When Michael Jordan responded with, "Shut up, you little b**ch" on top of a classic performance after talked trash to, scoring 19 points in 6 minutes
Part of why Michael Jordan went down as the greatest NBA player ever is because he was a fierce competitor. Every night, he did whatever he could to make sure his team came out on the winning side.
Throughout the years, many players have made the mistake of talking trash to the Chicago Bulls legend. One of them was Darrick Martin, who learned the hard way on two separate occasions not to mess with MJ.
The first came during the filming of "Space Jam." To stay in shape over the summer, a full-size basketball court was built on set for Michael Jordan to train while the film was being made. He constantly invited NBA talent to come join him.
After getting a game-winning layup past Jordan, Martin, an undrafted journeyman who played for six teams in 13 seasons, thought it was a good idea to mess with the six-time champion.
"I commence to talking the best trash ever against him," Martin said. "I said, 'Michael, you get out of my town. This is my town. You're not even the real MJ. My man, Magic Johnson, is the MJ.'"
Jordan quickly got his revenge and let Martin have it.
"Two games later, he comes back on and their team beat us. So, he's following me around the gym now," Martin said.
Michael Jordan is not the player to mess with
Even after how things went down on the "Space Jam" set, Darrick Martin didn't learn his lesson with Michael Jordan. When his Vancouver Grizzlies faced off against the Chicago Bulls that season, he once again started talking trash while Jordan was on the bench.
"'I told you we were gonna whoop your ass tonight,'" Martin said.
Following this comment, MJ went on to prove why he is one of the most feared players in NBA history. Coach Phil Jackson saw the exchange and asked Jordan what he wanted to do, and Jordan tied his shoes, took off his towel, checked in the game and then stood next to Martin.
Jordan, through Martin's recollection, said: "Little man, I told you about talking trash to me."
Martin said: "I said, 'Man, we up nine with three minutes to go. You're not beating me tonight.'"
Jordan clearly took the comment personally and went on to score 17 of the Bulls' last 21 points to lead the Bulls to a 94-88 victory on Nov. 30, 1995. Vancouver had a 79-73 lead. Jordan scored 19 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter. That included nine consecutive points with less than five minutes remaining. Vancouver had a 79-73 lead in the fourth quarter.
Once it was clear that the Bulls (12-2) had stolen the win from the Grizzlies (2-13), Jordan made sure to get in the last word. That Chicago team went on to set the NBA record for most wins in a season, finishing 72-10. (Golden State later surpassed that, going 73-9, in 2015-16.)
Former Vancouver Grizzlies forward Antonio Harvey said: "He catches the ball in the post, does the typical Jordan fadeaway. He knocks down the shot. They go up by six, he turns to the bench and says, 'Shut up, ya little b****.'"
Martin said: "He's looking for me. He's like, I told you about talking trash.'"
While most players would have blown off the trash talk on a night like this, MJ never let someone else get the one up on him. It was this endless competitive fire that drove him to become one of the game's greatest.