Michael Jordan has already solidified his spot as the greatest trash-talker of all time. He can only top himself at this point.
Even on the set of "Space Jam," his Airness was competitive. A children's movie couldn't even stop him from going 100 percent. Bugs Bunny sat this game out but in an interview with Grantland , an extra on the movie, Keith Gibbs, recalls Jordan being Jordan during a pickup game.
Everyone wants a chance to play against the greatest, but many aren't prepared for what he might say afterward.
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He didn’t give a s—t who you were. When I was doing Space Jam, we played three days. I thought it was over. I had to go out of town. I get a phone call, they’re like, “Why aren’t you here?” I was like, “Oh, they’re still playing?” I had no idea.
I walk in, and it’s Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning, Charles Oakley. Grant Hill shows up. Jerry Stackhouse shows up. Now, all of a sudden it’s an NBA All-Star pickup game. Every night. I did that for about a month and a half, two months. Then the UCLA kids came in, and they had just won a national title — Ed O’Bannon and those guys. Just phenomenal. Best pickup games I’ve ever been a part of. It was unreal.
Yeah, so Jordan … I had to guard Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan in back-to-back games. It was so bad. I was friends with Chris Mills and Tracy Murray — we had been to some camps together. One play, I got switched onto Jordan, because Chris was like, “Keith, you take him.” Jordan hit a 35-footer on me. I mean, it was ridiculous: leg out, tongue out, all that stuff … hit a 35-footer on me and goes, “GET THE F—K OFF THE COURT.”
Not only was Jordan the greatest, but he knew it as well. He just wanted to make sure his competitors knew it too. That has to be humbling at the very least. The greatest player in the world shut you down and embarrassed you in front of other NBA stars.
After what he did to the Monstars, why even test him?