Michael Jordan may be the greatest basketball player ever, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t get chewed out from time to time.
O Reddit this week, one clip that has resurfaced online shows former Team USA coach Bob Knight telling the story of the time he went off on Michael Jordan for not setting screens in the 1984 Olympics.
“After the first half of our game with Spain in 1984 for the Gold medal. We’re ahead by 29 points. We played basketball as well as the game can be played. Michael Jordan has played 12 minutes out of the 20. He has 11 rebounds, 9 assists, and 19 points. In my opinion, there’s nobody that’s ever played anything that can compare to Michael Jordan, with the possible exception of Jack Nicklaus and Babe Ruth. Michael Jordan is just the best there ever was. So I’m walking across the floor with this 29-point lead as I look at the scoreboard, and I’m a great believer in the best three minutes of the game for us has got to be the first three minutes of the second half…”
After coach Knight sets the scene and acknowledges MJ’s greatness, he went on to describe more about the encounter and why he chose to call out Jordan the way he did.
“What the hell am I gonna say? We gotta get better, we’re 29 points ahead, we have to win by 50 now. These kids are gonna be a little satisfied with themselves. They know how well they play. And when I get to the locker room, I still haven’t come up with an answer. I open the door and the first guy I see is Jordan, sitting in front of his locker. I say to myself ‘I’m gonna get on Jordan’s a** a little bit.’ And everybody else is gonna say, ‘gosh, if he’s upset with Jordan, how’s he feel about me? I have the stat sheet in my hand and I walk over in front of Jordan and I look down at him and I say, ‘Mike, when the hell are you gonna set a screen? We got four guys out there screening when you’re in the game, screening to get you open, screening to get each other open. Haven’t seen you set a screen yet. The only way I get all five guys screening, Mike, is if I get you the hell out of the game! Now when are you gonna set a screen? All you been doing so far is rebounding, passing, and scoring. You need to screen Mike!’ Now Jordan, he doesn’t quite use all of his grin in this circumstance, but he looked up at me and he grinned a little bit and he says ‘coach, didn’t I see last week when you said I was the quickest player you’ve ever been around?’ I was like ‘what the hell does that have to do with you screening? He says, ‘coach, I think I’m setting them faster than you can see them.'”
As you probably guessed, the Men’s National Team took home the gold that summer, and Jordan was the one who led the charge. Even back then, he was capable of taking over, and everyone knew how special he was on the court. Regarding the rest of his Olympic basketball career, Jordan is just one of a handful of players to have gone undefeated in every stint and holds a 30-0 record to this day.
Miraculously, Jordan is also undefeated in championship games in the Finals and NCAA as well.
Credit goes to Bob Knight for not only pushing Jordan but using Jordan to help push the rest of the team. Leave it to Jordan to flip the script on him and come up with an epic response after being called out.
MJ was just built differently than the rest.
