The very reclusive Michael Jordan is opening up since the release of The Last Dance. Jordan was a panelist at the SBC Summit in Lisbon, where he discussed his career, business ventures, sports gambling, and social media.

Jordan feels fortunate he didn't come of age in the era of social media, per Oliver Browning of Talk Sport. An era LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry had to navigate.

“I think there’s a little bit more added pressure when you think about all the things and circumstances surrounding the game,” Jordan continued.

“Where it was very simple back when I played. Either win the game or you don’t win the game. Today, you’ve got to build a brand. You’ve got to worry about what your numbers are in terms of what financial reward you’re going to get at the end of your contract.”

“All these things will start to come into play, which, in essence, these guys have to gather all that information to come up with all these different analytics to determine how their business is going to be successful in relationship to what’s happening on the basketball court.”

Anybody who knows anything about MJ knows that he was concerned with one thing.

Michael Jordan was about winning more than anything else

Jordan's tunnel vision is legendary. He blocked out all distractions to focus on the task at hand: winning titles and being the best player he could be.

“Now, that’s a little bit different from 20 years ago,” Jordan said. “Ultimately, all we cared about was, did I want to make the Chicago Bulls the best team? Do I want to win a championship? If I win a championship, can I do it again? Can I maintain the same focus, blah, blah, blah?

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But he's noticed a change in that mindset in today's NBA.

“Whereas today, you’ve got guys thinking about, well, I’ve got my brand coming out, my namesake or my logo, and all these other things, and I need to cater to that,” Jordan said. “That takes away from the team aspect, what the team focus may be. It’s a whole different component to this sport world right now, and I don’t envy that.”

Jordan won 6 championships in 8 years with the Bulls and became a global icon in the process.