Teammates With Michael Jordan, Tyronn Lue Names Thunder Star With Huge MJ Similarity

"Even when I have open shots, always looking for Jordan. I'm holding the ball, I'm 22 years old, 23 years old." The current LA Clippers Head Coach spoke to The Athletic in 2020 about his playing experience alongside Michael Jordan. At the time, he already had two championships thanks to his stint with the LA Lakers. Now he is coaching the rival franchise, and in his first season, led the team to the Conference Finals. Now as he aims for a step further, the OKC Thunder is a team to watch out for, and Tyronn Lue highlights their star player's quality.

"He reminds you a lot of the greats like [Michael] Jordan. — Ty Lue on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (via Legion Hoops shared on X. The entire conversation was between the coach and ESPN, before their encounter where Clippers lost. Their 4-game unbeaten run came to an end. SGA without Chet Holmgren for the first game this season won 134-128. Plus he ended up scoring a career-high 45 points. So now the comparison doesn't feel exaggerated.

"As a younger player, you can tend to get out of control or try to get my points. He knows it's going to come to him the style they play. He knows the ball's going to come back. He allows other guys to get going, allows other guys that he's trust with the basketball [to score early]." Lue continued, "But he knows that at any point in time, he can take over the game. He reminds you a lot of the greats like [Michael] Jordan."

Ty Lue also felt that SGA is at a level where the best players used to operate. After all, he has played alongside Michael Jordan in the Washington Wizards, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal during their three-peat. Also coached LeBron during their time in Cleveland. Not sure if the 26-year-old heard the conversation before the game, but he became the first player in franchise history to score 45 points and 5 steals in a game.

His clutch moment came in the final 5:25, as he scored 10 points. Which included two free throws in the final 22.7 seconds to snap the Clippers winning streak.

Michael Jordan hid his intentions before teaming up with Lue The Missouri native teamed up with MJ for two seasons in Washington. At the time, His Airness wasn't at his best due to his age and coming back from his second retirement. Nobody knew what to expect from the Chicago Bulls legend, but Lue witnessed it.

"Then we're coming to practice; he's on one leg. He was hurt, the second year; he was on one leg the whole year and played 82 games. He practiced every day, and he played every game on one leg." Michael Jordan's dedication was second to none, so his practicing the hardest didn't surprise anybody, but watching it in real was definitely an amuzing moment .

But when the 6x NBA Champion asked the current Clippers coach to join the Wizards, he was in the dark about the return for the 3rd time. "At the time, he didn't tell me he was coming back to play." In both those seasons, MJ scored more than 20 points despite the age and injury factor and also made All-Star. So SGA receiving such praise puts him on a great pedestal.