Michael Jordan is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and competitors. And a common feature of stories surrounding MJ’s competitive nature was teammates’ anecdotes about his leadership style.
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Jordan wasn’t an all-supportive positive leader. MJ was, in fact, quite near the opposite of that. His Airness was known for being quite a prick, using jokes and taunts to drive his teammates toward meeting his expectations of them.
It would appear such jokes and taunts weren’t even restricted to on-court performances. Michael Jordan’s former teammate Scott Williams, narrates how even locker room fits wouldn’t escape MJ’s wrath.
Scott Williams was a UNC graduate who made it to the NBA like Jordan. But unlike Mike, Williams was merely a reserve for most of his teams and made a name for himself with his energy and defense. Williams featured with Jordan and the Bulls as they won their first three-peat.
It was during this period from 1990-1994 that Williams shared the dressing room with Michael Jordan. While both sides of the MJ coin were revealed to Williams, a story of Jordan roasting his choice of sweater stands out.
Michael Jordan roasted Scott Williams over his choice of sweater
Williams revealed how His Airness roasted him over his choice of sweaters in front of the entire locker room and staff. According to the former big man, Jordan wasn’t a fan of his holey sweater and roasted him for sporting it.
“I could play 18 holes on your sweater. Nine holes on the front, nine holes on the back.” Jordan didn’t hold back on criticism of even locker room fits. One can also observe his affection for the golf links in his choice of roast of Williams’ fit.
If Michael Jordan was a player today, one could only imagine such roasts being an everyday occurrence. With locker room fits and styles being a much more noticeable part of daily routines, Jordan would have been given multiple opportunities to roast teammates if he were active in today’s game.
Not like Jordan needed much content to start with, anyways. Such stories are a hallmark of MJ’s time in the league and are well documented. The Last Dance even gave fans a glimpse of that side of Jordan.
Building a Lifestyle brand that has earned him over $1 Billion, MJ has the ultimate authority on clothing and fashion. He was known for his fashionable looks in the 90s.
Flashiness clearly wasn’t encouraged around His Airness. Williams and the rest of the Bulls probably refrained from wearing fancy sweaters since. To roast a teammate in front of the other players is one thing, but to do him dirty in front of the staff too? Jordan must really have hated Williams’ sweater.
Are there other instances of Jordan mocking teammates over their choice of clothing?
Williams isn’t the only teammate to have borne the brunt of MJ’s taunts for his choice of clothing. A much more high-profile teammate, Dennis Rodman, did too.
Rodman was renowned for his non-conventional style and fashion statements. Cross-dressing in public was also something associated with The Worm. And it appears Michael Jordan wasn’t a fan of the same.
Once, when asked about Dennis Rodman’s height, Jordan took a shot at Rodman’s dressing style. This instance, however, wasn’t even a roast limited to the locker room crowd. The shot was taken on air, during an appearance on Jay Leno in 1997.
Jordan made a statement that Rodman was not 6’8 and that he was in fact 6’6. To add to the statement, MJ said that Rodman was probably 6’8 when wearing heels. Jordan’s dig was evidently pointed at Rodman’s cross-dressing and would have probably been controversial in today’s political climate.
However, times were different, and Jordan probably got away with one.
Regardless, it was clear that no teammate was safe around MJ. If a particular way of dressing could cross Jordan’s eye, one can only imagine how taunts would have been thrown around for bad performances.
MJ was truly an epitome of a leader who embraced a tough love philosophy, and his teammates bore the brunt of it. The rings came at a cost for each one of them.
