"I was just happy to be on the same floor" - $1.7B worth Michael Jordan admits that he was once blown away by Sixers legend

There was a time early in his career when Michael Jordan was not the best player on the court. Jordan even admitted that he was in awe of one of his favorite players growing up. He had the chance to face that legend a few times during his career.

In his 1998 book, "For the Love of the Game," MJ revealed his admiration for "Dr. J" Julius Erving. The G.O.A.T. revealed that he was not a fan of Magic Johnson or Larry Bird but always idolized the Philadelphia 76ers icon. He couldn't do anything against Irving when they matched up between 1984 and 1987.

"When I came into the league, I wasn't nearly as enamored with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as I was with Julius Erving," Jordan said. "As a kid, my first nickname was 'Magic,' but the only player I really knew about was 'Dr. J.'

"I had a couple of good games against Philadelphia during my first season, but I couldn’t do anything when I was matched up with Julius because I had so much admiration for him. I was just happy to be on the same floor."

Apart from idolizing Julius Erving on the court, Michael Jordan also used "Dr. J" as an inspiration for his future outside it. Jordan, now a billionaire, owed some of his success from the lessons he learned from Erving.

The Chicago Bulls legend told Jackie McMullan of The Ringer how Erving inspired him to become a businessman. Before Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson arrived, there was "Dr. J," who is believed to be the first NBA player to sign a shoe endorsement deal in 1976.

"Dr. J was one of the guys that I idolized from the business side of things," Jordan said. "And I wanted to take that same passage, you know, and show that I was more than just a basketball player. I had a personality, and I had a business mindset. I can coordinate, and I can cross all different types of color barriers."

---

Julius Erving on playing against young Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan and Julius Erving (Photo: Sports Illustrated)

Julius Erving was at the tail end of his career when Michael Jordan arrived on the scene in 1984. The two legends faced each other eight times in the NBA, with Erving going 6-2.

On the "Knuckleheads" podcast, "Dr. J" discussed playing against a young Jordan. He explained how MJ was a scoring machine but wasn't playing the game the right way.

"MJ and I played against each other," Erving said. "There were three years where we overlapped. I caught him before he really hit his stride. He was scoring a lot of points, but he was trying to find himself. Find the right mix of teammates. There were a lot of things going on during that time."