Michael Jordan bothered plenty of former Bulls teammates – including Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Craig Hodges – with “The Last Dance.”
Former Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton was more forgiving.
In the documentary, Payton described how his defense bothered Jordan during the 1996 NBA Finals – a clip played for Jordan to react. Jordan laughed and replied derisively: “The Glove. I had no problem with The Glove.”
Gary Payton thought he found a way to get to MJ ... Mike wasn't sweating the Glove 😂 #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Z8NG7qN5hW
— ESPN (@espn) May 11, 2020
Payton on “The Opinionated 7-Footers:"
I love this answer!
Payton and Jordan were great trash talkers. Jordan isn’t required to provide an accurate assessment of Payton’s defense. Jordan was just trying to hype up Jordan and diss a rival. Payton understands the game. He doesn’t need to turn it into something bigger.
He’ll just dish it right back with a line about John Stockton being harder to guard than Jordan.