Michael Jordan was an expert when it came to trash talking and he always seemed to know how to gain an advantage over someone by getting in their heads.
When Jordan faced off against Larry Johnson for the first time, he brought up the name of Johnson’s mother, which completely threw off the young big man.
“He did some bulls***,” Johnson said on the Knuckleheads podcast when asked about his first meeting with Jordan. “The first time I met him, we walked out on the court, and he walks straight up to me and goes: ‘How’s Dorothy?’… That’s my mom. I’m like ‘Oh, s*** she alright, she alright.’ I couldn’t play the whole game.”
“He walked up to me and asked me how’s my mom, man. Used her name. He went in the program and saw my mom’s name was Dorothy. Went in the program (and) used my mom’s name. I think I scored 8 points, and I was averaging 24.”
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Johnson just could not focus on the game after Jordan asked him about his mother. It certainly isn’t something you’d expect to hear from an opponent, especially someone like Jordan and he managed to put Johnson off his game. He failed to even score in double digits and this was someone who had such a great start to life in the NBA.
Johnson was the first pick of the 1991 NBA Draft and would go on to win Rookie of the Year for the Charlotte Hornets. He would also make the All-Star team in 1993, but a back injury later that year robbed him of some of his explosiveness. He would never fulfill that early promise but still went on to have a fine NBA career.
Michael Jordan Also Trash Talked To His Opponents By Singing To Them
When he wasn’t bringing up someone’s mother, Jordan would hilariously sing to his opponents. His favorite song was ‘Giving You The Best That I Got’ and he certainly gave them his very best.
He just knew how to get under people’s skin and then humiliate them on the court. Gary Payton, one of the greatest trash talkers ever, named MJ in his All-90s Trash-Talking team, and he certainly deserves a spot on there. Retirement hasn’t led to Jordan easing up either, as he brutally trash-talked J. R. Smith when they were playing golf.
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