Michael Jordan was an assassin on the court and nothing stopped him from getting what he wanted during a game. Jordan’s will was one of the reasons why the Chicago Bulls from 1991 onwards only lost one playoff series with Jordan on the team, winning 6 championships in the process until MJ’s 1998 retirement.
Jordan’s killer instinct extended to even casual conversations with his teammates, as Scott Williams revealed that Jordan once brutally roasted him for wearing a sweater with holes. Scott also spoke about the positives of his relationship with MJ.
“That was one side of him. He’d get on you. I remember having a holey sweater one day and he said, ‘I could play 18 holes on your sweater. Nine holes on the front, nine holes on the back.’ Just embarrass you in front of the team and stuff like that. But that was MJ.”
The same cat would call me up my first year in the league and say, ‘Hey Scottie, Juanita’s cooking dinner. Come on over. We’re gonna break some bread, have a few beers. Watch the basketball game on TV and shoot pool.’ So that was the other side of it. There was a double-edged sword to that, and everyone’s got their own little stories.” (h/t Smart News)
Williams was Jordan’s teammate during the first three-peat from 1991 to 1993. He left the team one season after Jordan’s first retirement to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. Williams would enjoy a long NBA career, retiring in 2005 after playing with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Michael Jordan Was A Unique Teammate
Williams spoke about Jordan as a teammate, being ruthless with his comments, but he was just as ruthless on the court. There was no slacking around MJ, which created an often tense relationship, with MJ being called a bully by some. His leadership style was unique and hasn’t been replicated in the NBA since.
MJ had to work through a lot of issues to be able to trust his teammates to not let him down after the first 7 years of his career were littered with team failures. Phil Jackson was instrumental in helping MJ overcome that barrier. Thankfully, he did.
While he had negative encounters with teammates like Dennis Rodman and Steve Kerr later in his career, everybody understood that those ended up being beneficial to the team. 6 championships aren’t won if the star is a ‘bad teammate’.
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