Playing Against Michael Jordan Was a “Dark Spot on the Calender” for Stephon Marbury

Guarding Michael Jordan was arguably the most unenviable assignment in the 1980s and 1990s. Only a handful of players willingly took the responsibility of going up against the Bulls icon. Most, including Stephon Marbury, dreaded it, while some even feigned injury to avoid facing him on the court. 

During an appearance on the Roommates podcast, host Jalen Brunson asked Marbury which player gave him the most trouble during his playing days. The former Knicks guard had a list of players he found most difficult to handle.

He started with Allen Iverson and relayed that guarding him required top-notch fitness due to his nimble footwork and otherworldly ball handling. He then named two-time All-Star Terrell Brandon and compared his ability to utilize screens to create space to Pacers icon Reggie Miller.

He then listed Kobe Bryant among the toughest covers and quipped that he didn’t need to explain why he was among the toughest players to guard. Interestingly, he didn’t name Jordan among his toughest match-ups. Explaining why Marbury said,

“Saying Jordan is really not fair. I really shouldn’t say that cuz I didn’t guard him. I had to guard him one time, cuz some guys acted like they was hurt. During this time, you know when you play against Jordan, that’s not a secret, it’s like a dark spot on your calendar. You see blue, black, yellow, orange, that spot, it’s different.”

The fear Jordan struck in his teammates’ hearts is probably why Marbury believes the GOAT conversation is moot.

Stephon Marbury believes Jordan is in a league of his own

The former Knicks doesn’t only believe that the Bulls icon is the greatest ever, he feels that no one is worthy of being compared to the six-time NBA champion. In an interview with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson in 2020, he said,

“People wanna rank Jordan? Jordan shouldn’t even be ranked. It should be Kobe, then LeBron and then you can pick guys after that. There’s just no comparison man. It’s not the same. It’s just different worlds.”

More recently, he shared a graphic that compared Jordan’s ten scoring titles compared to LeBron James’ one and captioned it,

“[LeBron James] Shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as MJ.”

Marbury is firmly in the six-time Finals MVP’s corner in the GOAT debate.