The Last Dance is a huge success and the 7th and 8th episode of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ docuseries reassured that. In episode 8 of the documentary, they recalled the 1996 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Seattle Supersonics and the decisions that made George Karl have a better series against Chicago.
Karl finally let the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Gary Payton, guard Michael Jordan one on one, and the changes were visible right away. Seattle won Games 4 and 5 after that call, proving that Karl had made the best decision for his team, only that he made it a little too late.
Payton revealed his tactics to stop MJ during that episode, saying he just had to tired Jordan out.
“A lot of people backed down to Mike,” Payton explained in “The Last Dance.” “I didn’t. I made it a point, I said ‘just tire him out. Tire the f*** out of him. You’ve just gotta tire him out.’ I just kept hitting him and banging him and hitting him and banging him, and it took a toll on Mike.”
Jordan was shown the clip of Payton explaining how he stood up against His Airness, but the latter couldn’t help but laugh watching the Glove giving his explanation, providing a lot of material to create memes and troll Payton on Twitter.
Gary Payton thought he found a way to get to MJ … Mike wasn't sweating the Glove 😂 #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Z8NG7qN5hW
— ESPN (@espn) May 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/SASBurnerAcct/status/1259678585184489474
MJ shot 22-60 in the 3 finals games payton guarded him
— Ben Detrick (@bdetrick) May 11, 2020
Gary Payton realizing MJ and the world laughing at him tonight… pic.twitter.com/meCYl0bL8u
— yo (@whatitdobaby23) May 11, 2020
This shit had me rollin. Mike hit him with that cackle. 😂
— Ralphie 100 (@TheRealRalphC) May 11, 2020
Gary Payton: To guard MJ all i had to do was tire him out
Michael Jordan: pic.twitter.com/UojKMsQinV
— ChiseledAdonis (@ChiseledAdonis) May 11, 2020
In the end, the Bulls won the series, but it would be crazy to think and say that Jordan didn’t have a problem with Payton. As Sam Quinn of CBS Sports writes, the GOAT’s numbers decreased when he faced Payton one on one.
In the three NBA Finals games in which Payton drew the primary Jordan assignment, His Airness averaged only 23.7 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting from the field. In Chicago’s first 15 playoff games, Jordan averaged 32.1 points on 47.6 percent shooting.
The memes are great, sure, but Gary, one of the best defenders in NBA history, did a terrific job guarding Jordan. That wasn’t enough, though, as the Bulls would end up winning the championship after a great season.
