Watch The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary series on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls on Netflix via your Sky Q box from April 20
Sunday 19 April 2020 08:20, UK
Michael Jordan tops Ovie Soko's list of superstar players who inspired his own basketball journey and fuelled his love of the NBA.
I couldn't say there was one single NBA player who influenced me more than any other. It was more a culmination of players. I played the way I played. I fell in love with the game from streetball and And 1 mixtapes.
After that, I started paying more attention to the NBA and started to appreciate special players. It was never just one player.
Michael Jordan was a superhero, a proper blockbuster movie superhero. Even as a young kid in the 1990s, I knew who he was. He was super-competitive and he had super-powerful energy.
Like a superhero, he always overcame adversity. He took over as the face of the league after the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson era, he overcame the Detroit Pistons 'Bad Boys'. He emerged victorious in the 'flu game', fighting through illness to lead the Bulls past the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the 1997 Finals.
Skills-wise, his eye-popping athleticism and his tremendous basketball IQ stand out. His competitiveness and drive made him a strong leader.
And as I saw when he walked into a press conference before the recent Bucks-Hornets Paris Game, he still possesses that iconic aura and charisma. The room just stopped for him.
Kobe was one of the first players I remember, one of the first guys who really stuck in my head. Like Jordan, he embodied competing hard at the very highest level.
Coming out of high school straight to the NBA, Kobe had to take his lumps in his early career. That's another thing I love about him. He came into the league knowing what he was capable of but he had some growing to do. He had to take some tough lessons. The basketball world remembers him taking back-to-back airballs in the playoffs so to see him turn the corner after that was so special.
Back then Kobe was the child of the NBA. We saw him come into the league young, then grow and turn into 'Young Simba'.
The playoffs with him and Allen Iverson, the 2001 Finals between the Lakers and the Sixers, was one of the first full games of basketball I watched. It was Game 1 of the series and Philly got them. Unreal.
'Shaq Diesel' was an unreal player who changed the game. I've never seen a superstar player so physically dominant and overwhelming.
Shaq played to dominate opponents but he played to entertain fans too. That approach offset what Kobe brought to the table so perfectly, even if neither of them would admit it at the time! Effortless dominance.
Another thing I liked about Shaq was his post-Lakers run with the Miami Heat. He took on a supporting role and allowed Dwyane Wade to flourish, which helped the Heat to a championship.
This is a bit biased because I'm a Phoenix fan, but Nash was unbelievable. He made me enjoy watching Suns basketball so much. His ability to impact the game by getting everyone where they needed to be. He was a general.
I really enjoyed watching Nash's partnership with Amare Stoudemire when I was coming up. He was my guy growing up.
T-Mizzle! T-Mac was another one of my guys. I had his jersey, I still have a picture of me wearing it.
I called McGrady one of the NBA's biggest 'what if' players before because of how injuries affected his career. But even so, he went from young superstar with the Orlando Magic in the early 2000s into an assassin during his time at the Houston Rockets with Yao Ming later in the decade. It's just really sad that the injuries took their toll on him.
McGrady was one of those guys who had a knack for scoring - it was never, ever going to be a problem for him. But he just couldn't figure out how to translate his ability to score into wins for his team, especially in the playoffs.
