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Frustrated Michael Jordan Once Traded His Own Player After Being on the Receiving End of Brutal Trash Talk

Published 07/24/2022, 10:30 AM EDT

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Michael Jordan has established himself as one of the most brutal trash talkers in the history of the game of basketball. In fact, his highly competitive nature and sheer dominance on the court made his trash talking seem even more lethal. However, Michael Jordan didn’t respond very well when he was at the receiving end of some trash talking during his stint with the Washington Wizards.

Michael Jordan retired from basketball for the second time in January 1999 as a Chicago Bull. A year later, the Bulls legend expressed his desire to return to the NBA as a part-owner and an executive.

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As a result, he joined the Washington Wizards as a part-owner and the president of basketball operations. Later on, ‘His Airness’ would decide to make a return to the NBA after 9/11 for the purpose of charity.

Michael Jordan traded the Wizards guard for calling him ‘old’

Michael Jordan didn’t appreciate a fellow Wizards player calling him ‘old’ in practice. In fact, he traded him the following season as the president of basketball operations. Wizards star Richard Hamilton recounted the whole story in a podcast interview.

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Wizards guard Laron Profit once drained a shot in Jordan’s face in practice and yelled, “‘Yeah, you can’t guard me with them old-ass knees!‘”, Hamilton recalls. “And I’m like ‘oh! Stop! Time-out! You don’t say that to the GOAT.”

MJ was heated. I mean, he was heated to the point,” added the three-time All-Star, “he was like ‘Ok Rip, your man, your buddy…’ cause he ended up trading Prof that summer ‘He’s out of here! You gon’ be there by yourself….‘”.

Jordan clearly didn’t appreciate a junior player calling him old. As it turns out, Hamilton revealed that he and Profit used to talk trash to the six-time NBA champion all the time in practice. However, there were certain lines that the 2004 NBA champion wouldn’t cross out of respect for the “GOAT”.

Jordan’s brief stint with the Wizards

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Michael Jordan’s brief stint with the Washington Wizards lasted for about two seasons. The Hall-of-Famer announced his retirement for the final time in 2003.

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Incidentally, Jordan averaged 22.9 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in his first season at Washington. On the other hand, Profit averaged 4.3 points, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 rebounds that season. Therefore, MJ had his reasons to trade the 6’5″ guard.

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Written by:

Satagni Sikder

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Satagni Sikder is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. He has a Master's degree in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and has been following the NBA since 2017. Moreover, he supports the Dallas Mavericks, and unsurprisingly, Luka Doncic is his favorite player.
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Edited by:

Arunaditya Aima