Michael Jordan and Robert Parish only spent one season together on the Chicago Bulls, with MJ showing his style of leadership to the veteran big man, who never backed down against His Airness.
The Boston Celtics legend played his 21st and last season in Chicago, where he met another legend in MJ. They both had strong personalities, but Parish made sure he wouldn’t let Jordan intimidate him in any way. Jordan didn’t hesitate to call out teammates and bully them when he felt they weren’t doing the job.
During one of his first practices with the team, Parish, as part of the Bulls’ second team, was beating Jordan’s first squad. When Mike tried to bully Parish, he had the perfect comeback for the GOAT.
“He was at half court and I was at the top of the key. I think he was a bit ticked off, too, because the second team was kicking their butt at the time and I was talking trash I didn’t back down. He said he would kick my butt, and I told him if he felt that strongly about it, come and get some. That was the end of it. We didn’t have another confrontation,” Parish shared on the Locked on Celtics Podcast.
Parish would explain that he knew Jordan respected those who didn’t back down and fired back at him. He played with another legendary trash talker in Larry Bird, so he knew how to handle those personalities very well.
“Michael has a tendency to test his teammates, especially the new faces on the team. I think it was more of a test than a threat. He was testing my reaction to his being a bully… I didn’t read anything into it. I think it was just a test to see how I would respond.”
Following that exchange, Jordan changed the way he spoke to Parish. The center was considered an important voice in the locker room, and even though he didn’t play a lot of minutes, he still contributed to the 1997 NBA championship Chicago won against the Utah Jazz.
He left the league as a 4-time NBA champion, winning the 4th in his last campaign in the association. Even though he wasn’t in his prime, he could still help his squad and bark at those who tried to bully him. MJ tried it and he couldn’t, leaving Parish alone after just one exchange.
