Epic MJ story by Antonio Harvey

[andgar923]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2es...nnel=AaronRoss

The game in question...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShNf...nel=ForEmily23

[Rake2204]

That host did his absolute best to ruin that story.

[Rake2204]

P.S. I remember another story involving Darrick Martin and I'm wondering if maybe it's from the same game now. I always pictured it happening against the Timberwolves, but there was another regarding Jordan saying something about sending Martin back down to the CBA.

[Harison]

That host did his absolute best to ruin that story.

Yeah, he just couldnt shut up. With such BS interruptions I would have lost my thought track, but Harvey didnt, respect.

[f0und]

ive never seen someone feed off being challenged or slighted the way jordan did. he not only rises up to the challenge, he obliterates and humiliates the offender. thats why you hear those stories of people knowing better telling others not to talk to jordan, or to not get him riled up.

like mutombo saying jordan has never dunked on him. jordan goes out and dunks on him and does the finger wag.

or when he dunked on stockton and someone yelled at jordan to dunk on someone his own size. next time down, he dunks on 6'11" mel turping. turns to the dude and says, "is that big enough?"

during his wizard days, he had his first single digit scoring game since the mid 80s. the media was all over it saying he should hang it up. jordan scores 50 the next game.

reggie miller, one of the biggest trash talkers ever, in his rookie year trash talked jordan in their first meeting. jordan went on to rape him. and for the rest of his career, miller never attempted to trash talk jordan ever again.

and probably about a hundred other stories.

[kshutts1]

Seems odd that all of Jordan's stories are of Jordan taking comments and actions highly personally, and acting on those feelings.
Wilt does the same thing and gets hated on for it.
Jordan does the same thing and, in part because of his superior teammates and coach, wins while doing so, and becomes beloved.

[f0und]

Seems odd that all of Jordan's stories are of Jordan taking comments and actions highly personally, and acting on those feelings.
Wilt does the same thing and gets hated on for it.
Jordan does the same thing and, in part because of his superior teammates and coach, wins while doing so, and becomes beloved.

like what? ive never heard of this.

[kshutts1]

like what? ive never heard of this.

People say he couldn't pass, so he leads the league in assists.
People want him to defend, so he goes out and blocks nearly every shot.
People want him to score; he averages 50 ppg.
People thinks he scores too much, so he plays the "Russell role" arguably better than Russell in LA.

From an outsider's view, and 50 years later, Wilt seems to be so self conscious and lost. He didn't seem to know who, or what, he was. He tried to validate himself by being what he thought others wanted.
They wanted him to score? He scored. To pass? He lead the league in assists. To rebound? Yup, did that too. To defend? Blocked shots and lead a team as a primary defensive anchor.

Maybe they're not necessarily "Oh man, someone talked trash, so I'll play hard this game" stories like MJs, but the same basic concept. The media and fans "talked trash" and Wilt responded the only way he knew how... by being better than everyone else.

[FKAri]

Because Jordan was not only talented, he worked hard. People like that. Wilt didn't have that reputation. They don't like guys getting by on their talent.

[kshutts1]

Because Jordan was not only talented, he worked hard. People like that. Wilt didn't have that reputation. They don't like guys getting by on their talent.

Such a misconception. No one gets by on talent alone. Wilt worked harder than almost anyone else. Both on and off the court.

[Marchesk]

Because Jordan was not only talented, he worked hard. People like that. Wilt didn't have that reputation. They don't like guys getting by on their talent.

You mean like Shaq?

[sportjames23]

Lesson learned--do not [COLOR="Black"]f[/COLOR]ucketh with the GOAT.

[SpanishACB]

that host is clearly on cocaine
he even cleans his nose multiple times

totally ruins it

[jstern]

The host is really annoying. It's like, shut up.

[Da_Realist]

People say he couldn't pass, so he leads the league in assists.
People want him to defend, so he goes out and blocks nearly every shot.
People want him to score; he averages 50 ppg.
People thinks he scores too much, so he plays the "Russell role" arguably better than Russell in LA.

From an outsider's view, and 50 years later, Wilt seems to be so self conscious and lost. He didn't seem to know who, or what, he was. He tried to validate himself by being what he thought others wanted.
They wanted him to score? He scored. To pass? He lead the league in assists. To rebound? Yup, did that too. To defend? Blocked shots and lead a team as a primary defensive anchor.

Maybe they're not necessarily "Oh man, someone talked trash, so I'll play hard this game" stories like MJs, but the same basic concept. The media and fans "talked trash" and Wilt responded the only way he knew how... by being better than everyone else.

Except for early in his career, I think winning was always the point of emphasis for MJ. Like in this game, he felt vindicated when he won the game, not because he scored 19 points in the 4th. Vancouver should have won the game but came away with nothing. That was the carrot.

All the situations I can think of involved winning as the main part of the prize.

George Karl told the media MJ didn't drive anymore because he (MJ) felt like he would get hurt. Karl was essentially daring MJ to drive to the hole. MJ still shot jumpshots most of the night (19-28 fgs). He didn't try to prove that he could still drive...he was vindicated when Chicago won the game, not in how or how much he scored.

MJ didn't go from scoring champion to assist champion to rebounding champion every other season to prove a point. He was always the same guy. Sometimes he rose to a challenge, sometimes he fabricated one but he was always the same guy.