Michael Jordan speaks to Alabama football team via Zoom
Alabama has had some special guest speakers, but this one might take the cake. Tuesday night the Crimson Tide heard from six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, who spoke to the team via a Zoom call.
“Winning has a price,” Jordan told the players in a video released by the team. “You have to put forth the effort every single day. Coaching can only give you the motivation, they can give you the plays and all that. At the end of the day, you have to have self-determination. You have to want to be the best.
“If you’re all on the same page and everybody wants to win, that’s the whole process. If you guys sitting there put on that Alabama uniform, your attitude is about winning. Winning is a part of me. I will do anything to win. Your energy should be towards winning.”
Alabama regularly brings in high-profile guests to talk to its football team. Last season, the Tide welcomed former heavyweight world champion, Mike Tyson, while the late NBA great Kobe Bryant spoke to the team in 2018.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban used Jordan as an example to his players earlier this offseason, sending them a clip of the Hall-of-Famer's documentary "The Last Dance" for inspiration.
“I think that that was the best thing I’ve heard for a long time because there’s nothing that I could agree with more, the way he said it, the conviction that he said it with, the things he did, the way he lived it, all the time he competed and played,” Saban said during an interview with ESPN in May. "I talk to recruits, I talked to players. I actually sent that last couple minutes of that No. 8 show because I wanted players to see that. I thought that was so inspirational, so powerful, so compelling. And I think it's a reflection of a great competitor and what they're willing to sacrifice to be able to win, what they're willing to sacrifice to be a leader.
"Sometimes I see fewer and fewer people in this day and age who want to be in a leadership role because they don't want to offend anybody. They want to be liked by everyone. I don't think you have to offend people to be a leader, but I do agree that sometimes you have to push people and challenge them to do things that they might not be comfortable doing. You've got to get used to being uncomfortable sometimes when you're a great competitor, and I think Michael said it as well as it could be said."
