"Hold on, you little b**ch": Michael Jordan once scored 4 straight buckets after lifelong fan Vincent Yarbrough riled him up on the court
Throughout his career, Michael Jordan never backed down from any challenge, whether this was winning champioships or breaking records.
He was also never afraid of trash talking. He was actually famous for his trash talking, even to his own teammates.
The majority of NBA fans and young players in the 1980s and 1990s grew up idolizing Michael Jordan and dreamt of an opportunity to face him. Some faced him in the last part of his career and went as far as to trash talk him, but Jordan always knew how to respond.
Vincent Yarbrough learned that the hard way. Yarbrough, then a rookie with the Denver Nuggets, found himself on the receiving end of Jordan's trash talk during a game in Washington in January 2003.
Michael Jordan was in his final season with the Washington Wizards and was playing poorly early on in the game. Yarbrough then started talking trash him, but didn't know that the six-time NBA champion would bounce back.
As a kid from North Chicago, Vincent Yarbrough grew up idolizing Michael Jordan and followed the Bulls every step of the way to their six NBA championships.
“When the Bulls came on television in my house,” Yarbrough said before the game, “you couldn’t talk.”
So after the Nuggets selected him with the 33rd pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, he circled the Jan. 20, 2003, game against Jordan and the Wizards in Washington on his calendar.
During the game, Yarbrough and Junior Harrington, a fellow rookie, got to the game early to see Jordan, but security blocked off the court where he was shooting.
“Kobe averaged 44 against us that season and Tracy McGrady gave us 43,” said Yarbrough. “So with Mike retiring that season, we really wanted to see him go off. Jordan missed nine of his first 14 shots, and the Wizards struggled early. So me and Junior started to poke and prod him, telling him, ‘That’s garbage,’ each time he missed.”
They even went after his shoes when Jordan changed his sneakers at halftime. “Take them ugly a** shoes off,” Yarbrough said. But, that was the point when Jordan bounced back and responded to the two rookies:
“Hold on now, you little b**ch. You grew up watching me, I didn’t grow up watching you.”
Michael Jordan never backed down when it came to trash talking
Michael Jordan took over after that and scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including four clutch baskets that led the Wizards to the 89-74 home win. He finished the game with 25 points, six assists, five rebounds, a steal and a block.
“At the end of the day, winning can shut up a lot of people,” the NBA legend said afterwards. “And once we got the lead, some of the conversation disappeared.”
Yarbrough, who wore a Jordan T-shirt in the locker room after the game, had no regrets afterwards:
“We were able to bring out his greatness.”
Jordan had a legendary career in the NBA and is widely considered the greatest player of all time in the league.
Michael Jordan revolutionized the game of bsketball and dominated the league. He won six NBA championships and six finals MVP awards with the Chicago Bulls.