Michael Jordan‘s competitive spirit was unmatched, which aptly described his hunger to win in everyday life. Be it the NBA Finals, golf with friends, or a friendly wager, MJ hated losing. He turned even table tennis, a game meant to be recreational, into a personal mission, and once put a young Kevin Garnett in his place for daring to trash-talk him. Sometimes the Chicago Bulls legend wouldn’t need any challenge, but would make one of his own. Howard H White, the godfather of the Jordan brand, described one such story.

Howard would go 100 miles because he loved riding. Seeing that even Michael Jordan got interested. He would even be ready at three in the morning for an adventure alongside his close friend. White even had done a few trips with Bears legend Richard Dent, the MVP of Super Bowl XX, who’d started taking spin classes and asked White to ride with him, and one such trip unleashed MJ’s competitive spirit.

“‘MJ, I just went 30 miles with H White. We man, we went 30 miles.’ MJ ain’t say nothing,” White recalled on The Pivot Podcast. “(White mimicked Dent’s voice) ’30 miles, M, that’s what we did.'”

Jordan didn’t react much in the moment. But months later, White said, he and Jordan were in Hawaii when his wife told him Jordan was looking for him.

“So I go up black. I said, ‘What’s up, man?’ ‘You going to try to go riding without me?’ I said, ‘What?’ ‘Yeah. Yeah. You going to try to leave me? You was going to go ride without me!’ I said, ‘Man, my bike not even together.’ ‘You go put it together. I know you going to want to leave me,'” White said, recalling Jordan’s reaction.

Those 30 miles had become an obsession and a target for Jordan to chase. As they got their bikes ready, White had a modest distance in mind, just enough to get MJ used to riding without pushing him too hard.

“Get the bikes. I said, ‘M, how far are we going?’ About 10 miles or so, just to get used to it. (Mimicking Jordan) ‘You’re going at least 30 miles. We’re going at least 30 miles. At least. At least!’ Richard Dent was never going to beat him doing anything. We went about 35 or 40 that day as they killed him.”

Clark even added, “Wasn’t even the same sport. They don’t even play the same sport.”

Howard concluded, “I’m just saying what he—he had to his mind. He can’t help himself.”

Dent’s line was surely self-praise, but he never challenged Michael Jordan, nor did they place any bets on it. Probably the mocking tone was what unleashed MJ’s competitive spirit.

White, the Nike executive, even said that he had put the hydration mixture in their bikes to avoid dehydration. Then he would remind MJ to have some. But to White’s surprise, Jordan’s bottle fell out, and yet the Bulls legend had no problem continuing. But White passed his bottle to make sure, “You ain’t going to die here on my watch.”

That’s how Michael Jordan and Howard White completed 10 more miles than Richard Dent’s 30-mile trip. On the hardwood, fans saw his spirit for every game, be it regular season or playoffs. After retiring, golf was one of the outlets, and now NASCAR has become the outlet, and he co-founded 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin in 2020.

“I think I’m cursed,” the Hall of Famer said during an appearance on CBS Mornings. “I’m cursed with this competitive gene that anything that I do is from a competitive lens. And in some ways, that keeps me young…I think that my appetite to prove as a kid created this competitive thing within me that has transcended and taken over everything that I do.”

Michael Jordan’s quotes and stories from people close to him continue to highlight that the level of intensity has never faded.