‘Jaw Down On the Ground’: Michael Phelps Recalls Being Star-Struck When He First Met NBA Legend Michael Jordan

Michael Phelps, inarguably the greatest Olympian of all time, just had an hour-long conversation with Titan TV. He talked about his life as a swimmer, as an Olympian, and his retirement and subsequent return to the sport.

Additionally, Phelps also talked about other elite athletes in different disciplines, including Tom Brady and Michael Jordan. Of course, the conversation also included lighter moments, where he shared his favorite video games and TV shows, as well.

Here is what Michael Phelps shared about his experience meeting Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, for the first time.

Michael Phelps recalls his first meeting with Michael Jordan

With 28 Olympics medals to his name, out of which 23 are gold, Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. The legendary swimmer is inarguably the greatest when it comes to the sport.

However, even he felt star-struck when he met the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. Phelps revealed how growing up, he always “thought Michael Jordan was this unicorn”. “But he’s human, the guy’s a human,” Phelps exclaimed.

Nevertheless, Phelps found himself tongue-tied in front of his idol, saying, “I couldn’t talk.” “I couldn’t say a word,” he continued, describing the experience of meeting Jordan.

He described himself as having his “jaw down on the ground”. “I wanna be like Mike,” Phelps imitated his younger self, wishing to emulate his role model. “But then afterward, I realized that he’s just a normal person,” the Olympian stated.

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Clearly, even for one of the greatest athletes of all time, meeting the one-and-only Michael Jordan was a tongue-tying experience. However, who can blame him? After all, meeting the greatest basketball player of all time would do that to anyone.

Charles Barkley throws shade at Phelps’ Olympic gold medals

NBA legend Charles Barkley recently talked about Michael Phelps on the Dan Patrick Show. Talking about gold medals, Patrick and Barkley were joking around with each other.

In that vein, Patrick told Barkley he doesn’t care about the latter’s gold medals. In fact, he could simply go to Michael’s house to see gold medals.

Thus, in retaliation, Barkley had quite the comeback. He stated how one could melt all of Michael Phelps’ gold medals and still not be able to fashion one single MVP trophy out of it.

Barkley won the NBA’s League MVP award in 1993 with the Phoenix Suns. However, he never won a championship in his career. Clearly, both Barkley and Patrick were joking, and the elite athlete that Charles was throughout his career, he definitely admires the effort and hard work Phelps put in for his accolades.

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