Michael Jordan is known for his iconic smack-talk. Roland Lazenby’s book on him detailed the start of MJ’s trash-talking.
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Michael Jordan is one of the most elite trash-talkers in league history. The Bulls legend had more than one way to get inside someone’s head.
What differentiated him from other great trash-talkers, however, was his ability to back his words. Michael was the epitome of it. There are players who often diss it out but can’t follow their statements through their performance.
Michael wasn’t one of them. He did exactly what he claimed he would. Like the time he promised to drop 50 points on Anthony Peeler and instead scored 54. That’s just one of the instances of him executing what has become a Jordan trademark.
Believe it or not but this habit developed early on inside Michael. He learned he was athletically gifted by the time he was 12. That year, he won Mr. baseball in North Carolina. By 14, he was openly trash-talking in practice and games.
Michael Jordan unleashed his verbal prowess as a young teenager
In his book Michael Jordan: The Life, Roland Lazenby wrote about Michael Jordan’s early years as a trash talker. Already an impressive hooper, 14-year-old MJ would remind his opponents of where they stood compared to him.
His baseball coach Bill Billingsley, who was also Mike’s basketball coach when he was 12, recalled playing a game against him. Bill crisply remembered how Michael tackled the problem of the coach guarding his driving lanes.
Billingsley: “He’d stand all the way out at the top of the key and say, ‘Hey, coach, you gonna let me have this?'”
Michael then went on to drain three consecutive shots from far. This was before the dawn of the three-point line and the coach was immediately impressed by MJ’s play. He also remembered how Michael Jordan’s growth also turned him into a constant talker.
After every shot or move, MJ would let his opponent know his mind. This did not sit too well with many others and led to brawls. Jordan even got into trouble for fighting another boy.
But nothing deterred Michael. He was not a troublemaker. In fact, he was far from it. A disciplined, well-behaved child. Until someone took advantage of it and tried to test MJ’s patience. He couldn’t stand those who tried to stop him from chasing his dreams.
MJ pushed Reggie Miller for trying to talk trash
As an adult, Michael found out two things. One, he could trash-talk anyone and still punish them in the game. Two, that he could punish anyone for trash-talking to him.
This was a lethal combo. He displayed this skill against Reggie Miller. In his rookie year, Miller was coaxed into trash-talking MJ by a teammate.
The young rookie, unaware of Michael’s terror, made the mistake of following his teammate’s advice. Reggie had the infamous conversation with Jordan at half-time. By then Jordan had scored 4 points and Reggie had scored ten. Miller recalled how by the end of the game Jordan had 44 and he had only 12.
This might just be the story that encapsulates the fear Michael created at the peak of his career. He wasn’t even letting rookies off the hook that easily.
