The shot chart reveals two crucial things. Firstly, Jordan attempted a greater number of shots on the right side: 635 shots as compared to 492 on the left.

This inclination towards the right side is no surprise, as Jordan was known to prefer it. However, he also took a significant number of shots from the left side, specifically from the left corner three and the left midrange area outside of the block.

Although Jordan tended to go right more often, his shooting percentages show that he did not struggle with going left. From the left side of the court (excluding up top from three, on the left side), Jordan made 240-492 field goals, which is a 48.8% success rate. This is a respectable percentage, especially for someone who is considered to have difficulty shooting from that side of the court.

If we compare this with his performance on the right side of the court, we can see that Jordan's shooting percentage was not that much different from his performance on the left. On the right side, he made 317-635 shots, which was a 49.9% success rate.

The next season, Jordan's last as a member of the Chicago Bulls, saw Jordan shoot 45% on both the left and right side of the court. This again proves Jordan was comfortable no matter where he went on the basketball court.

This should settle the debate going around about if Michael Jordan could or could not drive to the left. There should be no doubt that Jordan could finish using his left hand, as well.

Many people who were debating about this topic seem to have forgotten that Jordan's first significant game-winner was when he went left.

Yes, Jordan's "The Shot" against the Cleveland Cavaliers was him beating his defenders by going left and using his left hand to set up his game-winning shot. He also defeated the Utah Jazz on a buzzer beating jumper by going left in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

Even if one believes that Michael Jordan was unskilled and couldn't use his left hand, it only tells us one thing: Jordan won 10 scoring titles, six championships, and five MVPs with only one hand. It's no wonder he's considered to be the greatest of all time.