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Michael Jordan Speaks to Alabama Football

The six-time NBA champion spoke to the team via Zoom on Tuesday night

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — NBA legend Michael Jordan spoke to the University of Alabama football team on Tuesday evening via a Zoom call.

Jordan joins a list of reputable speakers that have spoken with the team during this offseason, including former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, former NBA player Charles Barkley and politician Condoleezza Rice.

Alabama football posted this video on the team's Twitter following Jordan's virtual meeting with the team:

Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, spoke to the team about leadership and how to deal with outside noise.

In an interview with 247Sports back in May, Alabama coach Nick Saban expressed his admiration for Jordan while discussing ESPN's The Last Dance.

“I really think the last three minutes of the last show … was something that I could really relate, that we could really relate to," Saban said. “We’ve always had a very high standard in the program here of how we want everybody to be the best versions of themselves, personally, academically and athletically, because we’re college coaches. We’re not just in the professional ranks and it’s all about winning the game. It’s a lot about winning the game in college, but there’s some other things that we try to develop in players, as well. But when they referred to him as some of your teammates think you might be a tyrant and he paused and actually almost got tears in his eyes when he said there’s a price to pay for winning.

“There’s a price to pay for being a leader. You have to push people to get them to do things that they might not want to do. It might make them uncomfortable. Everybody wants to be comfortable, but you’ve got to get used to being uncomfortable if you’re really going to be successful and you’re really going to be good. And I could really relate to that because that’s what we’ve always tried to get the players in our program to do. Some understand it, some don’t. Some people use that against us in recruiting sometimes because I’ve heard, ‘You don’t have any fun at Alabama.’ Well, we have fun here. I mean, the structure that we have is so the players don’t have too much fun.

“But at the same, we’re also trying to create a culture of accountability where the players have the best chance to develop the kind of habits that are going to help them be successful in their life, in their future. Sometimes when you hold people accountable, it’s maybe to a standard that they’re not used to, but in the long run, it really, really benefits their chances to be successful. And I think that’s what Michael Jordan was trying to say, and I think that’s something that we can really relate to here.”

The Crimson Tide also shared these photos, with one picturing both Saban and Jordan in a photo of two sports legends who have had an incredible impact on their respective games.