Michael Jordan reportedly talked trash to all extras on Space Jam, according to one specific extra, who had basketball acumen.
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Michael Jordan has had his career defined by one personality trait of his and that was his competitiveness. His search for eternal glory out on NBA hardwood led to him winning 6 championships in the span of 8 years with the Chicago Bulls but that didn’t come from becoming complacent with his own individual greatness.
After repeated Playoff losses to the likes of the Celtics and the Pistons, MJ realized that he couldn’t be the only person slaving away his life to the gym. So, he took on sole responsibility as being the team’s leader on and off the court. He put his teammates through incredibly tiresome practices to get them to a place where they could be contributing factors on a title squad.
Along with grueling physical training came an equal amount of mental training as well. Michael Jordan talked trash to his teammates non-stop, something that carried over from playing against other NBA teams.
Jordan was truly an underrated trash-talker of his era. He was right up there with guys like Larry Bird and Gary Payton and that all stemmed from his competitiveness.
Also read: Michael Jordan’s Last Shot in the NBA Was Identical to Kobe Bryant’s Final Lakers Points
Michael Jordan trash-talked Space Jam extras.
Space Jam from 1996 is considered to be one of the greatest hoop movies of all time. While it is a bit corny for today’s time, the pure nostalgia from it alone would get you through the entirety of it.
The filming for the Jordan starrer took place at Warner Bros Studios in the summer of 1995. This was right after the Magic had beat the Bulls in the ECF and so it was a given that any basketball Michael Jordan indulged in after that point would see him have a different kind of fire within him.
An extra on the set of Space Jam, Keith Gibbs, did an interview with Grantland where he broke down his various roles in notable basketball-centric films. One of the questions asked to him was, “Did Jordan trash-talk you?”
“Oh yeah, nonstop. He didn’t give a shit who you were,” said Gibbs.
“Yeah, so Jordan- I had to guard Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan in back to back games. It was so bad. I was friends with Chris Mills and Tracy Murray; we had been to some camps together. One play, I got switched onto Jordan, because Chris was like, ‘Keith, you take him.’ Jordan hit a 35-footer on me. I mean, it was ridiculous- leg out, tongue out, all that stuff… hit a 35-footer on me and goes, “Get the f**off the court!”
