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Michael Jordan's Advice to Kids: "Put Forth the Work"

Aired on 11/04/1996 | CC
When Michael Jordan was 14, his father put up a small basketball court in the backyard. Michael hadn't really picked up basketball as a sport until the relatively late age of 12, so no one, including him, knew just how important that court would be as a steppingstone on the path to six NBA championships.

In 1996, Oprah asked Michael about his time practicing in the backyard, saying that a lot of kids wanted—but might not have known how—to "be like Mike." Here, the living legend explains why trying to "chase something" is a failing strategy and why it's much more important to just "put forth the work."