Damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.
Michael Jordan’s ability to turn anything into a slight and then motivation is the reason he is the greatest NBA player of all-time.
The best example of this came before the 1996 NBA Finals when Jordan ran into Seattle SuperSonics head coach George Karl at a restaurant before Game 1. Jordan stated that Karl pretty much ignored him at the restaurant.
“He walked right past me,” Jordan said. “I said, ‘It’s a crock of s—t.’ We went to Carolina. You know Dean Smith. … You’re gonna do this? OK, fine. That’s all I needed. That’s all I needed — for him to do that — and it became personal with me.”
The Bulls took a 3-0 series lead, but ultimately won in six games.
Karl admitted on Monday that he actually had a pretty good reason to do so.
“We take it to the team that we don’t want any socializing with Michael,” Karl said on SiriusXM Radio. “So after that speech, I run into Michael … if I go see Michael, I’m breaking the code with my team. If I don’t go see Michael, he’s probably gonna use it. And I stiffed him.”
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He then admitted on Twitter that no matter what he would’ve done, Jordan would’ve found something to motivate him.
