Michael Phelps, Once Admitted to Being an A******, Like Michael Jordan: “I’m Going to Make Sure That They’re Getting Stresses”

One of the greatest athletes ever, Michael Phelps established himself as the most dominant Olympian, earning 28 medals, 23 of them gold. His prowess in the pool became the stuff of legends as he broke record after record at every swimming event.

Phelps has been an inspiration to thousands of people, but whom does the swimming GOAT look up to? Frequently, one name has decorated the champion’s words: NBA legend Michael Jordan.

Michael Phelps finds a lot of similarities between himself and Jordan

Certainly, both Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan are poster children for athletes that transcended their sport. They pushed the boundaries of athleticism and dominated their peers completely. Talking to Yahoo Sports, Phelps expanded on the likeness of himself he found in Jordan.

“I guess to put it quite blunt, everyone’s saying he was an a****, but I would say the same thing about myself,” he said. “I was an a**** when I was training because I wanted to help everybody make sure they had the same exact chance that I had.” We know Phelps trained like a monster, not skipping a single day in the pool in five years.

And even in practice runs with his teammates, he refused to take it easy. “We’re all in there working together as a team. Even though it’s an individual sport, we want the best for each other,” he explained. Conditions can change drastically depending on the atmosphere of the competition. The easy-going air of practice can become a thick tension-filled fog of cutthroat competition. 

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“I’m going to challenge them. And I’m going to make sure that they’re getting stress in practice that they’re going to face in a meet,” sums up Phelps’ approach. Notably, the results of his efforts are clear in the 12 Olympic medals he holds in relay races. 

Phelps left tongue-tied upon meeting Michael Jordan

Like many who came before him, even the swimming legend Michael Phelps felt flustered in front of his long-time idol. “I wanted to do in swimming what he did in the sport of basketball,” Phelps shared. He replicated his career off of the NBA legend Michael Jordan.

The two GOATs first met when Jordan made a surprise appearance at the recording of Feherty Live in 2012. A stunned Michael Phelps found himself speechless, a first for the swimmer. He shared that people asked him repeatedly what he would say to Jordan when they finally met.

But Phelps still didn’t have the answer when the day arrived. But his childhood curiosity about the basketball legend had been ever-present. Since then, Phelps and Jordan have mingled occasionally, cementing the swimming legend’s belief that they have more in common than not.

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