"MJ, He always liked to f**k with me.... some stuff on the internet where they said he called me a mi**et" - Muggsy Bogues opens up about his relationship with Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan's reputation as a bully and tough guy in the NBA is well known and is often considered to be a key part of what made him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, players of all time.
Muggsy Bogues, on SHOWTIME Basketball's "All The Smoke," backed up his reputation and talked about his relationship with Jordan on the court, stating:
"MJ, He always liked to f**k with me. That's just who we are.
"When we come in contact, even of the court to this day, walking around, he will put his hand up high trying to get me to give a high-five and I will put my hand low, you come down a give me a low-five. So we just complete against one another."
Muggsy shot down the well-known allegation that Michael Jordan once taunted him by saying, "Shoot it, you fu****g mi**et!" which supposedly resulted in the demise of Bogues' career. Bogues said:
"You know M, man, especially when we are playing a game. It was some stuff on the internet where they said he called me a mi**et, which is not true. He always called Lil fella, Lil a** and that short stuff."
He further addressed how he once blocked one of Michael Jordan's jump shots:
"This particular moment, I am looking right at him and I am taking s**t to him, then all of a sudden he trying to back me in and all of a sudden he tried to turn around shoot his lil' jumper.
"I smacked it down but they called illegal defense on somebody because they cross the line, but I always fuck with that, you know that was a steal."
At five-foot-three, Muggsy Bogues was the shortest player ever to play in the NBA.
The Last Dance did a lot for Michael Jordan's reputation as one of the fiercest competitors across sports
If it wasn't for the 10-episode, award-winning Netflix miniseries "The Last Dance," the general public would never have been aware of the level of near-lunacy that Michael Jordan pursued to be a champion and to three-peat twice. A famous quote of his from the documentary said:
"I took that personally."
This has become a hallmark of why many, including his own former teammates, view Jordan as a tyrant who crossed boundaries and pushed the buttons of the people around him to any extent he deemed necessary to win a title.
Needless to say, however questionable his methods, they worked.
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won a total of six NBA titles from 1991 to 1998. On each occasion, Jordan was the Finals MVP, and for four of the six seasons they won, he was the regular-season MVP as well.