Sean Elliot: Michael Jordan Was a God

November 27th, 2008 by Andrew Wamboldt

“Chicago was the game that you circled on your calendar,” Sean Elliot told Chuck Swirsky in an exclusive interview with Bulls.com.

Elliot cherished the annual game that the Spurs played at the old Chicago Stadium. “Playing at the old Chicago arena was something else,” Elliot said. “That place was so loud, it had so much history and atmosphere, it was a different atmosphere, it was a different time.”

The dynasty Bulls and Michael Jordan played a big role in making that experience a special one for Elliot. Elliot was often matched up against Jordan because of his size and athletic ability.

“When you go out and you’re warming up for NBA games, you see the other players across the floor, but when the Bulls ran out, you waited to see Michael run out,” Elliot stated. “It was just always exciting, you always looked forward to it, and I wish we could have had more matchups.”

In Elliot’s eyes, Michael Jordan was the greatest player to ever play the game. Elliot held an undeniable admiration for Jordan.

“It’s strange, because you look at other players like they’re on you’re same level, and you look at him like he was something else. He was inhuman. He was a god.”

“I still get questions to this day, who was the greatest player that you ever played against. One time, somebody asked me, ‘Name the top five players you ever played against.’ I said, ‘One through four are Michael Jordan, but we’ll say five is Magic Johnson.’ He was that good.”

Sean Elliot played 11 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs and 1 season with the Detroit Pistons. Elliot was the 1989 Wooden award recipient after a stellar collegiate career at Arizona. The Spurs drafted him third overall in the 1989 NBA Draft. Elliot was a member of the 1999 Spurs championship team and is a two time NBA allstar. Elliot holds a career average of 14.2 PPG and shot 37.5% from three point land in his career. The Spurs have retired his #32 jersey.

Following the Spurs championship season, Elliot received a kidney transplant from his brother, Noel. Elliot was the first player in NBA history to come back and play after undergoing a kidney transplant.

Elliot currently is a color commentator for the Spurs.

You can listen to the entire interview exclusively on Bulls.com