Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz are joined by former NBA pro and NBC analyst Evan Turner to discuss Michael Jordan’s impact on his game and how the Chicago Bulls can return to their winning culture that the 90s teams established. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.
View more
Advertisement
Video Transcript
You’re also from Chicago, so having lived growing up around the shadow of Michael Jordan but playing against LeBron, who’s your GOAT?
Man, I, I feel so bad because it’s, to me it’s not close.
It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s Michael Jordan.
You know what I mean?
Like I, MJ’s, MJ’s the man.
Like, MJ’s the man.
I think, you know, just growing up, to me he’s a real-life superhero, and, I don’t wanna do any comparisons about like how he was feared or not feared, but it is Y- you know, there’s only one Coca-Cola, you understand what I’m saying?
And when you explain it like that, it is no slight to, LeBron, but MJ’s the, the greatest of all time, man.
Advertisement
Now, how much did he influence your love of the game?
Man, it was everything.
I always say I was grateful for two things, like or a few things.
H- like having my family.
Just randomly growing up in Chicago.
Like, I think like that helped my basketball like, you know, journey because it’s a basketball city, but then also too just growing up during the Jordan time.
I remember just being a kid at four years old and screaming, “I wanna be like Mike,” and, you know, I think when you not to get too deep on you, but when it goes down to a situation growing up, you know, you know, with a single mom, MJ was kinda like a father figure and a standard to really, you know, know that you can make it out, and he kind of just said, “Yo, go be legendary.”
Advertisement
And, shoot, to a certain extent that was one of few people telling me to go be legendary, so I, I’ll always remember my, ascent trying to make it and then see him one day and be like, “Yo, like I made it.”
Like, you know what I mean?
Like, like I made it.
Like you probably don’t even know me, but you helped me make it ’cause you’re Mike.
If you could invent a time machine, if we went back to the ’90s and we were sitting there trying to tell everybody, “Hey, by the way, the Bulls aren’t gonna be relevant in the NBA for a really long time,” how shocking is that now?
Like, what do the Bulls have to do to become sort of one of those franchises again?
Advertisement
I think one thing they need to do is probably try.
Like a- apply pressure just a little bit.
I’m like, I don’t know.
We do all this analytics.
Hold the front office accountable.
One thing that bothers me sometimes, and I think Josh Jackson said this about the Suns back in the day, he’s like, “Yo, we need to stop blaming these, kids for the mistakes that adults are making.”
So like, hey bro, when it come to free agency, I haven’t seen a big-time free agent come through this bad boy yet.
It’s ridiculous, you know?
Chicago’s one of the best cities in the world, one of the biggest cities in the world and we, and we love, you know, we, we love winning and we love to, show up and support.
So hopefully it gets together and, you know, I, I wish everybody involved in that situation the best because I know building a team isn’t easy.