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When Michael Jordan made his arrival in the NBA, he took the league by storm. The league hadn’t seen anyone like him until that point, and this excited the fans. Even though it rivaled opposition coaches and fans, Jordan quickly became the face of the league.

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Even a young MJ shook the league to unimaginable standards. A former head coach of his says that he knew he was in superhuman presence when in the first game he coached Jordan. Doug Collins is an American basketball executive, former player, coach, and television analyst.

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His first job in the NBA was to be the head coach of the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan. And Collins was nervous in his first game. It was Jordan who calmed him down and his words made him realize the level of the company he was in.

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A Young Michael Jordan stunned his head coach in his first game

Collins came in charge of a Bulls team that had underperformed for two seasons and had fired their head coaches each time. So he was under a lot of pressure to deliver results. And his first game in charge was against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

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Collins admitted he was a nervous wreck. He was so scared that his suit was wet and his chewing gum had reached a powder state. Then a young Michael Jordan calmed him down with just a few words.

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Jordan said, “Take this cup, drink the water, clean that sh-t off your mouth. I’m not going to let you lose your first game.” Jordan would then go to score the last 10 points and he would have 50 and the Bulls came away with the victory. And his coach thought to himself, “What am I in store for here?”

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This shows the attitude of Jordan and even at a young age, he wasn’t scared of the pressure. He embraced the pressure and took it on. And he delivered on the biggest stage multiple times. Collins may never have won anything with Jordan, but he did realize the greatness of Jordan, in his very first game.

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Written by

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Vishwesha Kumar

1,071 Articles

Vishwesha Kumar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Holder of a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Vishwesha has been writing content for about 3 years now. He has been following the NBA for nearly 10 years, since first starting off in the year 2012. Vishwesha is a huge LeBron James fan and believes when he is all set and done, he will have one more chip than Michael Jordan. He is also an avid gamer, with his favorite games being 2k, FIFA, and Call of Duty Mobile.

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Edited by

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Arunaditya Aima

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