Michael Jordan was legend for going after teammates in practice — not just talking trash and playing hard, I mean physically go after them and throw punches. Steve Kerr got it once. Jud Buechler another.
Even Will Perdue once — that would be 7-foot, 250 pound Will Perdue.
Horace Grant was on the radio on New York’s HOT97 and told this story, thanks to No Coast Bias for finding this gem.
“Our practices were so intense because Phil, the mastermind behind everything, would put MJ on the second team, me and Scottie would be on the first team, and being competitive like he was, man. Unreal, unreal. Of course punches got thrown, many fights. I’m just so happy that social media wasn’t (around) back then.”
“I hate to tell the story but Will and I are still good friends… Typical Phil (Jackson) we run this play and Will set an illegal pick on MJ, and MJ said,’Will, don’t do that again.’ ‘Whatcha talking about’ that’s Will. MJ says alright; Phil says run it again. So naturally we run it two more times, illegal pick. MJ walks up to Will — boom. Lit him up. It was over; we grabbed Will — you’re not going to hurt MJ. MJ can take care of himself. The next day on the plane, Will gets on with this huge shiner.”
The best part is Grant says they separate anybody from going after Jordan — they need Jordan — that means he can just go after whomever he wants.
Good luck pulling that off in today’s media world.
