Michael Jordan on Harsh Reputation: 'Winning Has a Price'

Michael Jordan at the end of Episode 7 tonight was incredible.

“Winning has a price."

His full sequence to end the episode… pic.twitter.com/fxBfN6V8Kq

— Mike Monaco (@MikeMonaco_) May 11, 2020

“My mentality was to go out and win at any cost,” Jordan said. “If you don’t want to live that regimented mentality, then you don’t need to be alongside of me because I’m going to ridicule you until you get on the same level with me. And if you don’t get on the same level, then it’s going to be hell for you.”

“Winning has a price,” Jordan said. “And leadership has a price. So I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged people when they didn’t want to be challenged. And I earned that right because [other] teammates came after me. They didn’t endure all the things that I endured. Once you joined the team, you lived at a certain standard that I played the game. And I wasn’t going to take anything less.”

Episode 7 ended with Jordan, holding back tears, describing just how much the game and the passion to win drove him over the years.

“Look, I don’t have to do this,” Jordan said. “I’m only doing it because it is who I am. That’s how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don’t want to play that way, don’t play that way.”