Arriving in the NBA during the 2017 Draft, Frank Ntilikina had the chance to meet Michael Jordan beforehand.

An honor that he took advantage of to ask the Bulls legend for advice, who then gave him a unique and striking answer.

Having arrived at the Hornets on August 5, 2023, Frank Ntilikina probably did not have the opportunity to meet Michael Jordan at the team’s facilities.

The latter had just officially sold the franchise after 13 years at its helm. In any case, this must not have upset the French leader too much, as he had already been able to rub shoulders with him… about ten years earlier.

Michael Jordan’s memorable tip for Frank Ntilikina
Revealed very early in the ranks of SIG, Ntilikina was then selected to participate in the Jordan Brand Classic in 2014.

An event during which he met MJ… to his great surprise, as he recounts in The Players Tribune:

Frank Ntilikina: I had no idea I was going to meet him. I was nobody.

Well, not really anybody. I was just a normal guy.

I was sixteen years old. I was a skinny basketball player from Strasbourg, France.

I was invited to come to New York to play in the Jordan Brand Classic. (…) I knew it was called the Jordan Brand Classic, but in my head, I never knew I would see Jordan there.

It was like saying you go to church and you see God, you know? It was Jordan.

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At the time very reserved and obviously intimidated by the aura of His Airness, Frankie Smokes nevertheless found the courage to ask him a crucial question for the rest of his career:

Frank Ntilikina: I said to him, “Hello Michael. Can I ask you what is the key to all your success?”

I was convinced that he was going to tell me what everyone answers when I ask this question.

Everyone says something about working hard. It’s MJ. He’s going to tell me to work harder than anyone else, that’s 100% certain.

What was the surprise of the French international when his prestigious interlocutor gave him a completely different speech, still engraved in his memory to this day:

He thought for a short moment and answered me, “What you have to do is love basketball.

You can’t become a great player if you don’t really love basketball. Once you love basketball more than anything else in the world, you’ll be able to make the necessary sacrifices.

You’ll get up early. You’ll do what it takes to become the best. But first, you have to really love basketball.”

A workaholic, Michael Jordan did not make this irreproachable ethic the main reason for his success.

According to him, excellence remains reserved for those who love basketball, something that Frank Ntilikina discovered very early on.