Michael Cage recalls the moment when he realized Michael Jordan was better than any other player from his generation: "He is so far above the rest of

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Michael Cage recalls the moment when he realized Michael Jordan was better than any other player from his generation: "He is so far above the rest of us" originally appeared on Basketball Network.

A 16-year NBA veteran and a current Oklahoma City Thunder broadcast analyst, Michael Cage, was a guest recently on the Dan Patrick show, where he was asked about his favorite Michael Jordan moment.

Cage and MJ are the same generation, as they both got into the league in 1984; Jordan was picked third by the Chicago Bulls, and the San Diego Clippers got Cage as the 14th overall pick.

Jordan left Cage in awe​

Even though they were never teammates in the NBA, the current OKC analyst got to witness MJ up close and personal at the 1983 Pan American Games.


"Maybe he wasn't Jordan yet, but I played with Michael Jordan on a national team at the 1983 Pan Am Games, we won the gold medal. He was my roommate that whole summer and at the tryouts we had the year earlier where there was Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, all these up and coming names. And there was this that everyone wanted to see on court 3," Cage explained as he continued:

"They said, 'There's this Jordan kid, he's at North Carolina, you got to go there and see him. I said, 'I already know about him.' But after my game was over, I went to court 3 to see him and I saw him play. I just said: 'He's so far above the rest of us.' I knew at that moment and the 83' Games, this guy is going to be the truth. Did we think he's going to go to the level he did? No, but I'm not surprised because he's handled that kind of fame and success really well," Michael concluded.

Related: "Dad, you at 17, me at 17, who was better? I said, 'Listen, son...'" - Dominique Wilkins on the moment he realized his son didn't know how great of a player he was​

A prodigy from an early age​

Even though MJ wasn't thought of as the greatest NCAA player when he played for the Tar Heels and maybe the hype couldn't be that big because of the lack of social media, Cage's story just confirms how good Jordan was even before he came into the league at least when it comes to his peers.

And it's not surprising. Young MJ was an athletic freak, a player we've never seen before in terms of pure athleticism and the ability to score the basketball. His 48-inch vertical doesn't have a comparison in basketball history and the hang time of 0.92 is just ridiculous, so even though Jordan was far from the finished basketball player in 1983, his pure physical talent was so ahead of his years that it's not surprising Cage was left in awe at that moment.

The most impressive thing about Mike was that his work ethic matched his talent, which is rare. While many players throughout history relied on their talent to build themselves solid careers, Mike probably understood the gift he had and decided to maximize every percent of it.

Year after year, Jordan got better at everything: reading the defenses, shooting, dribbling, finishing around the rim and even passing. He always had that, but when Phil Jackson became Chicago's coach, he made sure MJ passed more so the team could benefit from it. When Michael listened to him and started to trust his teammates, he didn't stop being that athletic killer on the court Cage saw in 1983.

He just channeled it at the right time and that's the biggest reason why he became the six-time champion, leading the greatest dynasty of all time and cementing his legacy as the greatest player who ever dribbled basketball on this planet.

Related: "Scottie Pippen changed a lot of things for the Chicago Bulls" - Gary Payton agrees with John Salley that Pippen was the best all-around player of the 1990s​

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.

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