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Michael Jordan Thinks He Can Still Beat Charlotte Hornets Players One-On-One, But Doesn’t Want To ‘Demolish Their Confidence’

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 11:14 PST, Jun 14, 2015

Michael Jordan may now be on the other side of 50, but the owner of the Charlotte Hornets is still pretty confident in his ability to beat his team’s players in a game of one-on-one.

The NBA legend has stayed in good shape in his retirement, keeping up with his game and taking on a bigger role as Charlotte’s owner. He also hasn’t lost the competitiveness (or the cockiness) that became legendary during his playing days.

In an interview with L’Equipe, Jordan said he’s quite confident there is no one on the Charlotte Hornets who can beat him on the court.

L’Equipe: Do you think you can play against some of your guys right now? Do you sometimes do that or not? Could you win on one-on-ones against them?

Jordan: I’m pretty sure I can, so I don’t want to do that and demolish their confidence. So I stay away from them, I let them think they’re good…but I’m too old to do that anyway.

But it may be more than boasting. Jordan has still shown off flashes of his natural talent, even more than a decade after retiring from the NBA. Back in 2013, just after he turned 50, Michael Jordan showed off his dunking ability while at a basketball camp.

At the time, a number of NBA players said they thought Jordan could still play in the league if he wanted to.

“I wouldn’t doubt that in the right situation with a LeBron (James) on his team or with a Kobe (Bryant) on this team, he could get you about 10 or 11 points, come in and play 15-20 minutes,” then-Lakers forward Antawn Jamison said. “I wouldn’t doubt that at all, especially if he was in shape and injuries were prevented and things of that nature.”

A listing for Jordan’s Highland Park Mansion, which is on sale for $14.9 million, also showed just how serious Air Jordan is about his game. The listing pictures showed a giant indoor basketball court, kept in pristine condition, that Jordan reportedly used each day to keep his game in top shape.

If Michael Jordan really is better than the Charlotte Hornets, the team might want to try convincing him to suit up next season. The team has been at the bottom of the Eastern Conference for much of the last decade, with only two winning seasons since being re-incarnated as the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004. This year they finished with 33 wins.

[Image via Getty Images/Handout]

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