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Michael Jordan's age and childishness nearly prevented what is widely regarded as the greatest career in NBA history. The NBA Hall of Famer shared the story with David Letterman during his 1989 postseason series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which he averaged 39.8 points per game and hit 'The Shot'—one of the most iconic shots in NBA history.
Speaking to Letterman, Jordan reminisced on almost losing his toe, stating:
"Well, I was being bad, first of all. My parents told me not to mess with the axe so I'm out chopping wood. 'Don't bother the axe, you're too young to be playing with the axe, it's a very dangerous instrument.' I was about, I'd say, five, six."
He continued:
"When I'm playing with the axe, I don't have any shoes on. When you're from the country, you don't wear shoes outside. I'm chopping little bits of pieces of wood and being hard-headed and I accidentally miss the wood and I caught half of my big toe."
As the audience responded with surprise and astonishment, host David Letterman remarked that Michael had found himself in an emergency situation.
Michael agreed:
"Well, it was an emergency. Here I am a little kid, five years old, I'm yelling, screaming, don't know what to do so I run home and my mother and my father said 'Well, let's go down and see this lady who's supposed to be the neighborhood doctor', but I'd never seen her certificate so I don't know if she's a doctor or not."
As Letterman and the audience laughed at this, the legendary basketball player added:
"The first thing she does is says, 'We need to do something to take away the pain.' So she pours kerosene over my toe. It took away the pain."
Watch Michael Jordan's full comments on almost losing his big toe below (starting at the 2:55 mark):
Michael Jordan's age at the time of the incident
Michael Jordan's age when he nearly cut off his big toe was just five or six years old. Basketball fans should be very fortunate that Jordan did not lose his toe, as there is no telling how his legendary career would have turned out.
Jordan was able to win six championships, five MVP awards, six NBA Finals MVP awards, one Defensive Player of the Year award, three All-Star game MVP awards, ten scoring titles, and three steals titles, while also winning the 1984-1985 Rookie of the Year award. Jordan, the NBA's all-time leader in points per game, was named to 14 All-Star Teams, 11 All-NBA Teams, and nine All-Defensive Teams, as well as the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Team.
Michael Jordan had jokes on his parents during his interaction with David Letterman
During his 1989 appearance on David Letterman, Michael Jordan was asked if he was the tallest in his family. The Chicago Bulls legend responded:
"I'm the tallest. My father's about 5'10, my mother's about 5'5. Everyone else is about 5'6 1/2, 5'7. The milkman's about 6'7... My father's backstage, I didn't mean that pops."
Check out Michael Jordan's highlights below:
