Michael Jordan has been described in numerous ways over the decades. Perhaps the best illustrations of the Chicago Bulls legend come from those who faced off against him on the court after they got to experience why many consider him the greatest of all time.

One of the most interesting things that Jordan has been compared to is God in disguise, which Larry Bird remarked while he was still much younger. As MJ got much older, Jayson Williams didn’t call him a deity but said he may have been a divine mistake.

“It’s as if Jesus was making two great players, like Michael’s supposed to have a twin, but Jesus made a mistake and put all the energies and talents into one person,” Williams said in 1998.

An unstoppable MJ

What Williams said is understandable, considering that many mortals have tried stopping Jordan to no avail. His six Finals MVP is a testament to how much skills and killer instinct he was gifted with. Only Bill Russell would have probably had more had the award been established before 1957.

Imagine if Jordan hadn’t returned months into the 1994-95 campaign, which saw the Bulls get eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semifinals. He would have gone six straight playoffs without a series loss.

Williams witnessed how nerve-racking it was to face “His Airness” on the court. He entered the league as a first-round pick in 1990, so his rookie season coincided with Jordan’s first successful championship run. The retired big man had his breakthrough in the 1995-96 season, which marked the first title in Chicago’s second three-peat and when he proved he was one of the league’s best rebounders.

Almost teammates with MJ

Apparently, Williams could have experienced what it was like to be on the same side as the five-time MVP instead of trying to stop him at the rim whenever they were on the court together. In the 1995 offseason, it seems Jordan desperately wanted to recruit him to the Bulls, but he opted to re-sign with the New Jersey Nets.

It may have been divine providence for Chicago because Williams’ and other free agents’ refusal to join the team paved the way for it to acquire Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs. Fortunately for the front office, it didn’t have to give up that much in the trade because the Spurs may have wanted to rid themselves of the “devil.”

As for Williams, he didn’t get the chance to compete for a championship but did secure an All-Star berth once, which may have been more difficult to achieve had he chosen to become the Bulls’ rebounding specialist.