Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player in NBA history. While this may be attributed to many things, one of the main factors that drove Jordan to such great heights was his competitive streak.
Michael Jordan was one of the fiercest competitors this game has ever seen. Although this was very evident on the basketball court, his competitive spirit pervaded every part of his life. It goes without saying that pushing Jordan’s buttons was not advised. Yet, during a recent appearance on “The JustIn Time Podcast,” Fred Whitfield recalled how Darrick Martin learned this the hard way.
While describing the incident from a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 21, 1997, Whitfield shared:
“I’ll say the best game I saw Michael Jordan play. It was a game against the Clippers in L.A., and they were down probably 18 or 20 points. Darrick Martin was playing in the pickup games out in The Bubble, so he had sort of befriended Michael, and he was yapping on the end of the Clippers’ bench.”
Darrick Martin was drafted to the NBA in 1994, a time when Michael Jordan was already at the peak of his powers, implying he must have been aware of Jordan’s reputation, too. As Whitfield mentioned, Martin had become familiar with the Bulls’ superstar while spending time playing pickup games in “The Bubble,” while Jordan was shooting for Space Jam.
Although this suggested that Martin and Jordan were on familiar terms, tales of Jordan’s competitiveness and ruthless streak were documented. Thus, after Martin’s trash-talk commenced, Jordan responded in kind.
“So finally, this is in the third quarter; the Bulls are down 18. MJ gets pissed off, and he goes ballistic,” Whitfield continued. “He probably had 14 points at that point. When the game went into double overtime, he finished with 53, and he told Darrick Martin, ‘A sleeping dog lies because he poked the bear, and the bear went crazy.'”
In alignment with Whitfield’s recollection, the Bulls were down 18 points early in the second quarter (18-36). It may have been at this stage that Darrick Martin chose to prod Michael Jordan. Needless to say, this was a bad idea.
The Bulls’ turnaround in the second quarter was led by the trio of Michael Jordan, Luc Longley (22 PTS, 17 REB), and Toni Kukoc (14 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST). By the end of the first half, the Clippers’ lead was down to one point going into the second half (42-41).
Although Chicago had the momentum on their side, L.A. showed resilience. Players such as Lamond Murray (24 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST), Maurice Taylor (16 PTS, 10 REB), Brent Barry (17 PTS, 2 REB), and Lorenzen Wright (16 PTS, 9 REB) stood out, but it simply wasn’t enough to contain a motivated Jordan.
The game in question ended with the Bulls emerging victorious after a 111-102 result. Although Whitfield mistakenly noted 53 points, Michael Jordan actually recorded 49 points, five rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block, while shooting 18-38 (47.4%) from the field. Given that he had 12 points at the end of the first half, the scoring barrage through the remainder of regular and OT is beyond noteworthy.
In comparison, Darrick Martin, who came off the bench for the Clippers, posted only three points on 1-4 shooting after playing under four minutes for the entirety of the matchup.
It is worth noting that Martin built a reputation for talking trash, constantly playing mind games with his opponents. In this instance, however, it is safe to say that his psychological warfare backfired.
