Michael Jordan’s legacy is that of being the greatest NBA and basketball player in history. For most fans of the game and even those who don’t follow it, His Airness is the best to have ever done it. And while his career is now often looked at with rose-tinted glasses, it’s important to not forget what kind of dedication, work, and sometimes ruthless passion it took for MJ to achieve everything that he did.
Most people sing Jordan’s praises and talk about how legendary he was. But there are other stories, especially about his behavior with his teammates. Jordan was competitive to a fault, the story of him forcing Chuck Daly to play a golf rematch just because he lost is evidence of this. Even though his friendships didn’t survive his need to win, he is no longer on good terms with Charles Barkley or Scottie Pippen.
And there is, of course, the time that he punched Steve Kerr in the face. Jordan was known for talking trash to his teammates in practice, and one story, in particular, goes to show how bad it truly got at times.
Michael Jordan Once Went At Teammate Rodney McCray So Hard, He Never Played After That Season
In the 1992-93 season, MJ and the Bulls had already established themselves as back-to-back champions and were going for the three-peat. They added Rodney McCray, someone that had played 9 years in the league and had a year averaging over 16 points. And while he won a championship, McCray didn’t exactly have the best time doing it, as his former teammate revealed (via Bleacher Report).
“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.”
This is the flip side of all those seemingly amazing Jordan stories about how brilliant he was. While he got the job done, he didn’t care much about what happened to others in his pursuit of perfection. Michael Jordan is the GOAT for most, but not many would unequivocally call him a good person.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
