NBA: Michael Jordan Revealed Only Player He Needed To Be 'Unbeatable' During His Prime

Michael Jordan once claimed he needed only one player to play with him to be unbeatable.

As an NBA player, one of the biggest compliments you can get is the GOAT saying he’d love to have you on his team. During his prime, Jordan seldom mentioned the players he liked to play with. However, at the peak of Bulls vs. Celtics rivalry in the late 80’s, MJ said he wished Danny Ainge was his teammate.

Apparently, Jordan didn’t only want one Ainge as his teammate. According to the NBA icon, he wished to have “4 Ainges” on his team. Jordan was convinced that Ainge’s single-minded focus and dedication to the game were all he needed to be "unbeatable," Basketball Network noted.

“I wish I had four Danny Ainge’s as teammates. With his desire and hustle, we’d never lose a game,” he said.

Reports claimed that Kobe Bryant and LeBron James also had the same mentality regarding teammates. The common factor Jordan, James and Bryant have in choosing the best teammate suggested that It’s not about missing a shot or a defensive rotation but a player doing all he can to be the best basketball player possible.

MJ made the bold comment about Ainge in 1989, a time when Scottie Pippen was on the Bulls for two years already. It’s safe to say that the partnership worked out quite well, but it would still be interesting to hear Pippen’s reaction to the said quote.

Nobody can confirm how serious Jordan was about it of if he really pushed for a trade for Ainge back in the 80’s. Nevertheless, Jordan’s comment still added to Ainge’s legacy.

Today, Ainge is famous in the NBA in a different way. He is widely known for being a “trader” in the league because of being fearless in making trade deals. Last November, Ainge stated that “he was the one to blame” for what happened with the Boston Celtics following the departure of Kyrie Irving, Mass Live reported.

“I’m the one who should be blamed for last year. We put a team together that just didn’t have the pieces that didn’t fit,” Ainge said.

“We were built for a longer run, but we had a lot of young guys who had a lot of success without Gordon and Kyrie. And the guys that had success without those two guys felt like it was their time for the spotlight, and it just didn’t mesh,” Ainge added.