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Michael Jordan, 'When I Hit the Shot in '82, I went from Mike to Michael Jordan'

Michael Jordan stops by 'Good Morning America' to discuss the moment he became Michael Jordan

Quierra Luck

With the upcoming 10 part series of 'The Last Dance' featuring Michael Jordan and his last season with the Chicago Bulls in 1997-1998, Jordan has been on a press run discussing the upcoming details of the highly anticipated documentary.

Thursday morning, Jordan made an appearance on 'Good Morning America' and spoke with Robin Roberts about needing money for a phone bill he ran up in college, and the moment he became Michael Jordan.

What did you learn about yourself during those college years?

"Well, I think it's a little different today, and quite frankly I had a phone bill that was probably $60 or a little less, and I only had $20 in my account, so I mean, and the thing that people are going to learn and my kids laugh about it when they see it, but we used postage stamps back in those days, and I had to ask my mom to send me postage stamps. Looking at the video, you're going to see a lot of things that people tend to forget that life was this way; we didn't have Instagram, we didn't have twitter, so you had to live life as it came; each day you protected it, and you learned the education aspect, spending time with friends and family, it wasn't via the phone, it was actually in presence, and you wrote letters.

To me, the most refreshing thing is my mom. She kept all my letters; it's somewhat embarrassing, but it's refreshing that I took the time to write a letter to say how much I loved my mom and what I needed in college (chuckles)."

1982 was the year everything changed for Jordan. It was led with teammates such as Sam Perkins, James Worthy, and a freshman by the name of Michael Jordan. In his freshman year, Jordan not only became an NCAA champion but was also Rookie of the Year. One of the most memorable moments of the 1981-1982 season for the Tar Heels was Dean Smith winning his first national title off a buzzer beater from a freshman. During her questioning, Roberts asked Jordan about that iconic year, and the shot that changed his life.

"Well, up until that point, no one knew who I was; I was a college kid and other than the University,. Outside the University, I was just known as Mike Jordan, and when I hit that shot, my whole name became Michael Jordan. I think it resonated with a lot of people outside of UNC. I just started piling on that name itself from the success that I endured throughout the rest of my career. It wasn't about Mike; it was more about Michael."

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Quierra Luck
QUIERRA LUCK

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