The Essence of Greatness

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the best basketball player ever, and could arguably be the best athlete ever. However, it did not start that way. As a sophomore in high school, Michael Jordan was cut from the varsity. He could have just given up the sport of basketball right then, after all he was a very talented baseball player. But he didn't give up. He let his failure lead to his success. After an unbelievable worth ethic, he later succeeded in high school and got a basketball scholarship at North Carolina. During his freshman year, even though he was a freshman and had to play on a team led by future NBA star James Worthy, Michael still tried his best, making the game winning shot in the championship game. Even when he made it to the NBA, he still had many struggles. He was the third pick in the 1984 draft, where he was widely expected to be the top pick. His team failed to win the NBA championship the first five years in his NBA career, getting shut down by teams doubling and tripling him. Eventually, through an incredible desire to win, hard work every day of his life, pushing himself beyond what he even dreamed possible, he became a legend. He stayed true to his character, and built his life on true principles of hard work, integrity, teamwork (or symphony/synergy) and helping others. By living life on principles, and helping others, we can achieve the success we want. Just like it is shown in the book "Winners never cheat", helping people, staying true to our values, and hard work will bring you true succes and happiness in life. "There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." -Michael Jordan