welcome to Michael he's one of his basketball role models the hall-of-famer known as Skywalker class of 1996 David Thompson ladies and gentlemen Michael Jordan [Applause] thank you thank you I told all my friends I come up here and say thank you and walk off I can't there's no way I got so many people I can think in all the videos you never just saw me so scottie pippen every chance if I want I've had a lot of questions over the last four weeks and everybody's saying well why did you pick david thompson i know why david knows why and maybe you guys don't know why but as I grew up in North Carolina I was 11 years old 1974 I think when you guys won the championship and I was an anti Carolina guy hated UNC here I ended up at UNC but I was I was in love with David Thompson not just for the game of basketball but in terms of what he represented you know we all as Vivian say I said we go through our trials and tribulations and he did and I was inspired by him and when I called him and asked him to stand up for me I know I shocked the out of him I know I do [Applause] but he was very very kind and said yeah I do it and now that wasn't disrespect or into my Carolina guys they all know them I'm true blue Carolina guy to the heart you know Coach Smith Larry Brown Sam Perkins James Worthy you know all of those guys well it all starts with my my parents you guys see all the highlights what is it what is it about me that you guys don't know as I set up in on watching all the other recipients stand up and they give their the history and so many things I didn't know about Jerry Sloan I know he lived on the farm but I didn't know he was in a you know small classroom with from first grade to the eighth grade even David Robinson obviously I've known David for some time and you know I found some some things out about him and even with John I found some bad things or good things about him and it even did if I know I'm dead for years and her and my father and my mom spent a lot of time on the nightkin trips and you know I found out a lot of good things about her but what about me that you guys don't know I got two brothers James and Larry they're five four or five five in heights they gave me all I could ever ask for as a brother in terms of competition you know you think that you know he's my brother Larry is a is ideal the situation with small things come in small packages this dude fought me every single day and to the extent that my mother used to come out and make us come in because we were fighting way too much and my older brother was always gone he served in the Army for 31 years [Applause] and the competition didn't stop there my sister who's one year younger than me Rob never wanted to be home by herself she took classes extra classes to graduate from high school with me to go to University of North Carolina with me and to graduate fired than me and you guys didn't ask me where my competition or my competitive nature came from it came from them it came from my older sister she was not here today and my father he was not here today obviously he's with us in all of us I mean my competitive nature is gone a long way from the first time I picked up any sport baseball football ran track basketball anything to miss class I played it when you think about you know so they started to fire at me you know that fire started with my parents and then you know as I moved on in my career people added wood to that fire coach Smith and what else can I say about him you know he's a legendary [Applause] and then there's Leroy Smith now you guys think that's a myth Leroy Smith was a guy when I got cut he made the team on the varsity team and he's here tonight he's still the same six seven guy he's not any bigger he's probably his game is about the same but he started the whole process for me because when he made the team and I didn't I wanted to prove not just to Leroy Smith not just to myself but to the coach who actually picked Leroy over me I want to make sure you understood you made a mistake dude and then there's Buzz Peterson my roommate now when I first met buzz all I heard about was this kid from Asheville North Carolina who's the Player of the Year I'm thinking well he never played against me yet so how did he become player of the year is that uh is that some type of media you know exposure and I came from Wilmington you know we had two channels channel ABC and channel 7 channel NBC that was it I never saw NBA sports at all when I grew up you didn't have CBS affiliate in North Carolina and Warmington so Buzz Peterson became a dot on my board and when I got the chance to meet Buzz Peterson on the basketball court playing the person buzz was a great person is it wasn't a fault of his it was just my competitive nature I didn't think he could beat me or he was better than me as a basketball player and he became my roommate and from that point on he became a focal point not knowingly he didn't know it but he did and coach Smith the day that he was on the Sports Illustrated and he named four starters and he didn't name me that burned me up because I thought I'd be long on that Sports Illustrated now he had his own vision about giving a freshman that exposure and I told you understand that but from a basketball sense I deserved to be on that Sports Illustrated and he understand and it didn't stop there you know my competitive nature went right into the pros I get to the Bulls which I was very proud that at the time Jerry Reynolds didn't on the team it was another organization and Rob thorn drafted me Kevin Locke he was my first coach Kevin used to take practices and put me in starting five and we you know he'd make it a competitive thing where the losing team have to run so now we are on the winning team and halfway in the game halfway in the situation he would switch me to the losing team so I take that as a competitive thing but you trying to test me and by nine times out of ten the second team would come back and win no matter what he did so I appreciate Kevin lock you for giving me that challenge you know providing that type of fire with him and he threw another log on that fire for me Jerry Reinsdorf I mean what else can I say the next year I come back I broke my foot I was out for 65 games and when I came back I want to play you know in the doctors that came up with this whole theory that you can only play seven minutes a game but I'm practicing two hours a day you know I'm saying well I don't think I don't know that I don't agree with that math you know and back then it was about whoever had the worst record get the most balls and the ping-pong balls and you know you can decide what pick you're gonna have but I didn't care about that I just wanted to win I wanted to make the playoffs you know I wanted to keep that energy going in Chicago so I had to go in his office and sit down with him I said Jerry you know I feel like I should play more than 14 minutes in practice in two hours he says MJ I think I have to protect me long-term of investment that we've invested in you that's the day I flew I really think I should be able to play he said let me ask you this you say if you had a headache and you know at that time it was about ten percent chance that I can reinjure my my ankle or my foot he says if you have a headache and you got a ten tablets and one of them is code it would sign I would you take the tylenol and I looked at him I said how bad is the headache depending on how bad the headache Gerry looked at me and so you okay I guess that's a good answer you can go back and play you let me allow to go back and fly and you know Gerry provided a lot of different obstacles for me but at the same time the guy gave me an opportunity to perform at the highest level in terms of basketball and the Bulls whole Bulls organization you know they did a great justice for me and for all my teammates believe me I had a lot of teammates over the 14 years that I played for the Bulls and you know I respected each and every one I'm I just wanted to win you know about how you look at it and then the loan came Doug Collins who was caught in the whole mix of this Jerry Krause and and Jerry Reinsdorf and you know at the same time he you know when I was trying to play in the summertime he said well you know you're part of the the organization or the organization said you can't play in the summertime I said Doug yet and read the fine print in my contract in my contract say I had to love the game clause that means I can play anytime I want anyplace I want and Doug looked at me and said yeah you're right you're right and that's how we became you know a little closer in terms of Doug Collins in myself and you know Jerry Krause is right there and Jerry's not here obviously I don't you know I don't know who invited him I didn't but uh I hope he understands I hope he understands it goes a long way and he was a very competitive person I was a very competitive person he said organization wins championships I said I didn't see organization playing with the flu in Utah I didn't see them playing with you know with the bad ankle granite granite I think organizations put together teens but at the end of the day the team's gotta go out and play you know so in essence I think the players win the championship and the organization has something to do with it don't get me wrong but don't try to put their organization above the players because at the end of the day the players still got to go out there and perform you guys got a pass but I still gotta go out and play obviously you see my kids you know Jeffrey Marcus jasmine I love you guys you guys represent a lot of me a lot of different personalities your mom you represent them as well you know I think that you guys have a heavy burden I wouldn't want to be you guys if I had to you know because of all the expectations that you have to deal with I mean look around you the charge $1,000 tickets for this thing for this whole event it used to be 200 bucks but I paid it you know I had no choice I had a lot of family a lot of friends I had to bring in so thank you all the frame for the for grazing ticket price I guess but you guys I love you guys you guys just don't know you got a whole host of people supporting you family friends people that you don't know relatives coming out of the Woodworks you know no matter how you look at it but I think we taught you right and your mom and I and I hopefully you can make the right decision when the time comes my mom what that's kind of see my mom my mom never stays still you think I'm busy she's always on the go and without her she's a rock she's unbelievable she's right now she takes over two job she's unbelievable woman I mean if I got anybody's nagging me each and every day it is her and she she constantly keeps me focus on the good things about life you know how people perceive you how you respect them you know what's good for the kids what's good for you you know how you perceive publicly second thought take a pause and think about you know things that you do and it all came from my parents you know came from my mom and she's still at this stage I'm 46 years old she's still parenting me today and that's a good thing about that lady I love her to death I love her to death and I'm gonna thank a couple people that you guys probably wouldn't even think that I would think Isiah Thomas Magic Johnson George Gervin now they say it was a so-called freeze out in my rookie season I wouldn't have never guessed but you guys gave me the motivation and say you know what everything I haven't proved enough to these guys I gotta prove to them that I deserve what I've gotten on this level and no matter what people may have said if it was a rumor I never took it as truth but you guys never froze me out because I was just happy to be there no matter how you look at it you know and from that point forward you know I wanted to prove to you magic Larry George everybody that I deserve to be on this love as much as anybody else and I hopefully over the period of my career I've done that without a doubt you know even in the Detroit years we've done that Pat Riley I mean you and I we go way back I still remember in our wife you remember in a wife with you and I I was coming in you would I guess leaving and you decided to stay a couple extra days but you were in my suite and they came and they told you you had to get out of my suite and you slit a note underneath my door although you had to move you did move this little note saying I enjoyed the competition congratulations but we will meet again and I take the heart in that because I think in all honesty you're just competitive as I am you know even from a coaching standpoint and you've challenged me every time I play the Knicks the heat and I don't think you with the Lakers but any time I played against you you had your Jordan Stoppers on your team yeah John Starks who I loved I even had my friend Charles Oakley saying we can't go to lunch we can't go to dinner because Pat doesn't believe in fraternizing between the two of us and this guy hit me harder than anybody else in the league and he was my best friend Patrick Ewing we had the same agent we came at the same time but we couldn't go to lunch why is this you think I'm a play against Patrick any different and I play against anybody else no no and then you had your little guy who was on your staff who became the Knicks coach after you Jeff Van Gundy he said I conned the players I befriended them and then I attack him on the basketball court where did that come from I just so happened to be a friendly guy I get along with everybody but at the same time the light comes on I'm competitive to anybody you know you know so you guys I must say thank you very much for giving me that motivation that I desperately needed Phil Jackson Phil Jackson is uh to me is that he's a professional Dean Smith you know he challenged me mentally not just physically you know he understood the game along with Tech's winner they taught me a lot about the basketball game text being the specialist you know I could never please text and I love text Texas not here but you know I know he's here in spirit he is I can remember a game coming off the basketball court and we were down I don't know five to ten points and I go off about twenty-five points we come back and win the game and we're walking off the floor and Tex look at me and said you know there's no I in team I said Tex a doc it's not a nineteen but it's I and win I think you got my message I'll do anything to win you know if that means we play team format we win that means I have to do whatever I have to do you're gonna win no matter how you look at it and then you had all your media and they says Oh scoring champion can't win it can't win in an NBA title oh well you know you just you know as good as Magic Johnson not as good as Larry Bird you're good but you're not as good as those guys you know I had to listen to all this and that puts so much wood on that fire that it kept me each and every day trying to get better as a basketball player now I'm not saying they they were wrong I may look at him from a different perspective you know but at the same time as a basketball player I'm trying to become the best that I can you know and for someone like me who achieved a lot in over the time of my career you look for any kind of messages that people may say or do to get you motivated to play the game of basketball at the highest level because that that is when I feel like I excel at my best and my last example of that and the last one that you guys probably have seen I hate to do it to him but he's such a nice guy and when I first met Bryon Russell John and John in college remember this I was in Chicago in 1994 we I was working out for baseball they were came down for a workout and shooting around I came over to say hello and at this time I had no thought to coming back and playing the game of basketball and Brian Russell came over to me and say you know what man why'd you quit why'd you quit you know I could guard you if I ever see you in a pair of shorts if I ever seen a very short you reminisce Johnny and so when I did decide to come back in 1995 and then we played Utah 96 I'm at the center circle and we and and Brian Russell sitting next to me and I look over to Brian sees nobody saw conversation you made in 1994 about when you I wish I think I can guard you I can shut you down I would love to play against you were you about to get your chance and believe me ever since that day he got his chance I don't know I'll succeed in these words but I think he had his chance and believe me I relished on that point and from this day forward if I ever see him in shorts I'm coming at it [Applause] I know you guys got to go I know I've been up here a lot longer than I told my friends I was gonna be up here I cried I was supposed to get up and say thank you and walk off and I didn't even do that so I appreciate it thank you very much I appreciate it as I close the game of basketball has been everything to me my refuge my place I've always gone when I needed to find comfort and peace it's been a source of intense pain and source of most intense feelings of joy and satisfied satisfaction and one the norm you can imagine it's been a relationship that has evolved over time and it's given me the greatest respect and love for the game it's provided me with the platform to share my passion with millions in a way I neither expected nor could have imagined in my career I hope that it's given the Mane's of people that I've touched the optimism and the desire to achieve their goals through hard work perseverance and positive attitude although I'm recognized with this tremendous honor of being in the Basketball Hall of Fame I don't look at this moment as a defining end to my relationship with the game of basketball it's simply a continuation of something that I started a long time ago one day you might look up and see me playing the game at 50 oh don't laugh never say never because limits like fears are often just an illusion thank you very much [Applause] you