Gary Payton, a Hall of Famer and a Finals rival of Jordan with the Seattle SuperSonics, thought he’d sent Michael a message in a preseason meeting during Payton’s rookie year in 1990: “I went at him in the preseason and he didn’t forget it,” Payton said. “We played him for the first time in the regular season. He walked on the court, and I was talking mad, crazy. He only played like 8, 9, 10 minutes in the preseason game, and he went over and told B.J. Armstrong and Pippen, ‘I got the rook. I got him all night.’ He got me in foul trouble real quick. I sat down, he played like 10 minutes of the game, he had like 35 points. He walked over and said, ‘Young fella, preseason ain’t what’s happening. This is what’s up.’ It was like, welcome to the NBA and many more.” (While Jordan scored 33 points that night, in 27 minutes, Payton mustered just two. At least he made the only shot he took.)