Michael Jordan's trainer Tim Grover reveals the lengths to which the NBA legend went to gain competitive advantage
Michael Jordan had a competitive drive that few professional athletes could match. It wasn't just Jordan's motor in-game that left fans, peers, and opponents blown away, it was the way he managed to keep that same energy off the court as well. Whether he was participating in practice or engaging in a friendly wager, Jordan was supremely competitive.
He wanted to have a competitive advantage over opposing players so much that he reportedly even went so far as to pay his trainer to exclusively work with him. For years, Tim Grover worked exclusively with Jordan. Years later, MJ also wound up introducing Grover to Kobe Bryant.
To make the story even crazier, Jordan was the first person that Grover trained.
Working in a health club, Grover saw an article where Jordan was complaining about the physical toll playing against the Bad Boy Pistons took on him. Taking matters into his own hands, the young trainer sent every member of the Bulls roster, except Jordan, a letter.
MJ, the odd man out, found the letter and had his team reach out to Grover about training. For the next three years, MJ used Grover exclusively, refusing to allow other players to work with him, and paying him handsomely to turn them down.
During an interview on "Diary of a CEO", Grover spoke about his relationship with Michael Jordan as a client, saying:
"He (MJ) gave me one of the best compliments that you can ever get at the highest level. When somebody else would say 'Hey, I want to hire Tim,' he goes, 'I don't pay Tim to train me.' He goes, 'I pay him not to train anybody else.'"
You can see the segment beginning shortly before the one-hour mark in the video above.
Michael Jordan and Tim Grover's first meeting
After Grover's letters drew Micheal Jordan's attention, the young trainer was then contacted by the Chicago Bulls athletic trainer. At the time, he nad no clue that it was Jordan who was interested in his services. According to him, for three months, the team grilled him about his knowledge and his practices.
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As he recalled in an interview with "Endless Hustle", after months of being interviewed by the team, they sent him to meet with his new client.
“They three months go by, and they said, ‘We want you to go meet the client. Here’s the address.’ They didn’t tell me who it was. It’s in the suburbs. This is before the big gated house. I ring the doorbell once, and I ring it a second time. I ring it a third time, no answer, and I’m like, all right, I’ve just been set up. Michael Jordan ends up opening the door."
In typical Michael Jordan fashion, before Grover entered the house, he was forced to take off his Converse shoes. And as they say, the rest is history.
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