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Michael Jordan Almost Made Celtics Player Go Naked From the Waist Down in Rarely Seen Unearthed Photo

Published 05/24/2022, 7:30 AM EDT

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Michael Jordan has given fans some legendary moments. And the NBA will thank him for a long time for making the league popular and profitable. Notably, Derek Strong was once at the other end of one such moment and he might not be in a mood to extend any gratitude.

Sadly for him, Strong had some kind of a “wardrobe malfunction” while playing against Jordan. The latter, while playing, took Strong’s shorts down, which left the then Celtics forward almost bottomless. He had this very rare moment when he returned from retirement in 1995.

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Jordan was known for being extremely competitive and had a drive no player equaled. Yet, he also has instances of ribbing players like this. He didn’t spare his teammates either, the biggest example being Penny Hardaway and Dikembe Mutombo.

In the 1996 All-Star game, he pulled down Hardaway’s pants when the latter was announced as being part of the All-Star game. After that, the former victim became the co-conspirator as Jordan and Hardaway teamed up to pull down Mutombo’s shorts. The Congolese player narrowly avoided being exposed on national television.

Not to mention, he wasn’t his usual competitive self during the All-Star Weekend. Jordan was more relaxed during these exhibition games. He didn’t have anything to win or fight for. Hence, it was surprising that he had a rib at Strong’s expense during an actual NBA game.

Michael Jordan had the drive to win

Jordan’s ultra-competitive streak was very well known. He took even small infractions personally. If there were none, then the icon would imagine one just to motivate himself to perform and win. There is no greater example than when he returned to basketball in 1995.

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History has it that when the Bulls lost to the Orlando Magic in the 1995 Eastern Conference semi-finals, Jordan told his trainer to schedule a workout the next day itself. This determination led him to face the Magic again and this time, it was the Conference Finals.

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“His Airness” basically sought vengeance by dropping almost 30 points a game on them. This included the 4th game where he dropped 45 to complete a sweep. He took his revenge by dominating them without any mercy.

Hence, Jordan having fun during a game is a very rare sight to see. He still dropped 23 points on them, though, and led the Bulls to a victory.

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Watch this Story: 3 Times Stephen Curry Lost His Cool on the Court

Do you know any other instance of Jordan having fun during matches? If you have, let us know in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Aditya Kar

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Aditya Kar is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. A holder of Bachelors and Masters degrees in History, he has been a fan of the NBA since 2011. He has a very keen interest in the stories that define the league and the sport.
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Edited by:

Melroy Fernandes