Michael Jordan isn’t the first name you might associate with a dramatic body transformation – but the basketball legend bulked up big time during the early-1990s.

Jordan, who would go on to win six NBA championships and collect the MVP award the same number of times, recognised the need to add muscle to his game.

After a third straight loss to the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls star decided he needed to hit the weights to handle the physical abuse he was taking.

As revealed in ESPN’s hugely popular “Last Dance” documentary, Jordan and his personal trainer, Tim Grover, got down to business in the weights room that summer.

Michael Jordan looked lean, but not particularly mean before hitting the weights

“I was getting brutally beaten up,” Jordan said in episode four of the show. “And I wanted to administer pain. I wanted to start fighting back.”

Jordan agreed to a 30-day trial with Grover, but he was initially reluctant to start lifting weights given the success his lean body had already granted him.

“He wanted to start a strength and conditioning program, but he was afraid of lifting weights, because he wasn’t sure what the effect on his game would be,” Grover said according to Stack.

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Jordan got assistance from Tim Grover

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Jordan told the Chicago Tribune something similar in 1992, saying: “‘I never really lifted weights before because I was always afraid it would mess up my shot or slow me down.”

Jordan’s reluctance was justifiable, but the results against the Pistons forced his hand. Over time, he managed to increase his muscle mass substantially.

“We started at 200 [pounds],” Grover recalled in The Last Dance. “We added five pounds in increments until he got to 215.”

“I would give him a certain amount of reps to do, but he would never stop at that number,” Grover added. “If I asked for six, I knew he was gonna do 12.”

Jordan hit the weights and bulked up with the help of Grover

Jordan bulked up – and the results were almost instantaneous. The shooting guard went 7-2 against the Pistons in the regular and post-season combined as the Bulls went on to lift the championship.

“I was always physically drained and tired after we played [Pistons],” Jordan told The Tribune at the time. “I feel a lot stronger now.”

Writing in his book Winning, Grover revealed MJ’s weight gain wasn’t just about strength, it was about intimidation, too.

“When I was training MJ, the Bulls’ strength coach asked why I had him doing bicep curls,” said Grover.

Jordan enjoyed huge success with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s

“The theory was biceps were just for show and didn’t really make someone a better basketball player, and that was probably true.

“But we were going for that 0.0001 per cent, which included the intimidation factor of his biggest, stronger, more dominant physique.

“What’s the first thing you see on a basketball player when he takes off his warm-ups? Those arms. Details matter.”

Given Jordan’s status as one of the best basketball players who ever lived, it’s hard to disagree.