- Michael Jordan and Will Perdue won three championships together on the Bulls
- Tempers flared during one practice when Perdue set illegal picks on Jordan
- Jordan eventually retaliated by punching Perdue
Michael Jordan is widely viewed as the greatest player in NBA history, but he certainly hasn’t gone down as the greatest teammate ever. Jordan clashed with his teammates at times during practice, and Horace Grant once recounted him punching Will Perdue for setting illegal picks.
“Typical Phil (Jackson), running this play and Will set an illegal pick on MJ,” Grant said on Hot 97 Radio. “MJ said, ‘Will, don’t do it again.’ ‘What are you talking about?’ that’s Will. MJ says, ‘Alright.'”
Jordan did warn Perdue, but the big man clearly didn’t think anything was going to happen if he did it again, which was a mistake.
“Phil says, ‘Run it again,'” Grant continued. “So naturally we ran it two more times, illegal pick. MJ walks up to Will, boom. Lit him up. It was over. We grabbed Will. You’re not going to hurt MJ… MJ can take care of himself. The next day on the plane, Will gets on the plane with a huge shiner.”
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The situation did not escalate as their teammates got in the way. Perdue probably should have listened after the initial warning, and he certainly got the message after the punch.
Practices were quite tense for those Chicago Bulls, but the two did put this incident behind them fairly quickly.
Jordan and Perdue would be teammates for six seasons in total, during which they won three titles in a row from 1991 to 1993. Perdue would join the San Antonio Spurs in 1995 and won a title with them in 1999.
Michael Jordan Infamously Punched Steve Kerr As Well
Just a few years after this one came the more infamous and talked-about punch that Jordan threw at Steve Kerr in 1995. Jordan and Kerr revealed details about their fight during The Last Dance documentary.
Kerr was guarding Jordan during practice, and the latter felt that head coach Phil Jackson was calling some bogus fouls on him to protect the former.
Jordan then proceeded to foul Kerr to show what a foul actually is, and Kerr responded by hitting him in the chest. Jordan retaliated by punching Kerr in the face, which led to Jackson throwing him out of practice.
This incident could have completely ruined their relationship, but funnily enough, the opposite happened. Kerr said that Jordan punching him improved their relationship, and the two would, of course, go on to win three titles in a row from 1996 to 1998.
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