"MJ came to kill you" - Rex Chapman details playing against Michael Jordan crowning him 'best player' in NBA ever
Former Phoenix Suns player Rex Chapman recently endorsed Michael Jordan as the NBA's Greatest of All Time. In an hour-long interview with VladTV, Chapman spoke about his basketball career including several MJ-centric topics, including MJ's recruitment of him to play college ball at North Carolina.
Chapman's journey in the NBA spanned from 1988 to 1999, allowing him to compete alongside basketball icons like Magic Johnson and Clyde Drexler. Despite playing with legends, Chapman shared why MJ is a cut above these other guys.
"Playing against the best of the best, I played against Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], Magic [Johnson], Larry [Bird], the best. If you don't like that you really don't belong in their league," Chapman said.
Chapman acknowledged that while all these players surpassed him in skill, Jordan's exceptional focus and unmatched competitive spirit set him apart.
"The thing about Michael was the difference," Chapman continued. "Say, Clyde Drexler was also very good, very big, had a lot of the same attributes. But Clyde, if he was playing against the Hornets, he might just coast through the game. Michael came to kill you every single night that he played and if you weren't ready to play he would embarrass you. So you had to be on your best to play against Michael." [37:50-38:50]
Michael Jordan is considered one of the greatest due to his lethal combination of killer instinct and fierce competitiveness. He demonstrated this at UNC with his game-winning shot against Georgetown, and later with the Chicago Bulls.
Jordan did not take a day off regardless of the competition and it paid off, as he went on to lead his team to six NBA titles.
Also read: Michael Jordan's Dream Team teammate spotlights Bulls legend's overlooked skill
Rex Chapman once dropped 39 points on Michael Jordan
The 1995-96 season for the Chicago Bulls is widely considered the best season for a team in NBA history. They won 72 games out of a possible 82 which was the best NBA record before the Golden State Warriors went 73-9.
The Bulls achieved what the Warriors couldn't: winning the NBA title. Few teams can claim to have outplayed the '95-'96 Bulls, but Rex Chapman's Miami Heat was one of them.
Aside from saying that his team beat the Bulls, Chapman can also brag that he outplayed MJ in that particular game as he went on to score a game-high 39 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the field and 9-for-10 from downtown. Meanwhile, MJ scored 31 on a 9-for-21 shooting clip from the field and 1-for-4 from three.
The Heat won that game 113-104 which would be the sixth of the Bulls' 10 losses. However, Michael Jordan and the Bulls got a measure of revenge as they beat the Heat twice more in the regular season afterward and also swept them in the playoffs that year.