“What the hell is Michael Jordan doing in our locker room?”: When the ‘GOAT’ warned Dominique Wilkins and the Hawks about dropping 60 points

Michael Jordan entered the Hawks locker room and told Dominique Wilkins that they were all in for a long night as a proceeded to drop 60. 

There seems to be no end to stories talking about the way Michael Jordan handled his opponents on the court. His fervor and love for always coming out on top led to quite a bit of fiery moments that started off with a bit of banter and trash-talk. However, Jordan had eventually come to a point where he would take the trash talk off the court as well. 

The greatest NBA trash-talkers are guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Larry Bird, and of course, Michael Jordan. He did everything from tell Nick Anderson exactly what moves he was going to hit him and then do exactly that with perfection to calling Mugsy Bogues a m-dget.

Also read: “Michael Jordan was toying with us at 30%”: When the Bulls legend eviscerated ‘average Joes’ at pick-up games following his first retirement from the NBA

There was no telling what the opposition was in for when facing off against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Dominique Wilkins certainly learned of Jordan’s greatness the hard way. 

Michael Jordan trash-talked Dominique Wilkins even before the Bulls-Hawks game began. 

‘The Human Highlight Reel’ was given that nickname for a reason. He was a 9x All-star who was known to quite literally reach rarified air as he was one of the greatest dunkers in the history of the league. Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins actually faced off against one another in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest; a contest that’s widely regarded to be the greatest one in NBA history. 

In this same season, Michael Jordan would go on an absolute scoring tear, en route to his first ever regular season MVP. Wilkins would stand witness to one of Jordan’s scoring outbursts but the way he achieved it is what’s fascinating.

Also read: “If you want to stay in Boston, pass me the ball”: When Larry Bird gave Bill Walton advice on what he should do to withstand being a Celtic

Prior to the Hawks-Bulls game in the 1988, ‘His Airness’ walked into the Hawks locker room and according to Wilkins, tapped one of his teammates up on his knee and told them to lace up because it was going to be a long night.

It’s safe to say that Jordan did good on this promise and dropped a whopping 61 points on the Atlanta Hawks. Wilkins was not a no-show however as he had a solid 34-point outing the same night.