When Michael Jordan’s trash talk made his teammate quit his NBA career: “You're a loser! You've always been a loser!”
Michael Jordan is without question one of the most competitive athletes in the history of professional sports. Jordan's trash talk was so excessive that it extended beyond the four quarters of a regulation game. Teammates during practice, friends he was golfing with and many others all found themselves in the crosshairs of His Airness.
The era of social media has only amplified Jordan's legacy, shining a new light on some of his most iconic moments. When "The Last Dance" aired in 2020, the docuseries covered everything from MJ allegedly withholding Horace Grant's food, to punching Steve Kerr.
One incident that didn't get covered in "The Last Dance" was Jordan's vicious onslaught of Rodney McCray. McCray had been an NCAA champion in 1980, and earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors in 1988. By the time he landed in Chicago for the 1992-93 season, he had bounced around three teams in five years.
During McCray's uneventful stint with the Bulls, Michael Jordan didn't shy away from verbally assaulting McCray in practices. An anonymous former teammate of Jordan's told Sports Illustrated:
"He has practically ruined (reserve forward) Rodney McCray for us.' When the two players are on opposite teams in scrimmages, the source says, "(Jordan) is in Rodney's face, screaming, 'You're a loser! You've always been a loser!' Rodney can hardly put up a jumper now.
"McCray ended up winning a title that year, but only averaged 15.9 minutes per game. It was also the last season he ever played."
Michael Jordan's history of verbally destroying other teammates in practice
Of course, McCray wasn't the only teammate to feel Michael Jordan's competitive drive. As "The Last Dance" showed, Jordan and Steve Kerr had a pretty big blowup that resulted in MJ punching Kerr in the face. Another story has Jordan ripping into Will Perdue, or as MJ liked to call him, Will Vanderbilt, because he didn't deserve the name of a Big 10 school.
Fortunately for his teammates, every altercation didn't end with punches being thrown. In some cases, however, Michael Jordan's verbal onslaughts were nearly just as bad. When massive center Stacey King was struggling to haul down rebounds, Jordan let his frustrations be known.
Jordan berated King in front of their teammates, ripping into him for his recent play.
“You ever hear of a guy, six-11 maybe and 260 pounds, a guy big and fat like that and he can’t get but two rebounds, if that many, running all over the damn court and he gets two rebounds? Big guy like that, and he gets one rebound," Jordan said.
“Can’t even stick his ass into people and get more than that. … Big, fat, fat guy. One rebound in three games. Power forward. Maybe they should call it powerless forward.”
According to teammates, King said that one day he would hit Jordan with what was coming to him. Although he never did, King won three NBA championships thanks to MJ.
Below, you can view Michael Jordan accosting his teammates.
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