Gary Payton is one of the best trash talkers in NBA history. He however chose the wrong one when he went at Mike.
Payton, in a piece for The Players Tribune, detailed his rise from the streets of Oakland and his father’s impact on his tenacious style of play which ultimately led him to being inducted into the Hall of Fame
Our story begins in 1990, Gary Payton is a rookie and entering into a preseason match-up with the Bulls. Coming off of being selected second overall, Payton was full of confidence. A key element to remember is this is also before Michael Jordan captured his first NBA championship. The following is another example of when keeping it real goes wrong:
I’m coming in there, preseason, second pick in the draft. I don’t care who the hell Michael Jordan is. I’d seen him when I was coming up. To me it was like, O.K., he’s good … but he’s not all that.
MJ was on the bench most of the game — I didn’t understand that it was just preseason and MJ doesn’t play hard like that in a preseason game. So B.J. Armstrong had me. I gave him 19 points. And I’m a rookie, so of course I’m talking crazy. I’m talking sh*t to B.J. I’m running by the bench, saying sh*t to MJ. I’m staring guys down. I feel great.
A few weeks later, we had the Bulls for the first time in the regular season, at home in Seattle. I’ve been working for it, waiting for it, I’m ready. And of course, everybody’s talking about how it’s the Bulls — how Michael’s coming to town. I’m like, O.K. I gave them 19. I know I can get down on MJ, no problem.
So we go out there before the game, and everybody is shaking hands at the circle.MJ wouldn’t shake my hand.He turns to B.J. and he says, “Leave the f*cking rookie to me,” so everyone can hear it. Sh*t, O.K., I’m thinking.Well f*ck it then. Bring it on.
The game gets going. I’m checking Michael, and I see Phil Jackson start calling plays — four, five, six times in a row, he’s calling plays for Michael. And Michael is scoring four, five, six times in a row. Michael is on a different level than I knew there was.
In a matter of minutes, I’m in foul trouble. K.C. benches me. I didn’t really go back in the game much more after that. I remember I finished with no points — played about seven or eight minutes. MJ ended up going for 33.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Near the end of the game, I’m sitting on the bench, and MJ comes over to our bench — comes right up to me while the game is still going on. Coach is standing right there. Everyone on the bench is staring at him. Looks right at me. “That (expletive) you talking in preseason?” The wild thing is, MJ isn’t even mad or nothing. He’s chewing his (expletive) gum. “This is the real (expletive) right here. Welcome to the NBA, little fella.”
Jordan lived for moments when he could devastate his opponent on the floor. Last week Kobe shared a similar tale of coming for MJ as a rookie and getting taken to school. Moral of the story? Michael Jordan was a ruthless competitor and the GOAT.
