“Michael Jordan Looked at Me Like I Ain’t Slapped His Mother”: How 44-year-old Robert Parish Fended Off MJ’s Attempt to Talk Trash

Michael Jordan was one arrogant man who also happened to be one of the best athletes in the world to back that up. The former Chicago Bulls man never hesitated in talking his talk before actually walking it.

Even if it was a legend of the game whom he was doing it against, the 6x NBA champ never backed off. But certain players were too big, both in career and in accomplishments for Jordan to bully, like he did everyone else, including his teammates.

Also read: “I feel like I still have some ear damage”: Jasmine Jordan Recalls an Electric United Center When Michael Jordan was About to Win his 6th Title

The legendary Celtics big man Robert Parish will tell you exactly what we are talking about.

When Robert Parish shut down the trash talk attempt by Michael Jordan in the coldest way

Maybe just for fun or to see if the man with a 20-year resume was really worthy enough to be his teammate, Michael Jordan tried trash-talking Robert Parish in a practice session with the Bulls, when the 7ft 1” center was 44 years of age and was playing his last year in the NBA in 1996-97 season.

The 9x All-Star talked about the incident in a podcast with another Cs legend and his former teammate Cedric Maxwell when MJ told him, “if he wasn’t careful he was gonna get my a**.”

You heard it right, Parish did say, “he’s looking at me like I ain’t slapped his mother”. It must have been a sight to watch Jordan receive the trash talk back from the old man and be quiet after it.

Also read: Charles Barkley, Who Called Michael Jordan Cheap, Gave $100 To A Homeless Man Unapologetically Asking For Alcohol Money

At that point, he must have known Parish was there to win another chip not just earn a veteran minimum contract. He did help a bit in Jordan winning his 5th title and himself in adding the fourth one to his cabinet that year.

Parish, Larry Bird, and Kevin McHale did show Jordan the hardest of times

After losing plenty of playoff series to either Larry Bird’s Celtics or Isiah Thomas’s Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan did eventually get past the latter in the 1991 postseason.

MJ even defeated Magic Johnson’s Lakers in that year’s Finals. However, his Bulls never defeated Bird and the Boston Celtics in a playoff series and Robert Parish was a big part of all their 3 championship years and other Finals runs in which they swept the Bulls twice.

That’s the reason why Jordan couldn’t talk back to the old man.

Also read: “Idolized Michael Jordan but Isiah Thomas Was my Favorite Player”: Steve Nash Revealed How Pistons Legend Inspired Him alongside MJ

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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