It’s no secret that Michael Jordan is far physically superior to most normal humans. His strength and stamina have amazed sports fans across the globe throughout his career, and he continues to shock us even to this day with his athletic ability.
ESPN’S recent series on Netflix, The Last Dance, has created a whole new level of buzz around the sporting legend, and this has led to a new bout of mind-blowing stories from people who have known him.
In recent days Roy Williams, who was an assistant to Dean Smith of University of North Carolina during Jordan’s time there, has revealed a story that encapsulates the extraordinary talents of the former basketball star.
He has made a bold claim that he personally witnessed Jordan run a 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds during his sophomore year as a student there. That’s insanely fast. Williams said:
His freshman year, he was really athletic and fast. He was like a 4.5. I’ll never forget this, his sophomore year, he ran the 40-yard. Me and coach [Bill] Guthridge and our trainer Mark Karns. We all three had hand stopwatches. We’re not professional timers by any means, but he crossed the line, I looked and I said, ‘Wow. Coach Guthridge, what’d you get?’ He looked at me and Mark said, ‘I got 4.39.’ And coach Guthridge said, ‘I got 4.38.’ And I said, ‘I did too.’
To put the speed into some relevant context, there were only four NFL draft prospects in the last year who were able to beat this time, all of whom were considerably smaller than him. It is generally believed that taller players are more suited to longer sprints, and they normally perform below average in the dash.
Fans have been doing some digging and taken to Twitter with their findings, and it seems that MJ himself has previously confirmed the story in an old interview.
If you’re missing sports in this current situation, check out some new apps offering virtual fixtures to get involved with here…
Featured image via Flickr
