Byron Scott, former NBA champion and longtime Lakers guard, recently revealed his unique strategy for guarding Michael Jordan during his playing days on his podcast, ‘Byron Scott’s Fast Break’. Given Jordan’s reputation as one of the most competitive and dominant players in the history of basketball, Scott knew that stopping him was nearly impossible. Instead, he opted for a mental approach to slow him down—a tactic he referred to as “killing with kindness.”
“He wanted to embarrass you. He wanted to make you quit—for life. Every time you faced him, he wanted to make you feel like, ‘Man, I’ve got nothing. I can’t do anything with this dude. I don’t even want to play tonight.’ You know what I’m saying?”
“He wanted to make you quit. I know a lot of guys who played against him—they wanted to go home too. They’d think, ‘Man, I’m going to foul him just so they’ll put me on the bench so I don’t have to play.'”
“There were some guys who just didn’t want to play against him. The way I guarded Michael was to play back, to make him shoot jump shots. But the other thing is, every time he hit a shot, I’d be like, ‘Man, good shot, MJ. That’s a hell of a shot, dog.”
“I was right there.’ I figured, if you kill him with kindness, that’s the best approach. But if you talk trash, even one little word, that’s all he needs, and that’s it. So I’d be like, ‘Hey, MJ, that was a good shot, dog,’ you know? I complimented him the whole night.”
“Every time he made a shot, even when he missed, I’d be like, ‘Oh damn, dog, that was right there.’ I wasn’t going to do anything to piss him off because if I did, he’d drop 60. So I didn’t piss him off.” (48:17)
Bryon Scott shared the story of how he approached guarding Michael Jordan, explaining how the legendary shooting guard had a way of intimidating and demoralizing his opponents.
This relentless drive from Jordan was enough to make some players dread the matchups. According to Scott, many opponents would deliberately foul Jordan to get themselves off the court and avoid further humiliation.
Rather than fall into that trap, Scott chose a different method. Instead of engaging in trash talk or challenging Jordan head-on, Scott decided to play it smart, knowing that Jordan fed off of confrontation and competition. His strategy? Praise Jordan throughout the game. His logic was simple: If you didn’t give Jordan any fuel for his competitive fire, you could contain his outbursts.
Scott’s approach wasn’t about surrendering, but rather about staying in the game mentally and preventing Jordan from entering the zone where he could take over a game. The numbers tell a partial story of Scott’s efforts. Over 19 games against Byron Scott’s teams, Jordan averaged 28.6 points, 6.5 assists, and 6.5 rebounds. These are still incredible numbers, but his shooting percentages took a slight dip compared to his career averages.
He shot 43.5% from the field and just 21.4% from three-point range against Scott, compared to his career marks of 49.7% from the field and 32.7% from three-point range. In those matchups, Jordan recorded two 40-point games and eight 30-point games.
While Scott’s strategy didn’t completely shut down Jordan—after all, no one could—his mindset helped him stay competitive. Instead of antagonizing a player who thrived on that energy, Scott opted to disarm him with respect and compliments, allowing him to avoid Jordan’s wrath as much as possible.
A few years ago, Scott shared another legendary story on The Dan Patrick Show, where he recounted how his former teammate, Anthony Peeler, once got lit up for 54 points by Jordan. Below is a clip from that interview, where Scott talks about how Peeler, tasked with guarding Jordan, quickly realized he was in over his head and ended up becoming just another player on Jordan’s long list of victims.
For Scott, it wasn’t about winning individual battles with Jordan, but about surviving the game without becoming the latest victim of Jordan’s legendary intensity. His “kill with kindness” approach remains a unique strategy in the pantheon of players who tried to slow down the GOAT.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
