“People feared him” – Jud Buechler explains the aura Michael Jordan had

It wasn't just athletic ability that helped MJ outlast his rivals.

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While his career averages of 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds per game might make him a former NBA player that most fans forgot about, Jud Buechler definitely has some great stories to tell.

He’ll always have Chicago

The aforementioned stats might not sound great at all, but if they are placed within a context that includes winning 3 NBA championships as a member of the historic second three-peat run by the Chicago Bulls, things sure look a bit better. Of course, the best part of his professional career was playing alongside Michael Jordan so Jud remembered many experiences with the GOAT and talked about them during a Q&A with HoopsHype in 2020.

“Yeah, well, the thing that I don’t think a lot of the younger-generation players (who didn’t have a chance to see him play) understand about Michael is that people feared him. There was fear,” Buechler stressed. “As great as the players are in today’s game, I don’t know if anyone’s really feared like Michael was. I mean, opponents really didn’t want to play against him.”

Buechler also spent time after retirement as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks so he is in a good position to draw such comparisons without sounding like a bitter old head. Obviously, this was also a clear sign about where Jud stands in the GOAT debate.

“MJ, he just had this aura about him. And he was mentally so tough and obviously such a gifted player and athlete that a lot of guys didn’t want any part of him, didn’t really want to step up to that challenge because he embarrassed a lot of guys. There was just this fear factor with him, unlike any other player I’ve ever seen,” Jud added.

The Scott Burrell story

The fear factor extended to his teammates and ever since the Last Dance documentary, that one story about Scott Burrell gained a lot of traction so Jud commented on it as well.

“That’s what a leader does, he pushes the team. He was always testing every guy to know if he could trust them down the stretch. I think Michael, by then, realized that while he could do a lot of stuff out there, he needed the other guys to help out. So, he was constantly pushing us in practice, testing us – especially Scotty Burrell that one season. And it made us all better players. I don’t think anybody had any problems with it at all.”

This opinion was also confirmed by Burell himself, who even joked a bit about it by saying that "Jordan is smaller than me, he wouldn't mess with me. I'm just joking; I'm just teasing. That was a strong man for his size, just saying. But, no, it was always verbal. It was never physical."

Stories such as these are always great to hear as they add even more layers to the complete, and sometimes seemingly never-ending, Michael Jordan story. It is even better these recollections also remove some of the misconceptions or even false myths flying around.