This Overlooked Footage Of A Young Michael Jordan Shows Off His CRAZY Body Control

The physical attributes that make an athlete great are easily misunderstood.

Think about how you quantify athleticism most: Speed and leaping ability, right? That’s certainly understandable, and not even necessarily wrong, either. Nothing catches you eye like a player effortlessly sprinting away from the rest or soaring above them – and it’s especially true in basketball, a game where every facet of someone’s natural physical ability can be used to some sort of supreme advantage.

But athleticism is hardly all about running the fastest or jumping highest, let alone strength and overall size. A basketball player with incredible measurables definitely has a leg up on the competition, but possesses no all-encompassing trump card. Just think of all the prospects who have risen up the draft board and given impressive athletic testing only to ultimately flame out of the league. This isn’t football. Everyone’s forced to play both sides of the floor in hoops, amplifying the effects of exceptional body control and overall coordination.

Just look above at the rare footage of a young Michael Jordan. His ability to contort, twist, and manipulate his body through and around contact is absolutely jaw-dropping, and arguably the most underrated factor in his status as the best player ever.

What do you remember about Jordan? The fadeaway. The hang-time. The maniacal competitiveness. The wholesale skill. An entire generation of current NBA fans missed the first half of Jordan’s career, when he was a lithe, 6’6 jitterbug capable of shaking defenders on the court and in the air.

In terms of athleticism only, we’ve always thought LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain were without peer when it comes to the NBA. This video, though, has us reconsidering. Could a younger, less accomplished Jordan have been as athletic as an older, championship-winning one was skilled? It certainly seems possible, lending even further credence to his near consensus status as the greatest player of all-time.

[Via NBA] [h/t r/nba]

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