Being Michael Jordan's golf buddy has its perks. Among them: You accumulate some awesome stories.
We know that Danny Ainge used to golf with the Bulls legend, and in episode two of NBC Sports Boston's "Celtics at Home," the Celtics president of basketball operations revealed that Jordan actually tried to play golf with him during an off day while Chicago was in the NBA Finals.
"When they were playing in the Finals against the Jazz, I was in Utah," Ainge told host Brian Scalabrine and Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. "Michael called me and said, 'Hey, can you set up a tee time for tomorrow?' This was during the Finals."
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Ainge then explained his hilarious back-and-forth with Jordan that involved Bulls star (and notorious wild card) Dennis Rodman.
I said, 'Yeah, what time is your practice?' And (Jordan) said, 'Well, that's the deal. If I can make sure I keep Dennis in town and keep him from going to Las Vegas on the off night, then we won't have practice.'
That's Phil (Jackson)'s coaching strategy there, like, 'We don't have to have practice if Mike and Scottie can keep Dennis from going to Las Vegas on an off day.'
As viewers saw in ESPN's "The Last Dance," keeping Rodman in check was easier said than done. And Ainge suggested Jordan may have failed in his task -- because they never played that golf match.
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"He never called me back, so maybe they couldn't keep Dennis in town," Ainge added with a laugh.
The Bulls defeated the Jazz in both the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, so whatever Rodman did during his off-night, it didn't cost the team too much.
Check out the full episode of Celtics at Home below: