Mike Tyson Inspires NBA Prospect In Unique Way

An NBA prospect revealed why his favorite athlete outside basketball is the legendary boxer Mike Tyson.

Among the greatest boxers of all time, Tyson is arguably the most influential. Tyson has impacted even the younger generation in boxing and other sports as well. In fact, he is widely recognized in MMA and just recently, an NBA prospect said that his favorite athlete besides basketball superstars is “Iron Mike” himself.

Jordan Usher, is a junior swingman who is in his first season with the Yellow Jackets. After graduating from Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga., Usher attended and played basketball at the University of Southern California for a season and a half before returning home and enrolling at Georgia Tech.

He is an excellent athlete and was a four-star prospect in high school and led Wheeler High School to the 7-A state finals as a senior. His strong physique made him become eligible to play for the Jackets on December 18. Since joining the team, Usher has started every game and averaged 8.3 points and 3.7 rebounds. Usher’s playing style has been significant for the Yellow Jackets’ success as he has averaged more than 10 points a game in games Georgia Tech has won.

But none of these have made Usher a unique player. In an exclusive interview with Ramblin Wreck, the future NBA prospect revealed that aside from LeBron James, Blake Griffin and Dwight Howard in his prime, his biggest influence was Tyson.

“Probably Mike Tyson just because he’s an animal. I used to really like when he came into his fights with that drone noise instead of music. He would play a loud drone noise to get his opponents all shook up, I liked that,” Usher said when asked who his favorite athlete is outside of basketball.

Despite being inspired by athletes with extremely strong physique, Usher wanted “ people to be able to say that ‘Jordan Usher helped us win games’.”

In the NBA, only one player earned a comparison to Tyson. NBA legend Jason Kidd once stated that Houston Rockets superstar Russell Westbrook is “the Mike Tyson of NBA” simply because the aggressiveness he displays inside the court resembles the boxer’s style of fighting.

"He is the [Mike] Tyson of basketball," Kidd said before his team's game against the Thunder on Tuesday, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com.

"When the jump ball [goes up], he is coming as Tyson did [in getting] off the stool. When the bell rings, he's coming for you. Whenever he's on the floor, he plays at one speed, and that's fast and hard."