Curry interviews Jordan at Ryder Cup, talk golf, losing, competitiveness, and more
It’s not too often that you’ll hear Michael Jordan participating in an interview these days, however, on Saturday, the 10-time scoring champ was interviewed by the reigning scoring champ, Stephen Curry, for NBC Sports as part of Curry’s recent landmark deal with Comcast NBCUniversal.
Jordan, a staple at the Ryder Cup, has been in attendance at the team golf event for 12 years now, not missing the event since his first time attending in 1997.
Steph teased the interview via social media the day before it aired. “Not often you get a chance to talk to the Goat An honor and privilege to speak with MJ at the #RyderCup ⛳️🙌”.
The two basketball legends spent the majority of their interview talking about, you guessed it, golf. A game that both athletes are admittedly obsessed with.
Curry asked Mike about how he balanced golf with basketball during his playing days. Mike’s response was predictable. It involved his competitive nature.
“I kind of got into golf, mainly, from a competitive standpoint, to me, it is the hardest game to play.” Said Jordan. “I can always respond to an opponent, a defensive guy, offensive guy, or whatever, but in golf, it’s like playing in the mirror, and you’re battling yourself consistently to try to get perfection. Every swing, every putt. For a competitive person like me, this is what keeps me sane.”
One of the more notable parts of the interview came as Jordan briefly spoke about losing. The six-time NBA champion told Curry that even though he hated losing, it was an integral part of winning.
"I hate losing. It's not even a question. But I have to respect losing because losing's a part of winning."
Very wise words from the Goat. Something I’m sure Curry will ponder on and take from to incorporate into his own thaught process.
Even though Curry and his Warriors team have spent the greater portion of the last decade winning, it’s no secret that the last few years have come with their share of losses. And with the revamped Warriors hoping to be fully healthy by December, when Klay Thompson is anticipated to return to action, it would be wise of the two-time league MVP to incorporate Jordan’s philosophy on losing and how it relates to winning, into his own situation.
The last thing the Warriors and Curry want to do is to take the previous few years and not learn anything from them.
It was a great moment for basketball fans across the globe to see the two icons sitting just a few feet away from each other and having a chat.
Here’s the full interview: