By R.L. Bynum
Michael Norwood knew better than to get in Michael Jordan’s way when Jordan had a breakaway.
Norwood, a former North Carolina walk-on and team captain who played for Dean Smith in the 1980s, had the perfect view during a summer camp pickup game when Jordan took off and delivered the same rock-the-cradle dunk fans had seen so many times.
“I get out of the way, and I let him go,” Norwood said on the first episode of the “Tar Heel Tribune Podcast.” “He rocks the cradle, that same dunk he does.”
Brad Daugherty, Norwood’s teammate, didn’t think that was the proper response.
“Going back down the court, Brad goes, ‘F him. If he comes down the lane again, lay him on his [ass],’ ” Norwood said. “That’s what it was like. Mike was Mike, but it didn’t matter.”
Norwood laughed when asked whether he ever took Daugherty’s advice.
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“No, I’m not going to lay Michael Jordan out,” Norwood said. “He signed two things for my son. I’m not messing with Mike.”
Norwood remembered the competitiveness of those pickup games at Carmichael Auditorium, where Jordan, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Phil Ford, Walter Davis and others might show up. Duke and N.C. State players came over, too, but there was one rule.
“If you’re on the [UNC] team, you got next,” Norwood said. “The funny thing would be I may have next to play, and Johnny Dawkins had to sit because I got to play in front of him.”
Those games were not casual.
“There were fights,” Norwood said. “It was over fouls and hard fouls and score and everything. If you weren’t ready to play, you would get embarrassed and hear about it at the same time.”
Stories like that were part of the charm of Norwood’s appearance, which highlighted the debut of the podcast with a mix of memories from Carolina’s past, observations about the current program and thoughts on what comes next under new coach Michael Malone.
Norwood played on the 1987 team that went 31–4, reached the Elite Eight and featured Kenny Smith, Joe Wolf, Jeff Lebo and J.R. Reid.
As a senior, Norwood was a captain, but he said that distinction told a larger story about how Dean Smith ran the program. At Carolina, he said, being a senior meant something, no matter whether a player was a star or a walk-on.
“Well, that’s a Coach Smith thing, because basically, if you’re a senior, you’re a captain,” Norwood said. “Once you became a senior, the thing about Coach Smith, and I was a walk-on, he treated me 100% equal to everybody on the team.”
That philosophy carried over to everything, including travel. Norwood remembered flying first class as a senior on a team trip to Hawaii while freshman J.R. Reid, already a 6–9, 280-pound force, sat in the back of the plane and tried to trade seats.
“J.R. Reid was sitting in the back of the plane, going, ‘Dude, I’ll give you like 50 bucks to trade seats with me,’ ” Norwood said. “First class to Hawaii. I’m a senior. I earned it.”
Norwood said his relationship with Smith changed over time. At first, he was intimidated by every practice and every interaction. As he got older, Smith asked for more input. After Norwood graduated, the relationship became more casual, and he later played golf with Smith and Bill Guthridge at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham.
“In the moment, you’re still working. You just want to win,” Norwood said. “You recognize the lessons from Coach Smith, and I use them to this day.”
The lesson he has repeated most often came from the way Smith made everyone feel needed.
“My favorite quality about him was he made everybody feel involved and important and [that they] contribute,” Norwood said. “The trainer, the security guy, Michael Jordan, everybody had different roles and different responsibilities, but you were equally valuable in the success of the organization.”
Norwood said that remains the leadership lesson he passes along most often.
“Make sure everybody understands their value, make sure everybody is invested in the success, and make sure they know that they contributed to the success, no matter what their role was,” he said.
The podcast also included plenty of discussion about Carolina’s present, including Caleb Wilson, who formally introduced himself to Chicago on Friday after the Bulls selected him in the NBA draft. Bulls fans quickly found out what Carolina fans have known for a while: the talented forward isn’t lacking in confidence.
On draft night, Wilson talked about wanting to be “better than Mike,” referring to Bulls legend Michael Jordan, and there likely will be more pronouncements to get fans’ attention. Norwood saw that talent early.
After watching Wilson in pickup games last summer, Norwood quickly relayed a strong opinion to friends.
“The first night I called my buddies and texted them and said, ‘Caleb Wilson’s the best player we’ve had in 20 years,’ ” Norwood said. “One thing you can’t hide is aggressiveness and athleticism.”
Norwood also said Wilson’s thumb injury changed the course of the program. Asked how hard it was for the Carolina family to move on from Coach Hubert Davis, Norwood said the situation was painful because of the relationships involved.
“If Caleb doesn’t break his thumb, he’s still the coach right now,” Norwood said of Davis. “There’s not a nicer guy. Hubert bleeds Carolina blue.”
Norwood said former players wanted Davis and his staff to succeed, not because of tickets or access, but because those coaches were their friends.
“I don’t want my basketball buddies to get fired,” Norwood said. “I don’t want my neighbor friend, I don’t want anybody to lose their job and have that anxiety and have to find something, have to move.”
Now, Norwood said, he is excited about Michael Malone’s arrival and the energy around the program. He met Malone with other former players before Malone’s introductory press conference and said he immediately liked what he heard.
“He feels old school to me,” Norwood said. “The press conference, I thought he killed it. I thought he had great answers.”
One moment stood out most to Norwood. Malone corrected someone by saying the Denver Nuggets had fired him rather than softening the language.
“I really respected him for not making excuses, not hiding by anything,” Norwood said. “He said, ‘No, no, I was fired from there,’ and that resonated with me. I walked away from the press conference going, ‘I’m all in.’ ”
Norwood said Malone already has worked to become part of the Carolina community, attending camps, speaking to players and former players, and showing up at other UNC sporting events.
“He fits,” Norwood said. “He just really does feel like he fits.”
Norwood also likes the look of Carolina’s new roster, especially in the backcourt. He expects the Tar Heels to be more explosive, more aggressive and more athletic there, with freshman guards and playmakers giving Malone more options late in possessions.
“At those positions, you’ve got to be able to break people down,” Norwood said. “You’re going to be at the end of shot clocks and nothing’s working, and it’s at eight seconds, and we need you to beat your man and either get a shot off or get a shot off for somebody else.”
Norwood said he likes the chemistry between the newcomers and praised the addition of coaching staff members Chuck Martin and Brian Tibaldi. He said Tibaldi’s NBA player-development background should help in an era when coaches no longer have years to develop players.
“It’s not like back with Coach Smith, and you had three years for somebody to get better,” Norwood said. “You’ve got like three months now in this world, and that’s tough. It’d be tough to coach now.”
Norwood said the Tar Heels should play faster and move the ball better, with more player movement. Still, he said there is one obvious concern: the physicality of the big men.
“We need a little beefier people,” Norwood said. “We need some meat. We’re long, we’re bouncy, we’re athletic. I worry about those away games, where it’s a half-court game, and the referees are swallowing the whistle, and we’re going to get bullied and pushed around.”
He also praised Jarin Stevenson, saying the Alabama transfer could be an important piece because of his versatility and experience.
“I think he can really contribute,” Norwood said. “That guy can guard two through five, he can make shots. He’s been there, he knows what to expect.”
Norwood said he was impressed that former N.C. State guard Matt Able honored his commitment to UNC after a strong NBA Combine showing.
“They were like, ‘We need to get better. We’re not going to rush this,’ ” Norwood said of Able and his family. “That really showed me something about the way he views things and his character.”
Much of the conversation circled back to the old Carolina basketball camp tradition, with current and former players mixing in pickup games.
Norwood said he still prefers Carmichael to the Smith Center because of the noise, heat, bleachers and low ceiling that made it an intimidating home court. He also remembered the feeling of waiting in the locker room underneath the tunnel before running out.
“The band would start playing, the introduction to come out there, and then you’d get together in the huddle,” Norwood said. “It was the best. It was absolutely the best coming out of there.”
Norwood, who graduated from UNC in 1987, later worked as a stockbroker before returning to Chapel Hill and joining Honors Carolina as a career coach.
He works with students interested in finance and also has spent time helping athletes think through career preparation, an area he said can be more complicated because athletes often cannot complete traditional summer internships.
He said the work reminds him of coaching youth basketball and volleyball because it is built on fundamentals, confidence and helping people improve.
“I changed careers at age 52 and I love what I do,” Norwood said. “I love when I get an email from a kid going, ‘Hey, I got a job, and I didn’t think I was qualified for it.’ ”
Norwood ends every class with a quote of the day, a nod to Smith, who used one at the start of every practice. One of his favorite stories came from two students who met in his freshman class, became roommates and kept his quotes posted in their apartment for all four years.
“That’s like my favorite story ever,” Norwood said.
For Norwood, returning to Chapel Hill after three decades away still felt natural.
“When I decided to move back here, it just felt like home,” Norwood said. “Even though I was only here for four years and I was gone for 30, the minute I got back, it just feels like home to me.”
Watch the entire conversation during the podcast with the below video.
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