26 ways Michael Jordan was described in his 700 page biography:

1. His competence was exceeded only by his confidence.

2. Jordan believed mostly in himself. In Mike he trusted. All others were open to question.

3. Michael puts every ounce of talent to use. Jordan goes all out. He outthinks you.

4. Animation and hyper-competitiveness were simply Jordan's normal state.

5. He had the motivation to be the best at it.

6. He tested himself.

7. He discovered the secret quite early in his competitive life: the more pressure he heaped on himself, the greater his ability to rise to the occasion.

8. He came to practice every day like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals. That's what set the tone for our team.

9. It took the fewest of words to set him off. He would seize on apparently meaningless cracks or gestures and plunge them deep in his heart, until they glowed radioactively, the nuclear fuel rods of his great fire.

10. Young Michael had begun taking note of the pro game on TV. He was finding rare and special instructors through television.

11. At each step along his path others would express amazement at how hard he competed.

12. At every level he was driven as if he were pursuing something that others couldn't see.

13. He had a clear notion of what he wanted and he wasn't reluctant about expressing it publicly.

14. The coach would recall that Jordan kept sneaking back into succeeding groups for more work that evening.

15. Jordan could sense immediately that he had something the others didn't.

16. They all began to grasp that Jordan's belief in himself reflected a level of intensity no one had contemplated before.

17. He was so committed he wouldn't allow himself to become sidetracked. He knew he wanted to be the best. He was very sure of himself, sure of what he wanted to do, and nothing was going to stop him

18. He was upset with teammates who lacked the necessary competitive drive.

19. He wanted to work on his shooting. And after practice he'd make you help him. He'd keep working on his shooting. He didn't care how long he was out there. Michael loved to play the game.

20. Jordan determined that he wanted to be recognized for having the “complete game."

21. Jordan presented a singleness of purpose that was hard to dent.

22. That's what made him a badass.

He wasn't just a talent.

It was the understanding of it all, the work ethic, the game itself, the strategy involved.

He got it all. He understood all of it.

23. You got to understand what fuels that guy, what makes him great. He took the pain of that loss and held on to it. It's a part of what made him.

24. To his coaches his capacity to be coached was his single most impressive attribute. I had never seen a player listen so closely to what the coaches said and then go and do it.

25. It was quite possible that no one ever did anything better than Michael Jordan played basketball late in his career.

26. No one had seen him coming.