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Jamal Mashburn shares how he was in awe of Michael Jordan's basketball IQ

"I always knew he was great, but when we chatted, he was able to break down my game analytically."

Stephen Beslic

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Jamal Mashburn was a prolific small forward who had a knack for getting buckets. He wasn’t the most athletic, nor was he the most skilled, but what he lacked in those areas, he made up for with his savvy. 

In a recent interview on the “The Old Man & The Three” podcast, Mashburn shared an anecdote about his encounter with Jordan during the latter’s last All-Star Game and how His Airness helped unlock a part of his game that he didn’t know he had.

Spent time with MJ

The All-Star Game typically offers opportunities for players to spend time with players they normally wouldn’t have a chance to interact with. For Mashburn, this was his chance to pick Jordan’s brain and get some valuable insights on how to improve his game. And boy, did he take advantage of it.

“I got a chance to spend time with Michael Jordan, and we played one-on-one. You know how before the layup line and different things like that? I always knew Michael Jordan was great. But when I chatted with him, and he was able to break down my game, analytically,” Mashburn narrated to host JJ Redick.

Mashburn continued, “Jamal, you like to go left 80 percent of the time, pull up over the right hand, and different things like that but then he gave me a solution. ‘Go right, Two or three times in the game.’ And then gave me a story. He said, ‘Dr. J. Larry Bird passed something down to me to play the game within the game.’ I said, ‘Well, what are you referencing?’ He was like, ‘Well, in the game, sometimes, I'm not just going to score, it is how I want to score.’”

Keep the defense off-balance

It was savvy advice from someone who made a career out of lighting up scoreboards across America with his tremendous scoring prowess. Mashburn added that Jordan told him, “So Jamal, if you go right two or three times and you make a pull-up jump shot or right-hand layup or whatever it is, you're balancing out your game; you're keeping the defense off balance.”

That was not the end of it as Mashburn shared that Jordan went to great lengths studying every player in that arena and went on to explain every single player’s strengths and weaknesses.

“And this man went through every All-Star and chatted about what their strengths and weaknesses off the top of his head. And I sat there, and I was like, I thought I knew a lot about basketball, but he's on a different level,” Mashburn shared.

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Stephen Beslic
STEPHEN BESLIC

Stephen Beslic is a writer on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Stephen played basketball from the age of 10 and graduated from Faculty of Economic and Business in Zagreb, Croatia, majoring in Marketing.

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