Katie Baker on Michael Jordan’s 30 for 30 : Jordan Rides The Bus which covers his retirement from basketball, attempt to play Major League Baseball, and the murder of his father that occurred during the period.

He was a winner because he was a dick. That’s not to be flip: if there’s anything we’ve learned in retrospect about Jordan, it’s that his competitive streak bordered on the pathological. “He played every game in something like road rage,” explains J.R. Moehringer in the recent GQ, by way of comparison to LeBron James, who does not. Simmons’s Book of Basketball contains an index line item called Jordan, Michael: competitiveness that comprises 13 various pages. (“He bribed airport baggage guys to put out his suitcase first once, then wagered teammates that his bag would be first on the conveyor belt.”) Halberstam writes that Jordan’s very first words upon winning his third title were less celebratory than vindictive: “Thunder Dan Majerle — my fucking ass!” 

(Via sbnation)

This is a great piece: Longform, great title, and about maybe the most/least interesting athlete of ‘our’ generation.