The stories of Jordan's competitiveness are now legendary to die-hard sports and Chicago Bulls fans. Sportswriter Wright Thompson, said of Jordan, "There's no way to measure these things, but there's a strong case to be made that Jordan is the most intense competitor on the planet." Whether it was basketball, golf or the video game, Bejeweled, Jordan had a beyond normal appetite for competition and winning.
As with most things, extremism can be dangerous and should be approached with caution. Still, it must be said that a competitive streak, channeled properly, is necessary to achieve at the highest levels.
To put Jordan's competitiveness into perspective, once after losing at golf to Olympic Dream Team coach Chuck Daly, Jordan persisted relentlessly for a rematch. As reported by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, "The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Jordan rang Daly's room. Getting no response, he went directly to Daly's room and knocked. Then he pounded. He wouldn't go away until he got his rematch. He got it, and he won by a stroke. "
There is no, "I lost to a better player" in him. His need to have a rematch immediately signifies that he can never be permanently defeated; he will always get up off the mat from a knockdown. Everyone can learn from that aspect of competitiveness.