When Michael Jordan said “You made a mistake dude” addressing his childhood coach in his Hall Of Fame speech

It's been well-documented that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity team when he was a sophomore. While many do believe that the story might not be fully accurate because some say that he was just placed on the junior varsity team, it's still crazy to think that arguably the greatest player of all time was ever cut from a basketball team.

Considering high school basketball isn't that talented, Jordan not making his varsity team will go down as one of the biggest stories in NBA history.

Michael has spoken a bit about not making the varsity team and how it's fueled him. He even brought it up during his famous Hall of Fame speech. Considering how big of a deal this was for him at his age and why he believes that it fueled him that much, it certainly makes sense why he continues to bring it up.

Not only does he bring it up to motivate himself, but it can also be motivation for younger kids out there who get cut from their high school teams. Doing what you do in high school doesn't mean anything if you continue working hard and find a way to grow your game like Michael did.

Jordan had the following to say about not making his high school team in his Hall of Fame speech:

“But he started the whole process for me. Because when he made the team and I didn’t, I wanted to prove not just Leroy Smith, not just to myself, but the coach who actually picked Leroy over me. I want to make sure you understood, ‘You made a mistake, dude!'”

2022 NBA All-Star Game

Michael Jordan didn't make his varsity team

Not only did Michael Jordan not make his varsity team, but he said that was what fueled him as a young kid. He's even said that it made him cry. He was embarrassed about the situation, and while that fueled the fire to become who he was, it hurt at the moment.

"Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I'd close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it," Jordan said. "That usually got me going again."

Jordan's coach has said that Jordan wasn't necessarily cut from the team in general, but that he wanted Jordan to play on junior varsity to continue developing. While nobody will ever necessarily know if that's true or not because Michael has said that he's been cut and the coach said that he didn't get cut, it does seem like that was a possibility.

It's not surprising to see a sophomore get cut from the varsity team and play junior varsity, but at the end of the day, this was Michael Jordan.