‘Hey Mutombo, this is for you baby!’: When Michael Jordan splashed free throws with eyes closed to mock Dikembe Mutombo

Arguably the best player to ever play, Michael Jordan was a bully on the court – one of the greatest trash talkers ever.

Michael Jordan is considered the best player to ever pick up a basketball. I mean, getting 6 NBA Championships, 5 MVP trophies and 10 scoring titles would get you that. Not only was MJ the best player ever, but he was also the best trash talker.

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29 years ago, the 1991 champions Chicago Bulls met the Nuggets in a 1991-92 regular-season game. The newly crowned champion Michael Jordan was his usual excellent self on the court. He liked to pick on the rookies, and Dikembe Mutombo was no exception. MJ was constantly in Mutombo’s ear all game.

“Hey Mutombo, this is for you baby”: Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was on the free-throw line. He splashed the first free throw. Held the ball, looked at rookie Dikembe and said,

“Hey Mutombo, this is for you baby”.

He closed his eyes and sinks the second free throw.

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A classic MJ move. Anything to make the game ‘fun enough’ for him. If anyone can be expected to pull off a thing like this in an actual game, it is Jordan himself. An 83% career free-throw shooter, he did not even hesitate about making this move. It was a close game, with the Bulls beating the Nuggets by just 7 points.

This, however wasn’t the end of the banter between Mutombo and Jordan. During the 1997 All-Star game Mutombo reminded his teammate Michael Jordan that he hadn’t yet dunked on Mutombo in his 6 years in the league. Later into the year, during the eastern conference semi-finals, Jordan put Mutombo on a poster. Despite being 6’6″, Jordan did not think twice before dunking on a 7’2″ Mutombo.