Michael Jordan’s persona was defined by his intimidation skills, both on and off the court. To face MJ was a nightmare for the opponents, who would often get petrified by his competitiveness and drive for the game. However, some of his off-court stories of intimidating Chicago Bulls Rookies often go unheard of. From not paying betting debts to the rookies to challenging them in other activities, Jordan never left a chance to proclaim his legendary status. Speaking to Stephen A. Smith on his podcast, Rex Chapman recalled a bowling story with MJ. He revealed how His Airness tried palming a 17lbs bowling ball as a way to intimidate the rookies around him.
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Rex Chapman was selected by the Charlotte Hornets as an 8th overall pick in 1988. As a rookie, he made it to the All-Rookie Second Team in 1989 and had a remarkable 14.6 PPG and 2.7 APG average throughout his career. One of Chapman’s most remarkable achievements was scoring 39 points on Michael Jordan, right when the Bulls were up 72-10 in the 1996-97 season.
Rex Chapman revealed one of Michael Jordan’s intimidation techniques during a bowling game
Rex Chapman was a newly drafted rookie in the late ’80s with the Charlotte Hornets. As he was part of Michael Jordan’s native state team, he had good relations with MJ’s parents, who were at that time living in Charlotte. Eventually, Michael and Rex developed a close bond, often spending time together post their games either in Chicago or Charlotte.
In one of the Hornets’ away games in Chicago, Jordan invited Chapman and the team to have a fun night of bowling with him and his teammates. When the pins got stuck during the game, this is when MJ tried showing his sheer strength and skills as a form of intimidation. His Airness palmed a 17-pound bowling ball without using the holes and flung it down the bowling alley to clear the pins. This had awestruck everyone, including the then-rookie Rex Chapman. Recalling this incident to Stephen A. Smith, Chapman claimed:
“We motion for him to throw a ball down there. He picked up a 17-pound ball without using the holes, backhanded it, and flung it down the lane to reset the pins. He palmed a 17-pound bowling ball bro! He was playing a different game. I looked at these dudes, they looked at me and went, like, ‘You didn’t know he could do that?’ I was like ‘Nah, I didn’t know he could do that.’ When I think about it now, he might have done it on purpose, just for an intimidation.”
This was the least display of MJ’s intimidating persona that he carried everywhere. On the court, it was a whole different story, especially for the opponents. He used this infamous mentality to dominate opponents, be it on the court or off the court. Jordan would use the slightest provocations as fuel to rain fire upon his opponents on the court. Even if someone knows basketball or not, they might not be unfamiliar with Jordan’s mentality of ‘taking it personally.’
Stephen A. Smith and Rex Chapman compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan in terms of mentality
Only a very few players can match the prowess of the great Michael Jordan to this day. However, a few names from the current generation of basketball definitely pop up in everyone’s mind, when compared with Michael Jordan. When it comes to a similar mentality, Rex Chapman thinks Stephen Curry emulates the same persona as His Airness. Steph Curry raining threes against rival teams and making late-game shots is what draws this comparison.
In his All-Time list, Champan placed MJ at the top with LeBron James being second in the list. Although both Chapman and Stephen A. agree on LeBron’s incredible journey to the NBA, they believe that he lacks the same killer mentality as Michael Jordan. Justifying the same, Chapman said:
“Michael and LBJ are just different mentally. And that’s not a knock on either one of them. I love it, I love both of them for what they are and what they’ve done for society in general.”
