Chris Ford, who coached Larry Bird and coached against Michael Jordan, came in the end to think that despite the vast differences in their games and their styles and their bodies, the similarities between them were greater than the differences. There was the hunger for excellence, the singular need for a championship, the effect they had in lifting their teammates, the sense they gave off that they were invincible men. They had one other thing in common, Ford thought, that set them apart from so many supremely talented young players now entering the league, who arrived a weak franchise by dint of the whim of the draft, and could not wait until the three years of their first contract were up, so that they could go to a better team. They both shared the same sense of obligation. “If you were drafted by a team which was at the bottom, then part of the responsibility which went with your contract was to turn that team around and make it a winner—in fact, make it a champion.”From "Playing for Keeps" by David Halberstam
