Drafted first overall in 1995, Joe Smith had a few years to witness Michael Jordan’s greatness firsthand at the NBA level. The Bulls legend was known for dominating his opponents throughout the game, but Smith shared his memories of Jordan turning up the heat once the second half rolled around.
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When the journeyman forward was asked what his experiences were like facing His Airness, Smith could do nothing but shake his head, which garnered a roar of laughter from the Eighty or Eighty Thousand crew. He then recalled a memorable matchup from his first year in the league when he went up against MJ and the Bulls during their historic 72-10 season.
Smith’s best years in the league came at the beginning of his career, so he had a clear memory of this contest as the Dubs’ prized rookie. Somehow, the Warriors, who finished with just 36 wins that season, boasted a 20-point lead over the Bulls at the half. But that comfortable cushion didn’t last long past the halftime break.
“We up 20 [points]. We got this,” Smith said excitedly. “We go to the locker room. We juiced… We go back out there, we warming up… and they come out, I swear, like a glow. Scottie, Mike come out… [Jordan] might’ve switched to a fresh pair.”
By the end of the third quarter, Golden State’s lead had shrunk to virtually nothing. “They came out in the third, but that’s what a lot of coaches used to say, a lot of teams used to say, like in the third quarter… like it’s the on switch that they hit… I swear we could not get a bucket,” Smith recalled.
The 16-year veteran is far from the only one to remember Jordan’s third-quarter dominance. Reggie Miller, one of Jordan’s biggest rivals in the Eastern Conference during their playing days, reminisced on a similar experience he had during his own rookie campaign.
Reggie Miller regretted talking trash to MJ as a rookie
Drafted just two years after MJ, Reggie Miller was one of the Bulls’ biggest pains throughout their dynasty. His Pacers were never able to take Chicago down in a playoff series, but Miller gave Jordan problems from the start. He even talked trash to the six-time champion after torching him during an exhibition contest in his rookie year.
The Pacers legend recalled how is former teammate, Chuck Person, egged him on after a dominant first half. Person’s instigation worked, as Miller immediately started going at MJ, who was simply going through the motions in what was to him a meaningless game. Not to Reggie, though.
“So at half, I have 10 ten points. [Jordan] has 4 points, so I’m doing all this talking,” Miller said on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2015. “End of the game, second half, he ended up with 44, and I ended up with 12. So he outscored me 40 to 2.”
Miller didn’t let this early-career experience deter him from trash talking throughout his Hall-of-Fame career. But he did realize early on that you can’t expect to talk trash MJ without facing the consequences.
