Michael Jordan never stopped shooting during his playing career — not even when the shots weren’t going in.

And so it was in Jordan’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech Friday night in Springfield, Mass. He never stopped firing away, even though there were people who thought he wasn’t scoring.

Some who heard it saw pettiness and arrogance; others saw merely the reflection of Jordan’s driven personality.

Someone once said, “It’s only arrogance if you’re wrong.”

Apparently the same impulse that drove Jordan to take the last shot of the game led him to get in the last word against critics and doubters.

So is the performance of the athlete truly tied to his/her personality off the field? Years ago, in my days on the hockey beat, I marveled at the off-ice demeanor of some of the sport’s most respected fighters. For example, Clark Gillies and Dave Schultz, who were known to fight, sometimes against each other, came across as the gentlest, most accommodating, people. Often such players look at fighting as simply part of their job. And like some people, they can leave their job at the office!