Gene Siskel asks Michael Jordan about his hands (1996)
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
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Gene Siskel asks Michael Jordan (promoting Space Jam) to describe his shooting hand.
HT mediaburn.org/v...
You could tell he genuinely found this question interesting and refreshing. He loves his hands. I wish more reporters would ask players questions outside the box.
Great point. It's an excellent question that intrigued MJ immediately.
Jordan's smile at the end after Gene says, "Wow!" is priceless, he looks like a proud 4 year old being complimented for a bad crayon drawing, he's not even trying to be impressive here, yet people were still impressed by everything about him!
Not only Greatest Player of the 80s an 90s but with his physical Gifts he was born with in Todays NBA he would likely average around 43 Pts a Game he could stuff in todays NBA that no other active players would be able to do even the so called King who runs from 1 team to the next Recruiting players all through out the season into the playoffs to jump ship with the cavs. i dont think we will ever see another Micheal Jordan not even in the next 100 years
couldn't disagree more. If anything, this video is proof that the questions have always been just as bad. But Michael Jordan is an expert at branding himself and managing his public image. If you asked the same question to Russell Westbrook, he'd say "you trippin' next question" and then you'd be calling this a dumb question. For a real example of this, Charlie Rose asked Magnus Carlsen what he feels when he touches chess pieces and everyone railed him in the comments for not doing his research and asking such a stupid question. If Magnus and MJ traded interview skills, the comments would be flipped as well.
Yes, he seems very pleased to be going into some technical detail, especially about how he would 'feel' if a shot wasn't right.
Who else looked at their hand to see if they had the M
Tyyy6108 I got it 😳😳
We all do
me lol
Left one only, but I’m Stefan so I guess it got messed up in the process smh 😂😂
I have the M
there's an article which said his parents were short (5'9/5'5). he grew up to be 6'6 with relatively small feet (sz 13) for his height which meant he had greater potential for quickness. usually small feet=small hands but he defied the odds again with exceptionally big hands. it's like all the stars aligned to create a basketball god
Very weird. This dude was genetically engineered, lol.
I don't think size 13 shoes are small . That's regular for NBA , very huge for regular people
6'3 in college
@@Ricobaca good observation. I was 5'11 until age 18. Broke my wrist badly while trying to dunk. ( Never tried afterwards). After fracture I grew to 6'3. For no reason apparently, no acromegaly, gigantism issues thank God. Growth comes late for some.
Size 13 for 6’6 I think is pretty normal. Paul George is 6’10? And wears size 12. Even LeBron is 6’9 and wears size 15 Think. So yeah I think MJ’s shoe size is pretty normal.
highest vertical, biggest hands and just so happens to be the most talented and most relentless. it will never happen again
MrFuchew so true!
Well said! #Facts
MrFuchew you mean one of the highest verticals
"Never"?
MrFuchew Idk about that
He seems so much more intelligent than athletes nowadays. He had everything going for him which made him the greatest athlete ever. Intelligence, drive, huge gripping hands, and of course top athleticism
He's a genius in a way. Very analytical here
He is. You can see how he carries himself. Most athletes today seem like children. Wearing street clothes instead of suits, have way too many tattoos and talk incoherently, like ghetto mumble rappers. But to be fair, Jordan had a smart, strong-minded, well spoken father.
I think it comes down to environment a lot. MJ and Kobe grew up in relatively suburban upbringings where they had a lot of family influence. Most players now don’t come from that. It’s hard to recreate this type of class.
He wa the best defensive player too.
@Ken Matthew Kobe is great but the main advantage of Jordan over Kobe is the hand size that Jordan have Kobe also wish to that he can have the mitts that Jordan have so he can improve his grip to control that he can used both in offense and defense
Add the fact Mj has small feet (13) for his size makes him very nimble. Easier to move and run, truly the ideal basketball specimen.
I know. What a crazy combination if you think about it. His own son Marcus who is shorter than him has bigger feet than him.
13 is not small for his size. I’m the same height and have 11, and I know many others who has the same.
Size 13 isn't small for 6'5 it's a perfectly normal size for someone of that stature. I know people who are 6'8 and have size 13 feet - that's small. I also know someone who is 6'5 with a size 10 foot - again that is small!
@Deviunn Only 6'4!
Dude, you probably lie in the top 10% of all adults in terms of height.
Size 13 is average for 6'5...
People don't realize how much his hands helped him all over the court. Not only around the rim but especially with passing - he could make bullet passes from any trajectory, with velocity and accuracy.
That's why I don't rate basketball as one of the best sports. Way too many genetic limitations.
I honestly think the two things MJ had that Kobe hadn't was the experience at UNC, and those hands. Kobe mentally and hand-wise wasn't on MJ's level. Even though I watched them both and truly think Kobe was more skilled, god..... those hands and that extra bump in maturity MJ had is what made him the greatest. It's all a rare combo.
Boogie Loo not to mentipn getting steals
Boogie Loo actually, coaches said Jordan's ONLY bad area was his passing...
but thats why its so good haha
How many of ya'll are looking at their thumb to hand ratio right now? 😂 😂👌
My thumb ratio is about 1 inch. I can palm a lime
I can palm an apple but not a melon ...my thumb to my finger is about 4 inches ..I'm 35 year old male
Nintariz SAME but my hands are way smaller like way smaller lol
Me, 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️. I’m 6’4” though.
Mine is 2.4 inches longer than my hand I can palm a full size basketball
I just read that, proportionally, MJ has the hands of a man standing 7'9".
Which gives Shaq no excuse not to be able to shoot. Shaq blamed his oversized mitts and said the basketball felt like a tennis ball in his hands.
Well statistics like that are a little unreliable though because several factors might not be taken into account or mixed together into an average number which also could be outdated aswell
@@FOT2010 Weight is also a factor. Shaq was nearly 80-90pds heavier than MJ
@@FOT2010 Look at Kawhi dude can shoot too
@@FOT2010 Shaq's hands are much bigger than Jordans - almost an inch longer. Shaq had similar hand size as Boban - like truly extreme.
Man, this guy is so cool.
Most distinguished athlete of all-time.
No, that would be Julius the doctor Erving!!
Even Kobe recognized MJ's advantage over him with regards to the latter having larger hands which allow MJ to do a lot of things in the air with the ball.
An underrated skill of Jordan. A very important reason why he becomes the best among the other competitors in the game. He just could do things mixing his hands size and strenght with his skills, that no other player even today can do. Kawhi and Antetokounmpo have the tools (big hands) but not yet the grace and abilities Jordan possesed.
I have the Rare Air book from him, which features his actual hand size in two pages. Crazy how huge they're. Thanks for sharing this rare content!!
Thanks for taking time to add a great comment. Agree w/ your thoughts, Swishman.
leonard is very refreshing to watch among today's players along with a few others. some time he is more jordan like than kobe ever was. but you can tell by his reaction time that his instinct is inferior compared to jordan ( even the wizard jordan seems to have much faster reaction time)
apart from that almost every thing about jordan's game is superior to leonard's. i think if time travel is possible a rookie jordan could totally replicate what leonard did last few seasons with some extra.
Couldn't agree more about Kawhi's more jordanesque compared to kobe.. it's not just the hand size, but it in terms of the form when taking off, picking up the ball 1 hand and dunk it 1 hand without help from the other hand. This is one foot jump. All NBA players can do both but you notice throughout kobe's career he rarely do the 1 foot dunks or layups because he always do the 2 foot. Also the 2006 Dwade uses a lot of 1 foot dunks. You can see the aerial resemblance of dunk and layup take offs from Dr. J, MJ, Pippen, VC, (06) Dwade, Lebron, Young Ray Allen, Kyrie but rarely from Kobe.
John Stockton had oversized hands, too and palmed the ball as effortlessly as Jordan. Funny NOBODY ever talked about that or tried to explain away his success as because of that.
huge hands..strong grip...and creativity. thats what separate him from other players with huge hands..they just dont have the skills to use it as their advantage.
I just love the way he speaks
So much composure
This dude had frickin baseball mitts for hands!
Erik Hopkins 2nd biggest in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain 😳
Erik Hopkins ..stop it, they are long, but not real wide or thick, Andre the giants were 10x bigger, boban's too, and a million other guys..he's SIX FOOT SIX, they are average for his height, only 9 1/2 long.
Anthony T Jordan had Bigger hands than Shaq, Yao ming and kareem LOL you call it average?
@@anthonyt2940 his hands were the size for a 7'9" person
Too bad mitts don't hold a baseball bat that well 😂
Don't forget MJs spring. The only human that stayed in the air for one second. (while doing his artistry)
Just amazing.
Literally was built for basketball in every physical aspect.
Look for Kendall Hill I guess he played for the hornets and other teams I believe he was left handed but if you see he has a similar physical to Jordan even larger hands too but I guess Jordan had other adventages like long legs larger stride too and obviously more talented
From this interview it isn't just the hands, but Jordan's understanding of their value that really helped him be great.
I studied MJ for like 3 months straight this past year and mann the things i learned about his mentality and work ethic influenced me greatly.
how did you study him
Hes body, hands, high
Head ,jump .
He born to be a legend.
MJ THE BEST ..
Z3R0 M13DO
brain too. Extremelly smart guy from smart family.
@@miloshp7399 yes right! Is like when you create a player in any of these vídeo ..put everthing no one..plus cheat code..damn
God made MJ to be a basketball player for sure. So many of his talents just God-given.
never realized how well spoken he is
Well he's not suppose to be dumb. He also had a good father and family, growing up.
He grew up in a medium sized town in North Carolina. He did go to Chapel Hill which is a good school. His family members sound more stereotypically southern or "black" than him.
Christian 78 he also has an accent imo sounds like the new jersey accent
His mannerisms and speech are quite good. Comparative to Kobe
HAx2 thats why mj is tHe goat
Which is just more proof that he was the most perfect basketball specimen.
Look at how well spoken, clean cut, polished and sharp the old school nba was. Nowadays its tattoos, dreads and womans clothes.
It's all relative though - by today's standards he's clean cut. But in the 80s MJ was considered a trend setter and risk taker. His flashy sneakers, baggy shorts, ear rings, shaved head......these were not things that respectable athletes wore. Even shaving your head was a big big statement back then. It just didn't happen until MJ did it. Same goes for baggy shorts - players wore tailored uniforms until MJ came along.
Yup.
@@chrisjames6327 Always with the excuse to justify rachetness... smh
Michael Jordan (freshman) walked by me in the Greensboro Coliseum and I noticed his huge hands ! (Jimi Hendrix hands)
Georgia 57 vs. North Carolina 66 F (Sunday February 14, 1982)
North Carolina would win the 1981-1982 NCAA title
This one of the differences between him and Kobe, was those big hands. Gave him more options.
mikem987 facts Kobe even said before if He had bigger hands he be a beast
@@hightolerance8728 mj had more vertical too, he was athletic overall.
Mikem987 Jordan much bigger, quicker, and more explosive. Kobe, slighty better ballhandler, but Jordan was better everywhere else. Jordan was better off the ball. Better in the post, better at attacking and finishing at the rim. Kobe seemingly could hurt you from anywhere on the court at any angle. Jordan was an inside guard who expanded his game away from the basket. Efficient ball handler who was at the rim in 1 or 2 dribbles from the three point line. Jordan, with his superior athletic ability, was always able to create more space than Kobe could to get his shot off. Either way, they are the 2 best, most complete two guards to ever do it. And what a pleasure to have been able to watch them both.
@@Andrew7244 Kobe also has a better shooting touch. But probably because the basketball already felt like a volleyball for Jordan, must have been hard for him to shoot given all that strength
@@fukun5773 jordan has the better shooting percentage at perimeter, although MJ did not shoot more on 3's but in ratio it does show MJ is better shooter
R.I.P. Gene Siskel bretheren die hard Bulls fan.
Back when NBA players dressed with class
To have all of MJ’s physical attributes along with his intangibles is one in million but then to add in those huge hands, forget about it! They’ll never be another. 🐐
Kinda crazy how you can see the M in his hands clear as day.
One of the many reasons why he's better than Kobe, and in fact, a major reason pointed out by Phil Jackson.
Big hands are probably the biggest blessing a basketball player could ever have, far more than height. I'm convinced I could have been the next John Stockton if it weren't for my baby hands...
Yep. Michaels "mitts" as Phil put it.
The only reason he's better. Kobe even said he wished he had bigger hands so he could go to the basket more. which would've increased his fg % as well
Absolutely
It works both ways. You can also say Kobe did the same (was just as good) but did it with less (hands aren’t as big). Hence, Kobe’s “smaller” hands, pretty sure it’s still bigger than the average persons hands, did not restrict him from being a great player. He made the most out of what he has. Kobe was still great. RIP Kobe. Legend.
It's his brain that's the main component
That’s the weirdest yet most interesting interview ever
He was quite charming there....good question
Charisma charisma charisma....... the guy is just a natural at speaking. Intelligent human being. So calm and composed. Men played back then. Mentally and physically strong.
Jordan has Hands Tailored made for Basketball.
Facts
Yeah where did he get his big hands from? Did his dad have big hands or mum? I don't know their hand size but would like to know. Same with the height? Was his grandad really tall? One thing is for sure is that he looks exactly like his father no doubt about that
@@JangoBlader no one in his family is above the height of 180 lmaooo
He's such a beautiful man!
Would he still be beautiful if he wasn't rich and famous
Chris
Yes.
He's still got god-like basketball skills.
@@Chris-yw2zp Yes he would!!! JORDAN is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Yesssss He is! 👌 PERFECTION!!!! 🤜
I have been posting that on all videos. he is so handsome, so charming... he is perfect.
Big hands , long wing spans are vital for basketball. Makes the games so much easier .
On top of that Jordan jump was amazing that's why he was unstoppable
RIP Gene,he must have had a ball in the 1990s seeing his beloved Bulls have such great success and he lived to see MJ win his 6th title in 1998...
Phil Jackson always compliments Jordan's mitts
Farhan Frankie Shairali billion dollar hands as he calls them lol
Before Mike got that one crooked ass finger.
As Kobe being my favorite Athlete of all time I truly understand where he gets his influence from.... Respect to Jordan
Michael Jordan is like what I envisioned the perfect basketball player to ever look like physically. He's black, he's got the perfect height(6ft6) which is exactly in the middle, he has the perfect hands for optimal basketball dexterity and coordination, he's perfectly toned and buffed to a tea and most importantly hes bald for optimal aerodynamics. crazy #GOAT
Prime example last night watching Lebron. He lost the ball going up for a reverse dunk and also later in the game when a teammate inbounded the ball to Lebron and he let it roll until it almost stopped and he tried palming it to pick it up and couldn’t. MJ 🐐
Michael Jordan at 6'5 has hands almost as big as Shaq. It's quite unbelievable really. In the cigar aficionado interview you can clearly see that normal size things are awkward for him. His hands are twice the size of Kobe Bryant. They both about the same height. Basically Jordan has hands as big as a 7 foot dude, while having a great height and weight proportions to maximize his speed and explosiveness. Kawhi Leonard is similar to his dimensions
@@mcentepede Jordan is just a lot more explosive and creative with his finishes than Kawhi
They said he had some of the biggest hands in the NBA
This was one of the most critical tools of Michael's game. So many athletes have similar hops and dunking power and shooting range, but MJ has one of the largest fucking mitts, ever. Especially for his size. We all want to talk about his shoes and jumping and killer will, but... The size of his hands separates him from almost every other basketball player ever, and gave him an advantage rarely ever seen.
He’s an amazing legend and a fantastic ambassador for the sport 🏀
If you purchase or own the book Rare Air the opening pages have full size scale image of both his hands spread open for you to compare.
True, Greg. I have Rare Air - in storage, somewhere! ;-)
Greg Patterson thanks for the info!
I still have that book. His hands are majestic!
Damn, we he said the things about the M's in his hands, then showed them and it was bizarrely obvious, blew my mind
nice upload!
besides his overall superior abilities in just about any aspect of the game the big hands really set him apart from the rest. these hands enable him to do so many things that most player cant. personally i think his hand size was overlooked even though it is a well known thing among nba fans.
I totally agree - it's known, but not really known / talked about as much as I'd expect. Well said.
wtf! his hands are way bigger than his face.. thats eerie
Kobe doesn't have the hands and 48 inch leap. That's the diff.
Qin Woodruff But kobe's a better shooter tho and dare I say dribbler too
That's true but Kobe and also Larry Bird and Michael Jordan's all have mastered every single fundamental skill of offensive basketball they're the only players in the NBA that really have no offensive weakness..... Everybody likes to say Kobe having again after Jordan but that's just media Grand scale the reality of it is Michael Jordan Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant just use good old-fashioned fundamentals and perfected them and they don't waste time with all this show me stuff which is why they're so effective if you really narrow it down Michael Jordan Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant can literally beat their defender in 3 dribbles or less consistently no other offensive player in the NBA can say that in NBA history the film supports it
Also not quite the same upper body strength or first step quickness (even before the 2003 knee surgery).
Masterof Ceremonies wrong Kobe never shot 50% for a single season. Jordan averaged 50 for his entire career.
kobe averaged more turnovers, not as good of a ball handler either.
mj is a once in a lifetime player..he is physically gifted..natural born ability..he got big hands and he is quicker than any 6'6 player and he got a 48" vertical leap..those 3 natural born ability truly separates him from kobe..
Agree that’s why Kobe must be more skilled and must work harder than Jordan to fill the shortcoming that he has compare to Mj
@@betaselshartford9454facts cause Kobe had 38 inch vert while mj got 48 inch vert Kobe need too have all that footwork. Mj might be the god of basketball but Kobe was the demigod
He got the genetic sweet spot. Legend. 🫡💪
I don't wanna play ball against a guy who was born with his initial on his hand IJS! #GOAT #MJ
Michael is so well spoken.
The way Micheal speaks, articulates and explains things just shows his mind is all about learning and improving. He understands how to improve from a mental and emotional point of view and he knows better then anyone else that playing sports competetively and getting your body to do what your mind wants is mostly mental. That's what makes him the greatest. He always found a way to win, weather it was by performing consistantly himself or by leading his teammates.
The Bull's team was more than just a team of great athletes. It was a team of brilliant minds, all different, but together they formed the perfect harmony. Phil understood this better than anyone and that's why Micheal wouldn't work with anyone but Phil. What they accomplished was as mush a spiritual effort as it was a physical one and that's why the story is so perfect and why it became a cultural phenomenon.
To me Micheal Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time.
Hes just born to play basketball I would always dream to palm the ball like MJ.
Your can can come true. Buy a small mini basketball
Brian Lee 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ayyy
both hands got M is cool AF
That lil fun fact at the end 😂🥰 very cool
Truly genetically designed for basketball. Unbelievable.
I think he molded his body into that... it was a very fast evolutionary process :))
It's so fucking fascinating to me that when I play ball and try to get better and run drills I become se aware of everything that's wrong with the form, shooting, pulling up, the pressure on the ball for shooting etc and how not a lot of athletes are asked those questions by really anyone in the media. Even former players don't go that deep into the mechanics of their games.
Very Humble MAN!
That's why everyone loves him.
Great line of questioning and relevant to his skill set
John stockton also has wide hands...this is why he is the all time assist leader.... Stockton is the greatest ever at being able to pass with pin point accuracy off the dribble with one hand with either hand....one of the hardest skills in basketball to master that never gets talked about.... When you have to put two hands on the ball it takes a split second away from a window that opens up to make a pass Stockton sent you had access to more windows throughout his career than any other player because of the skill which is why he amassed so many more assists then even Magic Johnson ....go watch some prime Stockton then ask yourself how good was he really??.
Greatest to EVER do it. PERIOD
Literally born with hands for basketball. Skill, luck, and talent aside, some people just came out of the womb with it.
I've never noticed until now, but he has absolutely no webbing between his thumb and pointer finger.
Did Gene really say wow when MJ showed him the “M” on his hand 😅
Wow that area between thumb and fingers is long. Never seen that or noticed before
Wow, the video is under two minutes yet that might be the most interesting segment on Michael Jordan I've seen.
God knew he would be so epic he literally engraved the letter M into both hands.
He would not have been the player he was with out those mits. He could manipulate the ball like no other player. Only Wilt, the Dr and Connie Hawkins could grab the ball like Jordan and do something with it
Robert M difference between the players you named and MJ is that MJ was actually skilled as fck. Like I hate when people say Rondo can't shoot because he has huge hands, bs! Rondo does have huge mitts but he can't shoot bc he doesn't change his mechanics and doesn't work on perfecting a fundamental form. Kawhi has huge hands so did Scottie pippen, but they have decent shooting mechanics
Moises Benitez kawhi leonard has great shooting mechanics and he's improving every year in that aspect
John Stockton did that. Rajon Rondo does, too.
Dr J hands are bigger, Shaq, CWebb, and Pippen
The "M" in the hands moment had me out loud go "SHIIIIIIIIIT!"
Dude, he's a cyborg created by some company, with those M hands. The "M" model basketball player.
That was a really good question and interview.
He is the master !
That's true, i have a wide separation of my thumb to my pointer finger, I can grip the ball though Im only 5'3, My fingers on my right hand are strong to hold it.
jordan's hands is proportionally perfect. it's huge yet doesn't look like extraterrestrial like giannis or kawhi's hands. that huge palm is the reason why he can grip the ball so easily. when you hoop your palm gets sticky. and when it does that the ball sticks like a glue.
I've seen you all the great players dr. J and Michael Jordan are by far the two greatest players at finishing around the basket off the dribble over multiple Defenders with either hand nobody else even comes close..... The hands are exactly the reason why ...
They just have more control.....
Without those hands he would probably hace ended up with a lot less career points. I mean, how many times did he score b/c he can palm a basketball like the rest of us average Joe's palm a softball?
Beautiful
Gene Siskel died 3 years after this interview. RIP
His 🖐 alone makes him the greatest
MJ and J were the only two I remember ever palming a ball during a game. Oh and the Iceman did at times too.
Man Michael is just different, from any one else.
"Wow!"
I been telling folks for years that Mike's hands relative to his body is what separates him from everybody, even Kobe and LeBron. You just can't do the stuff he does--the palming fakes, the aerial switches, very efficient ballhandling, picking pockets--without enormous hands. Kawhi is a perfect example of a guy using his giant hands to do everything with a basketball on offense and defense. I mean, look at that inhumanly large palm!
Is it true that MJ badly injured his fingers in his comeback with the Wizards and it ruined the way he used to be able to play the game?
best dunker of all time. His large hands, huge vertical and hang time, and the way he double pumps kicking his legs out. Most beautiful dunks ever! He made free throw line dunk actually look like gravitation, much prettier than Dr. Js original
THE KING...THE MAN...THE " GOD " OF BASKETBALL...
Mr. Mj you are always amazing sir!
Funny but my name is Michael also and I also got those M's.
😂😂😂
Got some huge palms like me and 6'4
Imagine slap boxing MJ for fun.
Michael actually had the biggest hands in NBA history at one time
I doubt it....Connie Hawkins, Dr J were both thought to have bigger hands than Jordan.
The Golden Age of the NBA.
With them hands he was definitely untouchable as MJ done prove to us all over the years well said MJ
Gene would have loved interviewing michael he was a huge sports fan and huge bulls fan of course
Beautiful metaphor of MJ comparing his wide thumb to a paintbrush.
The goat is what he sees bro
Rip Gene Siskel
I can't believe he's been gone for 25 years. Wow
"GONE"???