Author: mlinh

Becoming a future member of the ESPN family is a “full circle” moment for newly retired Eagles center Jason Kelce.

Two days after reports emerged the 36-year-old Kelce would be joining the Worldwide Leader as he embarks on a sports media career, the seven-time Pro Bowler elaborated Wednesday on how he reached his decision amid interest from other networks.

“Nothing has been officially inked yet or announced yet but, obviously, there’s been a lot of reports out there about me going to ESPN and I think time will kind of take care of that but it’s a tremendous honor to even be considered to potentially work there,” Kelce said on the latest installment of the “New Heights” podcast he co-hosts with his younger brother, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

4It was reported in April 2024 that Jason Kelce would be joining ESPN after his NFL retirement.AP

Kelce, who officially called it a career in March after 13 seasons in Philadelphia, shared how ESPN “was everything” to the siblings growing up.

The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard

“We were glued to the TV each and every day, so the fact that I may potentially, probably will be working there is pretty darn cool,” Jason said.

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported Monday that Kelce is joining the weekly “Monday Night Football” pregame show.

The program features analysts Ryan Clark and Marcus Spears and is hosted by Scott Van Pelt.

4Jason Kelce with brother Travis Kelce (87) during the 2023 NFL season.Getty Images

4Jason Kelce announced his retirement in March 2024.AP

The publication reported in March that ESPN was pursuing Kelce, who also intrigued NBC, CBS and Amazon Prime Video.

Travis, who is also segueing into media as the host of Amazon’s “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity,” noted how “cool” it is “to see come full circle” for his brother.

“I did my due diligence, you want to make sure you’re really looking at things, talking to people that are knowledgeable in the industry — neither one of us have ever done something like this. Throughout the whole process, meeting and talking to everyone over at ESPN, it became apparent that it was really the right fit and at the end of the day, something that I’m really, really looking forward to this next phase,” Jason said.

4Jason Kelce played in his final NFL game in January 2024.AP

“… I know to some degree who I’m working with and think very, very highly of all of them, I’m excited to learn. I know a lot about football but not a lot about this world, so, that’s just another avenue to continue to expand your knowledge, create relationships, cause that’s what this business is all about, that’s what every business is all about, it’s always about the people you interact with, so, really excited.”

A former sixth-round pick out of Cincinnati, Kelce spent his entire NFL career with the Eagles, winning one Super Bowl at the end of the 2017 season.

The future Hall of Famer was named First-Team All-Pro six times, playing in a total of 193 regular-season games throughout his career.

ESPN is set to air the first two parts of its 10-hour “The Last Dance” documentary about Michael Jordan and the 1998 Bulls on Sunday, so a basketball world starved for games has spent the weeks since the network announced its adjusted start date reminiscing about the greatest player the NBA has ever seen. We here at Yahoo Sports NBA are no different, and in the latest installment of our chronicles we dive deep into MJ’s best beefs.

The 1985 NBA All-Stars

Legend has it that incumbent NBA stars were not fond of the attention paid to Jordan as a rookie, so veterans Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson and George Gervin allegedly orchestrated a freeze-out of the 21-year-old sensation at his first All-Star Game. The accused denied limiting Jordan’s chances, but George Andrews — then the agent for both Thomas and Johnson — lended at least a little credence to the myth.

In the version Andrews told to longtime Chicago Tribune scribe turned Bulls.com columnist Sam Smith, the veterans took umbrage with Jordan violating NBA protocol by promoting Nike with his pregame workouts.

“No question they were mad at him,” Andrews told Smith, “and it wasn’t just my guys.”

Per Andrews, the vets planned for Thomas and Johnson to defend each other with little resistance, so they could control the action, as Gervin guarded Jordan with more intent. Jordan scored seven points on nine shots.

As the story goes, longtime Detroit Free Press columnist Charlie Vincent approached Gervin afterward at the airport, where he was waiting for his plane with a couple of advisers to his point guard co-conspirators.

“They’re acting out and saying how they showed Michael who was boss, taught him a lesson and all that,” Andrews added, via Smith, “and it extrapolates into a plot against Michael, which was not the case.”

It just so happens the Bulls hosted Thomas’ Pistons in their first game after the break. Jordan amassed 49 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and four steals in a 139-126 victory, igniting a rivalry that lasted for years.

Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons

Three years after the alleged freeze-out, Jordan’s Bulls faced Thomas’ Pistons for the first of four playoff meetings in four seasons. Detroit got the best of Chicago in the first three meetings, winning two titles in the process. When the Bulls finally broke through, sweeping the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals, Thomas and company left the floor without shaking hands. Jordan took notice, returning the freeze.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum, who later chronicled the “Dream Team” in book form, Jordan told former Bulls general manager turned USA Basketball committee member Rod Thorn, “I don’t want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.” Jordan later confirmed his part in keeping Thomas off a 1992 U.S. Olympic men’s national team he most certainly deserved to be on, and he had plenty of support.

“I despised how he played the game,” Scottie Pippen said of Thomas in NBA TV’s 2012 documentary on the Dream Team. “Isiah was the general [of the Bad Boys], he was the guy who would yap at his teammates and say, ‘Kick them on their ass. Do whatever you have to do.’ No, I didn’t want him on the Dream Team.”

“Did Isiah Thomas deserve to be on the Dream Team? No doubt about it,” Johnson later conceded, via Vintage Detroit. “When you think about a team, everyone must get along. They gotta live to together, they gotta hang out together. Isiah, with his competitive nature, rubbed some of the guys the wrong way.”

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen gave Toni Kukoc quite an initiation into the Chicago Bulls mentality. (Vincent Laforet/AFP via Getty Images)

Toni Kukoc, Chicago Bulls

Jordan and Pippen heard tales of Toni Kukoc’s talent in 1992. He was a second-round pick by their Bulls in 1990 and had yet to join them in the NBA, instead improving his prototypical stretch four skills in Europe. So, when the Dream Team saw Kukoc’s Croatia on their schedule at the Barcelona Olympics, they salivated.

“You ever watch a lion or a leopard or a cheetah pouncing on their prey?” Karl Malone told Lang Whitaker for GQ’s wonderful 2012 oral history of the Dream Team. “We had to get Michael and Scottie out of the locker room, because they were damn near pulling straws to see who guarded him. Kukoc had no idea.”

Kukoc finished with four points on 11 shots in 34 minutes of a 103-70 defeat in the opening stage of the tournament. Jordan and Pippen combined for 34 points, 12 assists and 13 steals (!) in 28 minutes apiece.

Poor Kukoc, who unknowingly had Bulls general manager Jerry Krause to blame.

“Krause was recruiting this guy and talking about how great he was,” Jordan said in the 2012 documentary. “That’s like a father who has all his kids and now he sees another kid that he loves more than he loves his own. So we weren’t playing against Toni Kukoc. We were playing against Jerry Krause in a Croatia uniform.”

His other Chicago Bulls teammates

Let’s start with Steve Kerr, who Jordan once punched in the face during a heated practice.

“I took exception to something he said,” Kerr said in telling the tale to ESPN.com in 2013. “So I was talking back and I don’t think Michael appreciated that … and we got in the lane and he gave me a forearm shiver to the chest and I pushed him back. And next thing you know, our teammates were pulling him off of me.”

Kerr earned Jordan’s respect, standing up to him, taking a black eye and giving a few punches back.

“It made me look at myself, and say, ‘You know what? You’re really being an idiot about this whole process,’” Jordan said in Phil Jackson’s autobiography “Eleven Rings” of the Kerr quarrel at a 1995 post-comeback practice. “I knew I had to be more respectful of my teammates. And I had to be more respectful of what was happening to me in terms of trying to get back into the game. I had to get more internal.”

That realization came too late for many of his former teammates.

Upset that the Bulls traded good friend Charles Oakley, Jordan called his replacement, Bill Cartwright, “Medical Bill,” and bullied him, intentionally throwing Cartwright difficult passes, telling reporters, “He’s causing me too many turnovers,” and doing all he could to get coach Doug Collins to bench the center.

Jordan also punched Cartwright’s backup, Will Perdue. He called Stacey King a “powerless forward” and a “big, fat guy” who couldn’t rebound. He told Horace Grant he was “too stupid to remember the plays.” And he “practically ruined” Rodney McCray, yelling mid-practice, “You’re a loser! You’ve always been a loser!”

As Kerr rationalized in a recent “Book of Basketball 2.0” podcast interview with Bill Simmons, “You were scared to death of him. He was the most dominant force on the floor in every regard. It wasn’t just the talent; it was the force of will. Opponents were defeated by Michael before they even walked on the floor.

“So it was unbelievable to be on his team, to be his teammate, and you had to accept that responsibility. You knew he was going to be harsh on you. You knew he was going to be tough on you, was going to talk trash to everybody in practice, test you. And his reasoning was: If you couldn’t handle the trash talk in practice, there’s no way you could handle the pressure of the NBA playoffs. It made perfect sense.”

Xavier McDaniel, New York Knicks

Pat Riley’s 1990s New York Knicks were working on a second straight season of trying to rough the Bulls up in the 1992 playoffs. Xavier McDaniel did a number on Scottie Pippen in a Game 4 that knotted the series, “[tossing] him around like a rag doll,” but Jordan was not about to let that happen again in Game 5.

When McDaniel tried bullying Pippen again, Jordan quite literally went head-to-head with him, pushing their domes together during a timeout and pointedly telling McDaniel, “F— you,” in plain view of the broadcast.

Jordan proceeded to score a game-high 37 points in the pivotal 96-88 victory.

Clyde Drexler, Portland Trail Blazers

Remember Jordan’s famous shrug after his sixth straight 3-pointer in the first half of Game 1 of the 1992 Finals? He made sure Clyde Drexler did. The Blazers star finished second to Jordan in MVP voting that season, collecting a dozen first-place votes and making a conversation of the league’s best shooting guard. So, Jordan ruined him, too. Drexler’s teammate, Danny Ainge, later told David Halberstam for his book, “Playing for Keeps,” it was like watching “an assassin who comes to kill you, then cut your heart out.”

Jordan was not done there, either. When the two met again that summer for training camp with the Dream Team, Jordan trash-talked Drexler up and down the court, according to Halberstam. “Didn’t I just kick your ass? … Anything here look just a little familiar? … Think you can stop me this time, Clyde? … Better watch out for the threes, Clyde.” Charles Barkley had to step in, but Jordan kept hounding Drexler on defense.

Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns

Speaking of Barkley, there’s a well-circulated rumor that Jordan took him golfing for 48 holes and bought him a $20,000 diamond earring on the eve of Game 4 of the 1993 Finals, tiring out and currying favor with Barkley. When Bulls assistant Johnny Bach asked Jordan why, he allegedly responded, “He won’t get in my way the rest of the series. What’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends. I hate that fat f—.”

Jordan proceeded to score 55 points unencumbered in Game 4, giving the Bulls a 3-1 series lead.

Unfortunately, Barkley shot down the rumor, telling the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney in 2015, “Michael and I laughed about that 10 years, 20 years later. They say we played golf together every day, and we never played golf. They said we had dinner together every night, and we never had dinner. So we always found it funny that people said we spent every night together. We never saw each other during the Finals.”

But Jordan slyly suggested such tactics were a big part of his arsenal in his Hall of Fame speech.

“[Knicks assistant Jeff Van Gundy] said I conned the players, befriended them, and then I attack them on the basketball court,” Jordan said, tongue still firmly planted in cheek after also poking fun at Van Gundy’s height during the speech. “Where did that come from? I just so happened to be a friendly guy. I get along with everybody, but at the same time, when the light comes on, I’m as competitive as anybody you know.”

The talking between Jordan and Barkley certainly became less cordial over the years.

Either way, the friendship has not endured the test of time. Barkley and Jordan had a falling out when the former called out the latter for his ownership failures to hire the right people to run the Charlotte Hornets.

Danny Ainge, Phoenix Suns

And speaking of Ainge, Jordan killed two friends with one game.

In that same Game 4 of the 1993 Finals, Ainge was hounding his golfing partner defensively when he caught Jordan’s elbow at midcourt. Ainge embellished the contact. Jordan took issue. Ainge ripped the ball from Jordan, who pointed his finger in Ainge’s face. Barkley and Grant stepped between them. Both of them earned a technical for the skirmish, but somehow Ainge also walked away with the personal foul.

According to Ainge, Jordan said, “Quit fouling me,” and Ainge responded, “Yes, your highness.”

John Starks, New York Knicks

Jordan’s Bulls faced the Knicks in the playoffs four times between 1991 and 1996, so he got a healthy dose of John Starks. The impassioned guard had his ups and downs opposite Jordan, but he always brought it.

Starks went toe-to-toe with Jordan in Game 1 of the 1993 Eastern Conference finals and punctuated Game 2 with his legendary dunk over all the Bulls, giving the Knicks a 2-0 lead. Jordan got his revenge in Game 3.

Jordan caught Starks with an elbow, Starks retaliated with a hard swipe that caught Jordan, and a shoving match ensued. Starks refused to be separated, going back at Jordan and asking, “You wanna go, Mike?”

The exchange earned Starks an ejection, and the Bulls never lost again in the series.

When Jordan first retired in 1993, Starks told Sports Illustrated’s Alexander Wolff, “I’m going to miss him. He brought out the best in me.” So, when Jordan faced the Knicks for the first time since returning in 1995, he gave Starks 55 points in a 113-111 win at Madison Square Garden, symbolically reclaiming the throne.

“I think he forgot how to play me,” Jordan told reporters after the game.

Jordan’s Bulls proceeded to beat the Knicks in a five-game Eastern Conference semifinals series the following spring, bringing his playoff record opposite Starks to 4-0 despite plenty of bruises along the way.

Gary Payton, Seattle SuperSonics

Payton never stopped talking, even as a rookie, so Jordan turned to Bulls teammate B.J. Armstrong during their 1990 preseason game with the Sonics and said for all to hear, “Leave the f—ing rookie to me.”

Bulls coach Phil Jackson started calling plays for Jordan, a handful in a row, and he delivered every time. Payton found himself in foul trouble, scoreless in less than 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Jordan netted 33 points.

Let Payton finish the story, via The Player’s Tribune:

Looks right at me. “That s— you talking in preseason?”

The wild thing is, MJ isn’t even mad or nothing. He’s chewing his f—ing gum.

“This is the real s— right here. Welcome to the NBA, little fella.”

The Bulls and Sonics would meet again in the 1996 Finals. Jordan and Payton trash-talked throughout the series, especially in Game 2, when they met face to face at midcourt during a break in the heated action.

“It was a lot everything,” Payton later recalled when breaking down the friendly exchange of words for ESPN’s J.A. Adande. “A lot of ‘s—‘, ‘f—‘, ‘f— you.’ And then Ron Harper got into it, Scottie Pippen got into it, Phil [Jackson] got into it. We were going back and forth with the ‘f— you.’”

Despite Payton’s best efforts against MJ in the second half of the series, the Bulls prevailed in six games.

Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers

Jordan also put Miller in his place from the start. When Miller entered the league as a rookie in 1987, his Pacers faced the Bulls in preseason game, and teammate Chuck Person encouraged him to trash talk Jordan after getting off to a hot start. The way Miller tells it on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Jordan proceeded to outscore him 40-2 in the second half and declare afterward, “You never talk to Black Jesus like that.”

Jordan never relented, either. In a February 1993 meeting, Miller bumped Jordan underneath the basket after a put-back, and Jordan responded by shoving Miller’s face with both hands, drawing a punch.

Again, Jordan was neither ejected nor even called for a foul. He was later suspended a single game.

When they met for the first time in the playoffs for the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, Jordan kept on him.

“Playing Reggie drives me nuts. It’s like chicken-fighting with a woman,” Jordan told Newsday’s Greg Logan before Game 1. “His game is all this flopping-type thing. He weighs only 185 pounds so you have to be careful; don’t touch him or it’s a foul. On offense, I use all my 215 pounds against him and just move him out. But he has his two hands on you all the time, like a woman holding your waist. It irritates me.”

Kwame Brown, Washington Wizards

Jordan joined the Washingon Wizards in 2001, the same season they made Kwame Brown the first high school player selected No. 1 overall in the draft. Jordan initially took Brown under his wing, quickly learned the kid was not cut out to match his competitive fire, and then tore him to shreds for the rest of his tenure.

So, when Brown challenged his mentor-turned-menace to a game of one-on-one, Jordan taught him a lesson. Let Michael Leahy walk you through it with an excerpt from his book, “When Nothing Else Matters”:

He proceeded to humiliate Brown, mocking him while scoring at will, declining to help him up when the teenager fell hard to the floor, winning lopsidedly and, at the end, yelling at Brown to acknowledge his superiority in front of the team: “You better call me ‘Daddy,’ motherf—er.”

According to Leahy, Jordan also dressed Brown down during a game after the rookie complained about the absence of a whistle on a touch foul, unleashing a tirade that allegedly included four homophobic slurs.

Sports Illustrated reported that “Jordan ritually reduced Brown to tears in front of the team,” but Brown has a different recollection of his experience. In a 2017 interview with HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, Brown clarified, “There was a report that Michael Jordan would make me cry in the front of the team. A guy who grew up like I grew up don’t really cry much. The report about him calling me a homophobic slur isn’t true.”

Jerry Krause, Chicago Bulls

The feud between Jordan and the Bulls GM was decades in the making. Krause took over for Thorn a year after Chicago selected Jordan with the third overall pick. When Jordan broke his foot three games into the 1985-86 season, Krause urged his second-year superstar to sit out the year, hoping to secure a better draft pick to build around his franchise player. Ever the competitor, Jordan disagreed, pushing through a minutes limit to help the Bulls win six of their final 10 games and secure the eighth seed with a paltry 30-52 record.

Had Jordan sat out the season, we would have been robbed of his 63-point playoff effort against the 1986 Celtics. As it were, the Bulls fell just outside a lottery that included Jordan’s former North Carolina teammate Brad Daugherty, Chuck Person, Kenny Walker and future Bull Ron Harper (and, of course, Len Bias). In his effort to field a formidable center behind Jordan, Krause selected Brad Sellers with the No. 9 pick in 1986, yet another teammate Jordan deemed unqualified to share the court with him. Two years after the failed Sellers experiment, Krause traded Jordan’s friend, Oakley, for Cartwright, and we have already covered that.

It went round and round in circles like this for the entirety of Jordan’s tenure in Chicago. He and Krause were cut from the same competitive cloth — Krause an old-school scout who believed in an organization’s influence on team-building and Jordan unwilling to concede power from the players to the front office. Jordan wanted more input on decisions concerning roster construction, and Krause felt he knew better. We should probably point out that Cartwright ultimately started at center for Chicago’s first three title runs.

There were contentious contract negotiations, to be sure, but the final straw came during the 1997-98 season that will be chronicled in the forthcoming “The Last Dance” documentary. Krause signed a number of the dynasty’s key contributors to one-year contracts and had a widely known plan to replace Jackson with Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, who just so happened to be a fishing buddy of the GM’s. Jordan was not a fan of this plan, refusing to play for Floyd, whom the superstar began derogatively referring to as “Pink” publicly.

“One thing is for sure, money won’t keep me in the game,” Jordan told legendary former Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander of what might keep him in Chicago in 1999, via Blog a Bull. “Never. Just change ownership. And you know what I’d consider a change in ownership? Change the GM. Let Phil be general manager and coach. Krause? I don’t want to start a war around here. I’ll just say that sometimes it’s tough working for an organization that doesn’t show the same type of loyalty toward you as you show it.”

It was another clear shot at Krause’s infamous “organization’s win championships” quote. Regardless of Krause clarifying that his intended line included “players and coaches alone don’t win championships,” it clearly struck a chord with Jordan, who included a reference to the quote in his evisceration of Krause at his Hall of Fame induction speech: “He was a very competitive person, I was a very competitive person. He said the organization wins championships. I said, ‘I didn’t see the organization playing with the flu in Utah.’”

Jordan also said of the notably absent Krause in the same speech, “I don’t know who invited him, I didn’t.”

When Krause died at age 77 in 2017, Jordan issued a public statement: “Jerry was a key figure in the Bulls’ dynasty and meant so much to the Bulls, White Sox and city of Chicago. My heart goes out to his wife, Thelma, his family and friends.” That summer, the GM was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Everyone else in his Hall of Fame speech

Krause was not the only one who took fire during Jordan’s 2009 Hall of Fame induction speech. Just about everybody caught shrapnel, including: Thomas, Johnson and Gervin; Leroy Smith, who famously was awarded the final varsity spot over Jordan in their high school sophomore season; Buzz Peterson, Jordan’s freshman roommate at North Carolina who won the state’s prep player of the year honor over Jordan the year prior; Riley and Jeff Van Gundy; “the media naysayers”; his own relatives; and the Hall of Fame itself.

But he saved the best for last: Bryon Russell, the victim of the final shot of Jordan’s Bulls career — a jumper that eliminated the Utah Jazz in the 1998 Finals and concluded the season captured by “ The Last Dance.”

“I hate to do it to him. He’s such a nice guy,” Jordan said, smiling as he prepared to wrap up his speech. “When I first met Bryon Russell, I was in Chicago in 1994. I was working out for baseball. They came down for a workout. … I came over to say hello, and at this time I had no thoughts of coming back and playing the game of basketball. And Bryon Russell came over to me and said, ‘You know what, man, why’d you quit? You know I could guard you. If I ever see you in a pair of shorts.’ So, when I did decided to come back in 1995, and then we played Utah in ’96. I’m at the center circle, and Bryon Russell is standing next to me. I look over to Byron and said, ‘Do you remember the conversation we had in 1994: ‘I think I could guard you, I think I can shut you down, I would love to play against you.’ Well, you’re about to get your chance.”

Michael Jordan or LeBron James? It is one of the essential questions in the modern era of sports fandom, encompassing facts and biases, statistics and anecdotal evidence, and the ever-shifting barometer of cultural relevance. It turns friends into foes, barbershops into the site of parliamentary debates, and the Super Bowl LII champions into bickering schoolchildren. The question of Jordan or LeBron may live on for longer than they do. So, before we fully gear up for what should be a frenzied second half of the season, why not celebrate and examine the impact of two of the most influential players in basketball history?

Welcome to Jordan-LeBron Week.

---

In December 1986, Michael Jordan dunked on Tree Rollins. It happened quickly and without warning, like a spider bite or a bird pooping on your head (both of which, I suspect, would’ve ultimately been less embarrassing for Rollins to experience). Jordan had the ball out near the left bend of the 3-point line and was surveying the court. There were three defenders nearby, two of whom were especially concerned with him. He pump-faked a pass to Charles Oakley, who was at the nearest baseline, and Cliff Levingston, one of the aforementioned defenders, stumbled backward from the feint, falling down, and let me explain something real quick:

It’s true that Jordan was at the beginning of his third season in this particular moment, and also that he’d lost basically all of his second season to a broken foot. But he’d already established a reputation as a devastating offensive threat. I mean, just consider these three things: (1) To that point of the season, he was averaging an absurd 38.8 points per game, including a 50-point explosion on the Bulls’ opening night. (2) He had scored 40 or more points in his previous seven games and would go on to score 40 or more in this game and the next, bringing the total to nine in a row, a run only ever bettered in NBA history by Wilt Chamberlain. And: (3) Beyond just the nine straight games of 40 or more points, he’d also go on to do it 15 times in 20 games. And so if you ask, “Why would Cliff Levingston fall down simply from a faked pass?” I would respond, “Because it was Michael Jordan who was faking it, and everything Michael Jordan was doing with a basketball at that time was fucking terrifying.”

So: Levingston stumbled backward, falling down, and it created a direct path to the basket for Jordan. Jordan took one dribble and gathered the ball, and as he did, Rollins, a 7-foot-1 center of monumental girth and mass, slid over to protect the rim. They both jumped and prepped their nuclear missiles at the same time, and, all things considered, Tree appeared to have the advantage, what with him being seven inches taller and 20 or so pounds heavier than Jordan. But then he didn’t.

Jordan mashed it home on him, and it was so surprising that he’d done so that two things happened, one of which was small and has happened many times since, the other of which is bigger and hints at why I’m telling you this story.

The small thing: The crowd cheered. Loudly. And the reason that’s noteworthy is because the game was being played in Atlanta, not Chicago. Imagine that. Imagine a man comes into your home, karate kicks you in the teeth, and then your family is so impressed by the move that they start cheering for him. “Whoa, great kick,” they tell him as you feel around under the couch, searching for your incisors and also your pride.

The bigger thing: When the dunk went in, the force of the shockwave knocked Rollins sideways. As he gathered his balance, Oakley, who had moved into the paint during the play, reached back and put his finger right in his face. It was, in a manner of speaking, a disrespectful exclamation point on the end of the play. Here’s a screenshot of the moment:

Jordan is on the left of Rollins, scowling at him, very clearly making a “Bitch, I told you don’t jump” face, and there’s Oakley on the right, very clearly doing a “Bitch, he told you don’t jump” finger point. They turned Rollins into the sliced meat of a 7-foot-long BITCH, DON’T JUMP sandwich, which is the worst kind of sandwich you can be turned into on a basketball court.

I mention this specific play because it represents the main idea of this article: that many of the players who were in the NBA during Jordan’s reign would go on to exist, at least in part, less as their own entity and more as a character in Jordan lore. Both Tree Rollins and Charles Oakley are that here; Rollins ended up becoming The Guy That Jordan Dunked On and Oakley, a devastating cheerleader, ended up becoming one of Jordan’s Guys, a small group of players he held extremely close. (One of my favorite Jordan stories: After the Bulls traded Oakley to get veteran Bill Cartwright, Jordan, who very much did not approve of the trade, spent the following days throwing impossible-to-catch passes at Cartwright so he could complain about how Cartwright couldn’t catch them. All I want is a coworker who cares enough about me to sabotage whoever it is that comes in after me when I get sent off to work somewhere else.)

Have you seen Mean Girls? It’s about a girl who shows up at a new school and infiltrates the school’s most popular group of girls (“The Plastics,” as it were). The Plastics are led by Regina George, held up around campus as the physical manifestation of teenage perfection. As a way to establish the dominance that Regina George holds over her high school, other students share different rumors about how incredible and overwhelming she is. “Regina George is flawless,” says the first girl. “I hear her hair’s insured for $10,000,” says the third person. “I hear she does car commercials … in Japan,” says the fourth person, and I don’t know why the “in Japan” part is so goddamn funny but it is. And it goes on and on like that. Then the very last person says, “One time she punched me in the face … it was awesome.” That’s how incredible Regina George is: so incredible that being punched in the face by her is a mark of prestige because being punched in the face by her means she had to, at least in that instant, acknowledge that you exist.

That is, in a sense, what I’m talking about with Jordan here; it’s a kind of eternal stamp, really. There’s a whole list of people who, for one reason or another, have forever become associated with him. And it’s a spectrum of influence that stretches all the way from Well, This Is Very Terrible to This Is Great.

All the way on the Well, This Is Very Terrible end, for example, is Kwame Brown, and I’m going to start with him because he had a quote in 2010 in which he explicitly references what you and I are talking about in this article.

A quick summary of the Kwame-Jordan history: Jordan was the head of basketball operations (and soon to be a player, lol) for the Wizards when they selected Kwame with the no. 1 pick in the 2001 draft. During Kwame’s time with the Wizards, there were multiple reports of Jordan bullying him, some instances of which were so crushing that they moved Kwame to near tears. (You can read all about it in this excerpt of Michael Leahy’s book about Jordan’s final run with the Wizards.) Kwame eventually denied the allegations, and even if he was telling the truth (it definitely felt like he was) it didn’t matter. The allegations were enough; they stuck to Kwame’s name forever.

In 2010, the Charlotte Bobcats signed Kwame to a one-year deal. Jordan was a majority owner of the Bobcats then, and so of course people asked Kwame about their past history. That’s why he told Michael Lee of The Washington Post, “We’re always going to be linked. I might as well come here, right?” Kwame knew then what I’m telling you now: When Michael presses his fingerprints down onto your heart, they’re not so easy to wash off.

(Kwame is a very extreme example of this. Other sad ones that are less biting: Muggsy Bogues, who Jordan one time backed off of during the final seconds of a close playoff game and allegedly shouted, “Shoot it, you fucking midget,” a double insult so damning [not to mention offensive] that Bogues later said it ruined his career; Sam Bowie, who remains tied to Jordan because he was drafted by the Trail Blazers one spot before Jordan was chosen by the Bulls; any of the guys Jordan prevented from winning a championship when he was playing, including but not limited to Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone; and any of the guys who Jordan hit an iconic shot over or had an iconic dunk on, including but not limited to Bryon Russell, Craig Ehlo, and the two Monstars who were holding onto him when he did the half-court dunk in Space Jam.)

The opposite version of the Kwame story is what happened with Steve Kerr, who played with Jordan for three seasons. Just a few months into their relationship (this was during the run-up to the 1995-96 season when the Bulls would finish a record-breaking 72-10), Kerr and Jordan got into an argument during a scrimmage that turned into a fistfight. Kerr later said that the fight seemed to make Jordan respect him. Here’s a good bit about it from a story ESPN ran about the punches in 2013:

There was mutual respect, with Kerr feeling that Jordan trusted him on the court more in important situations. In Jackson’s new book, “Eleven Rings,” he says the punch was a wake-up call for Jordan and a turning point for the championship-winning 1995-96 Bulls who won 72 regular-season games, a record that will likely never be broken. Who knows what the wake-up call would have been if the fight never took place? Who knows if there even would have been one?

“It made me look at myself, and say, ‘You know what? You’re really being an idiot about this whole process,’” Jordan says in “Eleven Rings.” He realized he hadn’t gotten in sync with his new teammates after coming back from his baseball sabbatical.

(Kerr, who now has two championships and broke the 72-10 record as a head coach, is a very extreme example of the This Is Great end. Other happy ones that are probably less historically profound: John Paxson hitting the 3 at the end of Game 6 that helped the Bulls win their 1993 championship and going on to serve as the general manager of the Bulls from 2003 to 2009; the flu, which had a horrible reputation for all of history until Michael Jordan’s Flu Game in 1997, at which point the flu somehow became an actual cool thing to have; and Phil Jackson, who showed up to Chicago as a suit jacket on an upside-down hanger and left Chicago with six championships and Greatest Coach of All Time considerations.)

I think the most curious case of the Jordan effect is Scottie Pippen. He was a wildly talented player and also a wildly important player. And it’s hard to imagine that Jordan ever would’ve wound up becoming the highest grade of basketball royalty without Scottie running along next to him. (Now seems like a good time to remind you that Jordan never even made it out of the first round of the playoffs before Pippen arrived, let alone won a championship.) And so, in that respect, it feels like it’s a slight that the highest acclaim ever given to Pippen was that he was just a very, very, very good second-place player on his team. ON THE OTHER HAND, THOUGH, it feels equally weird to argue that Pippen would’ve ever grown his shadow 100 miles wide like it is now if he’d not had Jordan running along next to him. (Now seems like a good time to point out that Pippen’s best playoff run without Jordan, which came with the 2000 Blazers and lasted all the way up to Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, ended up crumbling because it looked like nobody on the team wanted to do what it was that Jordan felt so comfortable doing: close out a game against a deadly, attacking opponent.) So I don’t know. I don’t know how to play that.

What I do know is that only Jordan’s unique brand of greatness allows for this kind of discussion (LeBron, I believe, will get here, too). Because it transcends the expiration date of traditional stardom. It creates an everlasting life, of sorts. Whether a player wants it or not.

Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the Greatest Of All Time in the history of the NBA. On the court, he’s a ruthless, offensive assassin who doesn’t shy away from taking any shots.

The same can be said when he’s off the court.

Because of his hypercompetitive nature, Jordan isn’t afraid of voicing his opinions or getting in people’s faces. He also isn’t afraid of taking the frowned-upon path if it brings him success.

Unsurprisingly, there are a considerable number of entertaining anecdotes from teammates and opponents that detail just how much mean Jordan reportedly was.

These are the 10 best of the group.

Honorable Mentions

1 OF 11

Brian Solis

If this were a list that took in consideration every unverified story and report of Michael Jordan being rude, it simply would go on forever.

Instead, this is a compilation of anecdotes and instances of MJ coming from the players and coaches who witnessed whatever Jordan did and can verify what type of person MJ really was.

As a result, some of the stories quite couldn’t make the cut. Below are the two of the best:

Chamillionaire Photo Request

When rapper Chamillionaire had the opportunity to meet Jordan, his hero, he asked MJ for a picture with him. Not only did Jordan brush him off, but he also cursed him out and disrespected him by saying ““You know what, I tell you what, you pay $15,000 right now for a jersey from me and I’ll take a picture with you.’” Needless to say, Jordan lost one celebrity and childhood fan that night.

MJ Kicked out of Country Club

Michael Jordan is known to have a love for golfing, but now there’s one less place where he can do that. After he showed up to the private La Gorce Country Club in Miami not following the dress code, he was asked to change. His reply was of typical Jordan-ian fashion. According to Curtis Bunn of the Atlantic Black Star, he explains:”But when a club official approached him on the 12th hole and asked him to change his wardrobe, Jordan refused. Arrogant. Not good and just plain old arrogant.”

The country club’s response was to ban him from playing on its golf course ever again.

When Jordan’s public relations office issued a statement regarding the incident, it concluded with: “‘I guess it’s their loss – as MJ is a great golfer, and a great guest.’”

The next 10 an

10. The Forced Game of Golf

2 OF 11

Getty

Michael Jordan doesn’t spend too much time on the basketball court anymore. Now that he’s retired, his attention lies primarily on the golf course.

Some would argue that’s also where it was in the summer of 1992.

The famous Dream Team was practicing in Monte Carlo before they went on to obliterate the competition at the Barcelona Olympics.

One day, his coach Chuck Daly and Jordan were playing a round of golf. It went down to the wire, but eventually, Daly came out on top by one shot. Knowing when to quit when he was ahead, Daly vowed to never play a round against Jordan again.

Of course, the competitive Jordan would have none of that. He wouldn’t take his loss in stride and focus on winning in the Olympics.

In a Sports Illustrated article, columnist Rick Reilly details what occurred:

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Jordan rang Daly’s room. Getting no response, he went directly to Daly’s room and knocked. Then he pounded. He wouldn’t go away until he got his rematch. He got it, and he won by a shot. But would you expect anything else?

Jordan could not accept losing, and while it made him the greatest basketball player ever, it reportedly brought out petulant and disagreeable behavior.

8. His Hall of Fame “Sore Winner” Speech

4 OF 11

This is the one story that you can be sure is 100 percent true.

The Hall of Fame acceptance speech is one that is supposed to be heartfelt and modest. It is supposed to be a reflection on good NBA memories and an opportunity to thank friends and family who’ve helped along the way.

The key phrase “supposed to be” apparently doesn’t pertain to Michael Jordan.

At least the speech came from his heart. And through this “23-minute cringe-athon,” Jordan exposed to the world what went through his mind and how he felt.

As columnist Rick Reilly of ESPN wrote, “Nobody was spared, including his high school coach, his high school teammate, his college coach, two of his pro coaches, his college roommate, his pro owner, his pro general manager, the man who was presenting him that evening, even his kids!”

Jordan blasted almost everyone and everything in his life, including the Hall of Fame itself, and found time for only six thank yous.

It was typical Michael Jordan at his best.

7. Fooling Charles Barkley

5 OF 11

JOHN SWART/Associated Press

The 1993 NBA Finals was a showdown between two of NBA’s biggest superstars of all time: Charles Barkley of the Phoenix Suns and Michael Jordan of the Bulls.

They were also great friends who went golfing together in the middle of the championship series.

According to Bulls assistant coach Johnny Bach:

The day before game 4 of the Bulls Suns finals with the Bulls leading the series 2-1.  Michael and Charles Barkley went golfing.  They played 48 holes of golf.  And Michael bought Charles a $20,000 diamond earring.  Johnny asked MJ, “what did you do all that for?” Michael responded, “he won’t get in my way the rest of the series, what’s $20,000 to me? Charles thinks we’re great friends.  I hate that fat f—.” Jordan dropped 55 in game 4 and Barkley never touched him once.

Sounds like Barkley can stand to make some new friends.

6. Bullying Bill Cartwright

6 OF 11

AP

You know it’s bad news when the Bulls released one of the few teammates Jordan liked and brought in a player from a rival team.

Bad news for that player, that is.

Eric Freeman of “Yahoo! Sports” noted:

When the Bulls let Charles Oakley go and brought in Bill Cartwright, Jordan resented the loss of his friend and took it out on Cartwright, calling him “Medical Bill” and intentionally throwing impossible-to-handle passes at him in practice to draw attention to what he perceived to be his bad hands.

Cartwright went on to help the Bulls win three championship rings with Michael Jordan, defending the paint against elite centers on opposing teams.

Jordan may not have wanted to admit it, but Cartwright’s “bad hands” contributed to Jordan’s success in a big way.

5. Shooting Down Rodney McCray

7 OF 11

Anonymous/Associated Press

Rodney McCray joined the Chicago Bulls in the 1992-1993 season at the age of 31. He was a very serviceable forward who had just averaged 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds three years prior.

Eager to win a title, he was willing to come off the bench to help the Bulls.

He had no idea what would come next.

When asked by Sports Illustrated, a former teammate of Michael Jordan had this to say:

‘He’s the most viciously competitive player I’ve ever seen. That’s what makes him, I think, the greatest player ever. He has practically ruined [reserve forward] Rodney McCray for us.’ When the two players are on opposite teams in scrimmages, the source says, “[ Jordan] is in Rodney’s face, screaming, ‘You’re a loser! You’ve always been a loser!’ Rodney can hardly put up a jumper now.’

McCray ended up winning a title that year, but only averaged 15.9 minutes per game. It was also the last season he ever played.

4. Challenging the Chief

8 OF 11

Jeff Glidden/Associated Press

As one of the “Big Three” in the Boston Celtics ‘80s dynasty with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Robert Parish was a proven leader.

The seven-foot center, nicknamed “The Chief,” had won multiple championships at that point and commanded the respect of everyone around him.

Well, everyone but Michael Jordan.

Parish was part of the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls in the middle of Jordan’s second three-peat. Instead of welcoming him with open arms, Jordan responded quite differently:

In one of his first practices with the Bulls, Parish botched one of the plays and was amused to find Jordan jawing at him just inches from his face.

‘I told him, “I’m not as enamored with you as these other guys. I’ve got some rings too,”’ Parish recalled. ‘At that point he told me, “I’m going to kick your ass.” I took one step closer and said, “No, you really aren’t.” After that he didn’t bother me.’

As journalist Kurt Helin states, “By that point, Jordan was an established leader whose style was intimidation and pressure. Jordan was the ultimate alpha male who let you get away with nothing.”

And apparently, that included future Hall of Famers.

3. Busting Kwame Brown

9 OF 11

NICK WASS/Associated Press

Kwame Brown has become one of the biggest NBA draft busts of all time. He stands as one example of young talented phenoms who never lived up to their hype.

However, his situation as a Washington Wizard certainly wasn’t helped by the general manager who drafted him.

In a Sports Illustrated article by L. Jon Wertheim:

As a leader Jordan proved more tormentor than mentor. Many Washington players got the business end of a Jordan harangue, but he designated second-year forward Kwame Brown as the whipping boy…A source told SI that Jordan ritually reduced Brown to tears in front of the team.

The article continues that Jordan called Kwame Brown expletives, including homophobic remarks, according to The Washington Post.

Not only did Jordan hurt teammates, but he also insulted his own players as a GM as well.

2. Destroying Muggsy Bogues

10 OF 11

BARRY JARVINEN/Associated Press

In the Bulls’ first-round battle against the Charlotte Hornets in 1995 after Jordan’s highly touted comeback to the NBA, Jordan didn’t hesitate to leave his mark.

According to former Bulls assistant coach Johnny Bach, Jordan was guarding Muggsy Bogues when this happened:

On the biggest possession of the game, Muggsy had the ball with the Hornets down one. Jordan backed off of him and told him, ‘Shoot it, you f***ing midget.’  Muggsy shot it, didn’t come close. A year later Muggsy actually told Johnny Bach that he believes that single play ruined his career. His shot never recovered.

The next year, Bogues’ career certainly started to decline. Whether or not Jordan was the primary reason for this is up to debate.

1. Cheating an Old Lady in Cards

11 OF 11

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

The biggest and most egregious example of Michael Jordan being Michael Jordan didn’t even happen on a basketball court. Instead, it transpired at the home of North Carolina teammate Buzz Peterson.

The story goes like this: Peterson invites Michael Jordan over to play a casual game of cards with Peterson’s mother. No money is wagered—just a simple, friendly game.

But when the old woman gets up to use the bathroom, Peterson catches Jordan trying to cheat.

Trying to cheat not to win any money, but just because he wants to win at all costs.

Author Chuck Klosterman summarizes it best when he says:

And because the character in this anecdote is MJ, the story is charming. However, I doubt Buzz Peterson would tell this yarn if it had involved his mother and some random dude he met in Anthropology 251 (and if he did, the story would now be about that one time he brought a lunatic home for Thanksgiving break).

6-time NBA Champion Michael Jordan expressed his gratitude and honor upon being inducted into the inaugural Chicago Bulls Ring of Honor alongside other basketball legends such as Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen.

In a statement, Jordan conveyed his deep appreciation for the recognition, highlighting the significance of his time with the Bulls organization and the special bond he shares with his former teammates and coaches.

He reflected on the unforgettable moments and championships they achieved together, emphasizing the teamwork and camaraderie that defined their success.

Joining the esteemed company of Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen in the Ring of Honor holds special significance for Jordan, as it symbolizes the collective achievements and legacy of the Bulls dynasty during their era of dominance in the NBA.

Jordan’s induction into the Ring of Honor serves as a fitting tribute to his unparalleled contributions to the Chicago Bulls franchise and the sport of basketball as a whole. As fans celebrate his enduring legacy, Jordan’s presence in the Ring of Honor serves as a reminder of his iconic status and lasting impact on the game.

The narrative surrounding Michael Jordan’s impact on Kwame Brown’s career is a complex and controversial one that has been the subject of much debate among basketball fans and analysts. While it is true that Brown’s time playing under Jordan’s leadership with the Washington Wizards was marked by struggles and setbacks, attributing the entirety of Brown’s career trajectory to Jordan alone oversimplifies a multifaceted issue.

Kwame Brown, drafted as the first overall pick by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA Draft, entered the league with high expectations and immense pressure to perform. Unfortunately, Brown’s development did not progress as anticipated, and he faced criticism for his on-court performance and consistency.

During his time with the Wizards, Brown was indeed under the tutelage of Michael Jordan, who served as both a teammate and later as the team’s president of basketball operations. Jordan’s demanding leadership style and high expectations undoubtedly added pressure to Brown’s already challenging situation.

However, it is important to recognize that Brown’s struggles were not solely due to Jordan’s influence. Factors such as injuries, personal challenges, and the demanding nature of professional sports all played a role in shaping Brown’s career trajectory.

Moreover, the intense scrutiny and criticism that Brown faced throughout his career, including from fans and media, likely contributed to his struggles on the court. The weight of being labeled a “bust” as the first overall pick undoubtedly took a toll on Brown’s confidence and psyche.

While Michael Jordan’s presence undoubtedly looms large in the narrative of Kwame Brown’s career, it is essential to approach the topic with nuance and recognize the multitude of factors that contributed to Brown’s challenges and setbacks. Ultimately, Brown’s career serves as a reminder of the complexities of professional sports and the importance of supporting and nurturing young athletes as they navigate the pressures of the industry.

Providing fans with some hot takes is what NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal usually does when he gets a chance. Throughout his career as an analyst, he’s given some takes that turned fans’ heads around. This time, O’Neal has done it again with his take on the 1992 Dream Team.

O’Neal wasn’t part of the Dream Team that took over the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. However, he was part of the second iteration of the Dream Team in 1994, which participated in the FIBA World Cup. That USA team went 8-0 with the big man taking home the MVP award.

But little do fans know that he was considered to be included in the 1992 version of the US team. Had he been selected, the team would’ve boasted a pool of elite big men with O’Neal, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley.

Recently, O’Neal went to his show “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” where he talked about the Dream Team. The former LA Lakers superstar shared that he was almost part of the first iteration of the iconic national team. He also went on to say that the ’94 team can beat the ’92 team.

“Dream Team 2 could’ve beaten Dream Team 1,” Shaq said.

After fans saw this, they were surprised by O’Neal’s claims and had to share their thoughts on social media. Here are some of what the fans had to say.

“Shaq definitely is smoking weed,” Instagram user spiderwoodz commented.

Fans react to Shaq’s Dream Team comments

Fans react to Shaq’s Dream Team comments

Fans react to Shaq’s Dream Team comments

Fans react to Shaq’s Dream Team comments

A showdown between the two teams would be perfect to determine which is better. However, it’s been quite a while since everyone from both rosters has been and their bodies probably wouldn’t be up for it. Still, it’s an interesting hypothetical matchup.

Shaquille O’Neal was part of two Dream Teams

During the 1990s, the USA was reclaiming its spot as the best basketball country in the world. Which is why they assembled the most talented collection of stars to bring them back to relevance. At that time, the US basketball program started a trend of having Dream Teams.

Shaquille O’Neal had the pleasure of playing for two iterations of the team. The first was in 1994, while the next one was in 1996. During the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, O’Neal took part in representing his country in basketball.

He was joined by Barkley, Malone, Robinson, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajuwon, Gary Payton, Scottie Pippen, Mitch Richmond and John Stockton. The group had an 8-0 record and took home the gold medal.

Edited by nagpaltusharn25

Mіchael Jordаn reсently ѕhed lіght on why hіs Chіcago mаnsion remаined unѕold for more thаn а deсade. Deѕpite іts grаndeur аnd рrestige, the рroрerty ѕtruggled to аttrаct buyerѕ due to vаrious fаctors, іncludіng іts extrаvаgаnt ѕize, lаvish аmenities, аnd the eсonomiс downturn durіng the houѕing сrisis.

Jordаn’s ѕprawling mаnsion, loсated іn the аffluent ѕuburb of Hіghland Pаrk, boаsted luxurіous feаtures ѕuch аs а full-ѕize bаsketbаll сourt, рutting green, аnd exрansive outdoor рool, mаking іt а сoveted рiece of reаl eѕtate. However, іts ѕheer ѕize аnd oрulence рosed сhallenges іn fіndіng the rіght buyer wіllіng to іnvest іn ѕuch а lаvish рroрerty.

Addіtіonally, the tіmіng of Jordаn’s аttempts to ѕell the mаnsion сoinсided wіth the houѕing mаrket сrash of 2008, whіch deаlt а ѕignificant blow to reаl eѕtate vаlues аcross the сountry. The eсonomiс downturn further сompliсated effortѕ to ѕell the рroрerty, leаding to іts рrolonged ѕtint on the mаrket.

Deѕpite numerouѕ рrice reduсtions аnd mаrketing effortѕ over the yeаrs, Jordаn’s mаnsion remаined unѕold, fruѕtrating the bаsketbаll legend аnd fuelіng ѕpeculation аbout the reаsons behіnd іts рrolonged lіstіng. However, Jordаn remаined рatient аnd oрtimistic, eventuаlly fіndіng а buyer wіllіng to іnvest іn the іconіc рroрerty.

Aѕ Jordаn refleсts on the сhallenges of ѕelling hіs Chіcago mаnsion, he аcknowledges the сomplexities of the reаl eѕtate mаrket аnd the unрredictable nаture of eсonomiс fаctors. Whіle the ѕale mаy hаve tаken longer thаn аnticipаted, Jordаn’s рerseverance ultіmately рaid off, аllowing hіm to move on from the рroрerty аnd embаrk on new ventureѕ.

Chіcago Bulls legend Scottie Pіppen has hаd mаny dіfferent nіcknames gіven to hіm over the рast few deсades. For fаns, he іs а legendаry рlayer аnd for Mіchael Jordаn, he wаs the greаtest teаmmаte. He even ѕtated thаt іn the 10 eрisodes long doсuseries, ‘ The Lаst Dаnce .’ However, Pіppen lаter ѕhared thаt they were never сlose. He сalled out hіs former teаmmаte for mаny thіngs thаt hаppened durіng theіr double three-рeat. Aѕ Steрhen A. Smіth rememberѕ, there wаs рarticularly one thіng out of аll, thаt mіght hаve uрset MJ.

And іt wаs Pіppen аdmitting thаt he іntentіonally dіdn’t offer hіs сondolenсes to Jordаn аfter hіs fаther’s deаth. He hаs аlso exрressed hіs regretѕ for hіs аctions. Before reveаling Jordаn’s reаction, Smіth ѕpeculated thаt whіle MJ hаd never been bothered by аny сomments before, he felt “betrаyed” by Pіppen’s аction.

“How he (Pіppen) dіdn’t gіve hіs сondolenсes on рurрose, Mіchael Jordаn’s wordѕ were ‘I hoрe іt’s worth іt for hіm I hаve nothіng аnd he lіterally ѕaid I hаve nothіng elѕe to ѕay’ аnd I know Mіchael Jordаn well enough to know whаt thаt meаns,”  Smіth ѕaid durіng the lаtest eрisode of the PBD Podсast.

In hіs memoіr,  ‘Unguarded’,  Pіppen exрressed hіs dіsapproval of how  The Lаst Dаnce  рortrayed hіm. However, even іf he exрressed hіs remorѕe for not offerіng hіs сondolenсes, ѕome іncludіng the ESPN аnаlyst сlaimed thаt theіr relаtionship mіght not be ѕalvageable аfter thіs.

“Pіppen сrossed the lіne”:  Steрhen A. Smіth

Jаmes Jordаn Sr.’ѕ deаth wаs one of the moѕt heаrtbreаking аnd lіfe-changіng momentѕ for Jordаn. MJ’ѕ fаther wаs ѕhot аnd murdered іn July 1993 іn North Cаrolinа. It рroved to be а wаtershed event іn the legend bаller’s lіfe. Jordаn retіred from the NBA іn Oсtober of the ѕame yeаr to deаl wіth the рain аnd went to ѕeek ѕolace іn рlaying hіs fаther’s fаvorite ѕport, bаsebаll.

In аn eрisode of  Fіrst Tаke , Smіth рredicted thаt thіs odd geѕture by Pіppen mіght hаve ѕevered hіs relаtionship wіth Jordаn for good. He ѕaid,  “Mіchael Jordаn never even thought аbout thаt untіl he ѕaw іt, аnd then he reаlized, ‘Wаit а mіnute, you dіdn’t gіve me сondolenсes on рurрose. I dіdn’t even thіnk аbout thіs.’ He’ѕ (Pіppen) сrossed the lіne. Hіm аnd Jordаn, іt’s over. Tаke іt from me. It’ѕ over.”

The duo’ѕ feud wаs reсently іn the ѕpotlight аgаin аfter Pіppen аnnounced hіs ‘No Bullѕ’ tour eаrlier thіs yeаr. Whіle mаny exрected іt to be аn аnti-Jordаn ѕcheme, the event turned out to be greаt, аnd hіghly аppreciаtive of the Bullѕ’ journey to vіctory. But now, the аnаlyst’s  Fіrst Tаke hаs only revіved the сlassiс сourt frіctіon of the NBA.

Michael Jordan reveals for the first time the truth about his sweaty ‘Dream Team’ jersey worth more than $770,000.

In a surprising revelation, basketball legend Michael Jordan has shed light on the remarkable backstory behind his iconic ‘Dream Team’ jersey, a piece of sports memorabilia that has captivated fans and collectors alike. Jordan, known for his unparalleled talent on the court, shared insights into the jersey’s journey from the pinnacle of basketball glory to its staggering valuation in the world of sports collectibles.

The jersey, worn by Jordan during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as a member of the legendary ‘Dream Team,’ holds a special place in basketball history. However, its true significance extends far beyond its association with one of the greatest teams ever assembled. According to Jordan, the jersey’s remarkable value is not merely a reflection of its provenance or historical significance, but rather a testament to the blood, sweat, and tears that went into its creation.

Jordan revealed that the jersey’s hefty price tag is due in large part to the sweat-soaked fabric, which bears witness to the intense physical exertion and unwavering determination that defined the ‘Dream Team’s’ quest for Olympic gold. Each drop of sweat, he explained, represents a moment of sacrifice and dedication, a reminder of the relentless pursuit of excellence that propelled the team to victory.

As collectors clamor to own a piece of basketball history, Jordan’s revelation offers a rare glimpse into the emotional resonance that sports memorabilia can hold. Beyond its monetary value, the ‘Dream Team’ jersey serves as a tangible reminder of the indomitable spirit and unparalleled athleticism that have made Jordan a global icon.

In sharing the truth about his prized jersey, Jordan invites fans and collectors to appreciate the deeper significance of sports memorabilia and the profound impact it can have on those who cherish it. As the legacy of the ‘Dream Team’ lives on through artifacts like Jordan’s jersey, its enduring influence continues to inspire generations of basketball fans around the world.