"It’s like playing in a mirror": When $3.5B worth Michael Jordan called golf "the hardest sport"

Michael Jordan, an NBA legend worth about $3.5 billion per Forbes, is one of the most accomplished basketball players of all time. He has six championship rings, a Defensive Player of the Year award, five MVPS, and 14 All-Star Game appearances on the court.

On the golf course, he has none of that. He plays frequently, but he's far from a professional golfer. Golf does, however, provide the retired NBA legend a challenge that other sports haven't.

Jordan once said:

"From a competitive standpoint, to me, it's the hardest sport to play... It's like playing in a mirror, and you're battling yourself consistently to try to get perfection."

Hitting a baseball is often considered the hardest thing to do in all of sports, and Jordan tried to do that. He took up professional baseball and didn't make much headway before returning to basketball, but he still maintains that golf is the hardest sport to play.

Jordan has golfed against stars on the PGA Tour like Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler. He has also forged a longtime friendship with Tiger Woods, who said at the time that he was glued to the TV for Jordan's NBA Hall of Fame induction.

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Michael Jordan opened up on unique challenge golf provided him

In basketball, Michael Jordan could always find a weak spot in his opponent, whether he had the ball or not. He could attack that player in some way to get an advantage. He learned quickly that he couldn't do that in golf. It's a solo sport in some ways.

Michael Jordan at the Ryder Cup (Image via Imagn)

Jordan said via The Spun:

"I can always respond to an opponent, defensive guy, offensive guy whatever, but in golf, it's like playing in a mirror."

The NBA Hall of Famer said every single swing and every single putt was a battle with himself to do it correctly. Every shot he took, be it a deep three or a layup, was not like that.

He added:

"For a competitive person like me, this is what keeps me sane because when I walk away from the game of basketball, that was enough to keep my competitive juices working. Now, when I don’t have that game, this game and it even drives me crazy then. I go fishing in between my golf because I got to show patience in fishing that’s going to be related to golf."

Though determining which player is the best ever is almost purely subjective, Michael Jordan did reach the apex of basketball. He did everything the game had to offer, so he turned to golf, and it provided him with a challenge he didn't quite experience in basketball. He didn't experience it in baseball, either, for that matter.