Michael Jordan had a zeal for competitiveness that pushed him to take on different kinds of challenges in life. The six-time NBA champ has therefore secured a legacy that is impactful even outside the confines of the basketball court. Apparently, Jordan took on a new challenge before he won his first championship in 1991, when the former Bulls coach Doug Collins switched him to the point guard position during the 1988-89 season. However, MJ made a violation during a race with Magic Johnson that resulted in the NBA taking stern action.

Back in the day, the value of NBA players was perceived on the basis of their statistics. Therefore, Jordan, like most other NBA stars, was extremely aware of his stats throughout the season. However, Michael Jordan once took on a triple-double race against Magic Johnson while playing as a point guard, that compelled the NBA to change rules.

Michael Jordan took on the triple-double challenge

As per sports author Sam Smith’s The Jordan Rules, Michael Jordan started picking up triple-doubles during the 1988-89 season. Eventually, his personal challenge transcended into a competition with Magic Johnson, who holds the record for the second highest (138) number of triple-doubles in NBA history. The Chicago Bulls legend wanted to see how many triple-doubles he could get and if he could possibly surpass Johnson’s tally during the season. 

As a result, he started following a practice that prompted the NBA to take serious action. In his book, Sam Smith revealed, “For several games, Jordan would check with the official scorer during the game to see how many more rebounds or assists he needed for another triple double; it only stopped when the league got word and ordered the scorer to refrain from giving out the information during the game.”

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Thus, in an attempt to keep up with Magic Johnson’s triple-doubles, Michael Jordan’s move forced the NBA to make some changes about revealing stats to the players during the game. The NBA took the decision to stop players from playing for stats, instead of battling it out for their respective teams.

Jordan once corrected the scoreboard

Michael Jordan was well aware of his performance stats. After the NBA banned players from asking for scores during the game, Jordan used to keep a count of his point totals in his head. During the 1989-90 season, the 15-time All-Star saw that the overhead scoreboard in Chicago listed his points total as 38, during a timeout in a close game. Jordan noticed a mistake in the tally and asked trainer Mark Pfeil to get the scores right.

“Go tell them it’s got to be thirty-nine. I know I shot an odd number of free throws, so it’s got to be an odd number,” Michael Jordan told Pfeil.

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Thus, Michael Jordan’s habit of keeping a tab of his scores resulted in several moments of brilliance such as this one.