“These rookies trash talked Michael Jordan so he would go off”: When these Nuggets rookies confronted the then Wizards star to goad him

Vincent Yarbrough and Junior Harrington were 2 Nuggets rookies who talked trash and goaded Michael Jordan as rookies against his Wizards.

Michael Jordan was on the final legs of his illustrious NBA career with Washington in 2002-03. Though he appeared in all 82 games, it was clear that MJ was no longer Mr. Hang Time.

Nevertheless, he still had the competitive edge that prompted him to take over games when he felt slighted. There was this time in 2001-02 when he shut down Vince Carter to complete a 4th quarter comeback.

There also was another time when he dropped 50 against the Bobcats that same season. Jordan fully looked like an All-NBA candidate before suffering a knee injury midway through 2001-02.

This meant that one could never take any game against the Wizards lightly. Shorn of talent as they were, they were unable to crack the top 8 for Jordan’s final bow.

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When 2 Nuggets rookies talked trash to Michael Jordan and got blown out

In this particular game, the Wizards shot to an early lead without needing much from MJ. The GOAT was only 5-of-14 to start the game off, which prompted Yarbrough to start chirping:

“So with Mike retiring that season, we really wanted to see him go off. So me and Junior started to poke and prod him, telling him, ‘That’s garbage,’ each time he missed.”

Yarbrough’s talking stopped when Jordan responded “You watched me, I didn’t watch you.” After this point Yarbrough scored two points through the rest of the game.

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Michael scored 10 of his 25 points in the final period and the Wizards eventually triumphed, 89-74. The Nuggets did manage to take the return game, but this was to be Yarbrough’s only encounter with His Airness.