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During his legendary career, Michael Jordan had many iconic quotes. However, college teammate Kenny "The Jet" Smith credits many of them to their coach.
Kenny Smith and Michael Jordan were college teammates as part of the North Carolina Tar Heels. As members of the UNC program in the 1980s, both played under legendary NCAA basketball coach Dean Smith.
It follows that they would have learned something from him. According to Kenny Smith, Jordan did more than learn from coach Dean Smith. He believes Jordan stole their coach's quotes.
During an appearance on "All the Smoke," Kenny Smith spoke about how Jordan took their coach's quotes and made them his own. He said:
"Mike gets a lot of credit for, like, his quotes, but it's just Dean Smith's quotes. He stole it. It's all Plagiarism, it's just he just adds expletives.
"Everything I'm gonna say, everything that coach Smith said to us, that's what Mike said. Every you know, you can pull it. It's every interview. It's plagiarism to the finest."
While many players take the quotes and sayings of their coaches and make them their own, Jordan took it to a different level. Adding the expletives may make them unique, but they are still the lessons of Dean Smith.
If Kenny Smith is accurate, then Dean Smith deserves credit for some of the most famous quotes in basketball history. While the rest of the basketball world may not, UNC credits former coach Dean Smith for much of what the school is today.
Dean Smith is a legend at North Carolina in a way that even Michael Jordan has not achieved.
Part of the reason Michael Jordan would steal Dean Smith's quotes is that the coaching legend's words were impactful. The Chicago Bulls superstar began his transformation under the legendary coach, and he is far from the only one.
In fact, there's a case to be made that coach Dean Smith changed the entire school of North Carolina. Coach Dean Smith's coaching and examples are part of North Carolina lore.
As a former UNC player and a native of North Carolina, Michael Jordan still feels the impact of coach Dean Smith. Coach Dean Smith even looked out for Jordan at the end of his time in North Carolina.
Coach Dean Smith impacted North Carolina so much that the arena for the Tar Heels is named after him. Jordan may have plagiarized coach Dean Smith's quotes, but he has not plagiarized the coach's legacy.
