During his early years on the court, Michael Jordan became known for not backing down from any player, including his renowned predecessors such as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Interestingly, there was one player Jordan was never able to overshadow as revealed in his 1998 book "For the Love of the Game". Contrary to his confrontations with Bird and Magic whom he was never starstruck by, Jordan was unable to make much impact on the court against Julius Erving, aka Dr. J. Having grown up idolizing him, Jordan admitted his admiration for Dr. J worked against him when they matched up. The Chicago Bulls' performance that season supported this, as they were defeated by Erving and the Sixers in all five match-ups. Erving acknowledged the apparent influence he had on the young Jordan noting that he'd played against him before Jordan fully came into his own and that Jordan did try to find his footing. Therefore, there was actually an instance, albeit only for a single season, where someone could consistently outperform Jordan.