Michael Jordan explains why his talented brother who was a ‘killer’ on the court never made it to NBA

Michael Jordan’s brother Larry was a talented basketball player but he never made it in the NBA for one key reason.

Michael Jordan is widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time but His Airness has revealed that his brother was a bigger prospect.

On an episode of his JRE podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan discussed Larry Jordan and how ‘MJ’, born 11 months apart, took so many elements from his sibling and used it in his game.

“Michael Jordan’s brother, a lot of Michael’s moves, you see his brother do,” Rogan said.

“Whatever happened with him, I don’t know if he played professionally but his brother’s a killer player. “The dude was f***ing good.”

Jordan memorably said that the late Kobe Bryant was the only play who would beat him in a one-on-one game but his older brother had his number growing up.

In a rare video from the 1987/1988 season, Jordan admitted: “When you say Air Jordan, I’m No.2, he’s 1.”

In an interview Scoop Jackson for the July 1996 issue of SLAM Magazine, Jordan revealed Larry would always get the better of him and that would later helped shape him into a six-time NBA champion and arguably the best to ever grace the court.

Jordan said: “Man, my older brother Larry used to kill me! “He was older and bigger than me. He would beat me, talk to me, and not let me forget about it. What that did for me was make me work that much harder to beat him. He had no idea that I was going to end up taller than him. I look at my games with him as a great experience when I was young because I developed my love for the game, and it made me work harder to get better.”

Larry had similarly brilliant athletic qualities, including an insane 44-inch vertical leap which allowed him to dunk with ease.

Both attended Emsley A. Laney High School but only one Jordan made the 1978 varsity team and it wasn’t Michael. However, the big sticking point which hindered Larry was his size.

“He has always been a good player, but he just didn’t grow enough,” Jordan claimed on his sibling.

Clifton ‘Pop’ Herring,a coach knew both brothers, said that if Larry was 6 ft 2, Michael would have been known as his brother.

But Larry only ended up 5 ft 8, whereas Michael had a massive growth spurt which saw become 6 ft 4 in his senior year and ultimately ended up getting a basketball scholarship at the University of North Carolina before becoming the third overall NBA draft pick in 1984 and ultimate the biggest star in the history of the sport.

What happened to Larry Jordan?

Larry did also play college basketball at UNC-Wilmington, part of the same system, and ended up getting drafted for the now defunct World Basketball League in 1987.

The league had height restrictions when meant players over the 6 ft 5 could not play.

It suited Larry perfectly and he was selected by Chicago Express in the third round. The team went on to reach the play-offs but were beaten 102-95 by the Las Vegas Silver Streaks in the finals.

Michael Jordan’s brother Larry was tipped to achieve great things in basketball. Image: Getty

He had gone on record to say that he wanted to be his “own man” but years later being Jordan’s brother did come in handy as it got him out of being a speeding ticket when he went a bit too fast in his red 1985 Corvette.

“People treat you better as a person because of Michael,” he explained.

“A lot of great things have happened to me and my family.”

In 2011, Larry was hired by his younger brother at the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) after he recently became the majority owner. He progressed to become team director of player personnel and vice president of player personnel.

Larry’s son Justin also works for the Hornets as a scout, having played NCAA Division I basketball for UNC Greensboro Spartans.