# Michael Jordan "cut" from his high school team. Myth? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 12, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127 "2017-09-12T02:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/61 "2017-09-15T18:22:25Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > We are talking about he difference between: > > Cut from the team > and > Cut from tryouts for the team > > Its my argument that these are commonly understood to be the same thing. Of course. I’m pretty sure anyone familiar with American sports vernacular would agree. Pedantry is a sad thing, but it’s even sadder when it’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/62 "2017-09-15T21:53:04Z")
I dunno. While I would normally agree with the above definitions of “cut” being the same thing, it just doesn’t feel right to me, for some reason, to describe someone playing JV basketball as being “cut” from the team when trying out for varsity. I’m not sure why; it’s just not the way I would use the word in that case. I mean, yes, I think technically he was cut, but since he’s playing JV ball and simply didn’t make the varsity team, I’m inclined not to use the word “cut” but rather “didn’t make varsity.” _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Backcountry\_Medic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Backcountry\_Medic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backcountry_Medic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/63 "2017-09-23T09:00:46Z")
I think Duality had it right in post #40. There are 2 different phrases which sound very similar and imply similar things but have slightly different meanings. Michael Jordan didn’t “make the cut” (noun) for the varsity team, indicating there was some division for on the team vs not on the team and he didn’t achieve it. He is inelegable to be cut(verb) from the team. His friend Scuba Steve did better and got a spot on the team (made the cut) but was later removed (cut) from the roster for bad grades, missing practice, etc. You can’t be fired or let go until you are actually hired. One day or twenty years, you have to have a designated place before you can leave it. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/64 "2017-09-23T12:49:12Z")
The usage of completely different words in completely different contexts is utterly irrelevant to how a different word or phrase is used. Cut from the team is much more widely used to indicate people who didn’t make it on the team then then people who were on it and removed from it, which as pointed out above is an extremely rare case in high school. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/65 "2017-09-24T22:07:47Z")
The “Jordan was cut” story isn’t really fair or accurate, but if Jordan needed to feel disrespected to motivate himself, I dont mind that he used a bogus story to psych himself up. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127/66 "2017-09-25T13:34:30Z")
Could be that was part of the coach’s decision - that he saw a really young guy with plenty of talent a still-developing body, who would benefit more from playing JV than sitting for the varsity, and may also have had self-discipline issues. These are, after all, teenage boys under discussion here, and HS coaches are educators first. Dismissing a HS player from a team for misconduct, or for bad grades, is also not “extremely rare”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jordan-cut-from-his-high-school-team-myth/796127.md?page=3)