“He’s Screaming and Swearing at Him”: When Michael Jordan Decided to Bash a Youngster for Celebrating a Victory
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‘The Last Dance’ isn’t revealing as much about the life of Michael Jordan as the incidents that people who have known him for years are sharing.
The way Celtics took over the 80s in the NBA and Bulls dominated the 90s, the two always locked horns against each other. Former Celtics coach, Rick Pitino shared a hilarious anecdote of Michael Jordan verbally thrashing Antoine Walker back in 1998.
The 1997-98 season’s opening match didn’t pan out as Bulls would’ve hoped for. They lost 92-85 to the Celtics and the young lad, Antoine Walker came out there with his signature shimmy dance. Well, Antoine surely didn’t know what was coming for him.
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Rick Pitino told Steve Bulpett of Boston Herald, “I’ll never forget, as long as I live, we were going back to the locker room, and Michael Jordan is yelling at Antoine. He’s screaming at him and swearing at him. And I said, ‘Holy (expletive), what happened there?’”
Michael is one of those who just need a little pinch to get red hot in anger. Rick had no idea what was going on until he got to know from others.
“Then the assistant coaches explained to me that apparently Antoine was shimmying and dancing, and Michael started screaming, ‘Antoine, you won’t be (expletive) dancing when you come to Chicago.’ He kept saying it, and I said, ‘Oh, (expletive).’”
Michael Jordan is someone who nobody wanted to piss off
“I remember at the end of the game in Chicago, Michael telling Antoine — and I’ll never forget this — at the foul line when one of (the Bulls’) guys was shooting and Antoine was blocking him out, and Michael said, ‘I’m getting this rebound,’ on the missed free throw.
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“And he got the rebound,” Rick narrated. “Not only was it incredible because the guy missed, but he said he was getting it and he did. Later I asked ‘Toine, ‘What the hell did you say to him?’ ‘Toine said he didn’t say anything, that Michael was just mad that he celebrated when we won.”
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Jordan led Bulls to six championship wins. And not only players but even coaches were scared of pissing off the GOAT.
“There’s two guys you never wanted to piss off. Don’t say anything, don’t make them angry: (Larry) Bird and MJ,” Pitino admitted.
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“You just didn’t want to piss either one of those guys off, because it would always come back to haunt you. When Antoine got him mad in that first game, I’m saying, ‘Oh, (expletive), this puts a damper on this night. Because we have to go back in there against him.’”
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