Michael Jordan came out of the University of North Carolina as a top prospect in the NBA. He rewrote history at his own accord. And yet when he came face-to-face with his college alumna on the court, things didn’t go well. They shared a complex relationship over the years, which took an odd turn in the league. Rivalry turned into intense competition. And frustration often seeped into the floor and onto the news headlines. But now, suddenly, there is a milder tone for the Chicago Bulls legend.

“Mike came back to practice one time,” ex-Washington Wizards guard Jerry Stackhouse shared on The Rich Eisen Show. The 2-time All-Star believes that Jordan’s surprise pickup appearances became almost mythical stories among players. That is because there’s rarely any proof or public memory of them beyond the people who experienced them firsthand. But he remembers the day vividly.

“I think it was in between when he was about to make his comeback. We were like, man. He got out there and started playing. Everybody said we played one-on-one, and we did play one-on-one, but we didn’t keep score,” Jerry Stackhouse said. “It was just like, man, we were going back and forth. He was guarding me. He was daring me to shoot. At that time, my outside jumper wasn’t that good, and he was pretty much daring me to shoot. But I’m not taking the bait. I’m trying to drive past him and get to the basket anyway.”

The 51-year-old believes that he shared a great moment with MJ at North Carolina. However, “A lot of people make a lot about our last interaction in Washington when I felt that I was kind of in my prime and he was at the end of his career.” But, at the end of the day, he’s Michael Jordan. So, the former shooting guard added, “Michael Jordan, no matter who he’s on the floor with, probably right now feels that he’s the best player and the best option. I take no offense to that, but it just didn’t work out in his final year.”

Jerry Stackhouse revealed that Michael Jordan personally pushed to bring him from Detroit to Washington in 2002 because he believed the veteran guard could help the team compete right away. Looking back, he saw the move as another example of Jordan’s relentless desire to win, even in his front-office role, as he prioritized experience and readiness over long-term development during that stage of his career.

“For me, being in Detroit, we had just gotten to the second round. I’m feeling like the next level for us is getting to a conference finals, and all of a sudden, I’m in Washington. So it was a little awkward there, but at the same time, we made the best of it,” Stackhouse added. Stackhouse further made it clear that, despite any competitive tension they shared on the court, he always valued his relationship with Michael Jordan beyond basketball.

“I’m telling you, no matter what transpired on the basketball court, we had a good time off the basketball court. You go with Michael Jordan, between playing a little poker and drinking some of the best wine the world has ever made, we had some great moments,” MJ’s ex-teammate added. Those personal moments strengthened his admiration for Jordan and never allowed basketball disagreements to overshadow the respect he still holds for the NBA icon. “So I never want to think that anything there deflects my reverence for Michael Jordan. To me, he’s the GOAT. He’s the best basketball player ever,” he concluded.

But the time Stackhouse spent with Jordan at the Washington Wizards continues to cast a shadow. Over the years, the 51-year-old has expressed his experiences of sharing the floor with MJ.

Jerry Stackhouse wished he had never played with Michael Jordan

In 2020, Stackhouse talked about his time at the Wizards with Michael Jordan on The Woj Pod with ex-ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski. “Honestly, I wish I never played in Washington and for a number of reasons. … Things were still being run through Michael Jordan. [Head coach] Doug Collins, I love Doug, but I think that was an opportunity for him to make up for some ill moments that they may have had back in Chicago,” he shared.

“So, pretty much everything that Michael wanted to do [we did]. We got off to a pretty good start and he didn’t like the way the offense was running because it was running a little bit more through me. He wanted to get a little more isolations for him on the post,” Jerry went on. “Of course, so we had more isolations for him on the post. And it just kind of spiraled in a way that I didn’t enjoy that season at all. The kind of picture I had in my mind of Michael Jordan and the reverence I had for him, I lost a little bit of it during the course of that year.”

Even with Jerry Stackhouse arriving in Washington, Michael Jordan still ruled the spotlight. At 39, Jordan remained the Wizards’ offensive engine, firing up 18.6 shots per game while averaging 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. Yet Stackhouse carved out his own place in the chaos. The former Pistons star paced the team with 21.5 points and 4.5 assists a night, making history as the lone teammate ever to outscore Jordan across a full NBA season.

However, the numbers created more curiosity than success. Washington finished 37-45 in 2002-03, exactly matching the previous year’s total despite all the hype surrounding the pairing. And just as fans expected the experiment to grow, injuries slammed the brakes. Stackhouse underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and appeared in only 26 games during the 2003-04 campaign.

So, after years of visible rift, it looks like Jerry Stackhouse is finally taking a turn away from the bitterness he once felt towards Michael Jordan. Recalling the time when MJ and he shared a moment at UNC and acknowledged His Airness’ greatness. And maybe, the cracks are truly healing.