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The year is 1994 and Michael Jordan is retired from the NBA and playing baseball.
With Jordan retired, the Utah Jazz were set to play the Bulls and Jordan decided to go check in with Karl Malone and John Stockton prior to the game. During the process, a rookie on the Jazz by the name of Bryon Russell wanted to get some face time in with Jordan.
As Jordan recalled Sunday night on “The Last Dance” documentary, Russell started talking to him asking why he had to retire so soon. Russell proceeded to tell Jordan that he could have guarded him and shut him down on the court.
Upon hearing that statement from Russell, Jordan made it a point to embarrass him the next time he faced him. As Jordan said, Russell was on his “list” from that point on.
“From that point on, he’s been on my list.” – Michael Jordan about Bryon Russell, but also about everyone
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 18, 2020
As he predicted, Jordan would go onto bully Russell after that point.
Jordan eventually drained a game-winner over Russell to help the Bulls win Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals. Additionally, Jordan also hit “The Last Shot” in the 1998 NBA Finals over Russell, which, of course, would be his final shot ever with the Bulls.
Moral of the story: Don’t talk trash to Michael Jordan.
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