“Michael Jordan promised me 50 before the game”: Byron Scott, Steve Smith and Reggie Miller tell their MJ trashtalk tales from his Bulls prime years on Open Court

Michael Jordan’s opponents have endless tales of his trash-talking abilities and consider him as one of the best of All-time in that

Michael Jordan is always in G.O.A.T conversations. And every time that conversation happens, his competitive spirit a.k.a killer mentality is always brought up.

Now trash talking is a thing of the past due to NBA’s new regulations but back in the day, it was a very integral part of the NBA culture. It was a technique to self-motivate and impose dominance over opponents.

Trash talking only works if you can back it up. Else it backfires. Players like Larry Bird, Gary Payton, Reggie Miller were great at it. And so was Michael.

ex – NBA player Steven Smith remembers such an incident. One time when Smitty was guarding him, Jordan started counting backwards. Like 38, 36 and so on after every bucket. And when he reached 0, Jordon scored 40!

Also Read: “Michael Jordan and Larry Bird never stopped talking trash”: Robert Parish draws comparisons between the Bulls and Celtics and their ‘unshakeable confidence’

Byron Scott and Reggie Miller tell their Michael Jordan trash talk stories on Open Court

One time a rookie Reggie Miller was talking trash to Jordon. Air Jordan after dropping 44 on him he said ” You never talk to Black Jesus like that”

During the 1992 Olympics, Jordan met Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in a room after practice and said ” There’s a new sheriff in town ” implying that their era is over and now it’s his time to rule NBA.

3 time NBA champion with the Showtime Lakers, Byron Scott narrated his Jordan story. Scott never talked trash to Michael. He said “you never talk trash to him so he can go off for 60. ”

Now when Jordan came to know Scott was not playing the game due to injury, he said “50”. Long story short, it ends up scoring 54 that game. Stories like this just add to the lore of Micheal Jordan’s greatness.

Even to this day, talking trash is common in pick up games throughout the world. But nobody can “be like Mike” to trash talk like him.

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