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It's Michael Jordan's 50th birthday today... here's 17 examples of his insane competitiveness

Trash talking with Bill Clinton and getting really good at games on his iPad.

MICHAEL JORDAN TURNS 50 today, which has led to a ton of discussion about his legacy in recent days.

For all his skill and achievements, MJ will be remembered for one thing above all else — his unrelenting competitiveness. Through his trash talk, high-stakes betting, and refusal to lose, MJ developed the persona of the most competitive athlete in sports history.

We picked out the 17 anecdotes that gave Jordan this reputation.

It's Michael Jordan's 50th birthday today... here's 17 examples of his insane competitiveness
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  • At age 50, he is currently trying to lose 45 pounds to get down to his playing weight of 218

  • He played through the flu and scored 38 points

  • He's obsessed with the iPad game Bejeweled. He passed level 100 so he's officially a 'Bejeweled Demigod'

  • He had final say on who made the Dream Team

  • He forced Dream Team coach Chuck Daly to play him in golf by pounding on his hotel room door

  • He trashed all his doubters in his Hall of Fame induction speech, saying of Bulls GM Jerry Krause - I don't know who invited him, I didn't.

  • He once trash-talked Bill Clinton on the golf course

  • He says LeBron still has flaws

  • He punched Bulls teammate Steve Kerr in the face during a scrimmage

  • He played a Bobcats player one-on-one recently, and had to get treatment from the trainer the next day

  • He once told Shaq exactly what he was going to do against his teammate, and it worked

  • He made a $500 bet that he could hit the green with a fan at a charity golf event in 2011, and won

  • He led a group of hard-line NBA owners who refused to budge during the lockout in 2011

  • He allegedly ruined Rodney McCray's career by dominating him in $100 post-practice shooting games

  • Mugsy Boggs said MJ messed up his shot forever with one sentence of trash talk

  • He convinced himself he could play baseball

Published with permission from
Business Insider