Friday has been declared by ESPN as Michael Jordan Day because of the date of 2/3/23. The network is celebrating by showcasing some of Jordan’s greatest accomplishments, but we thought we’d put a little twist on things and celebrate MJ’s biggest feuds.
It’s easy to praise Jordan’s accomplishments, but it’s interesting to look at some of his flaws as well. Jordan is known to be a petty man at times and he has had some interesting feuds over the years with not only rivals, but teammates as well. Here is just a list of names that MJ hasn’t gotten along with over the years.
Isiah Thomas
Jordan’s greatest rival of all time is Isiah Thomas. Thomas claims to this day that Jordan froze him out during the All-Star game and kept him off the Dream Team. To say these two don’t like each other is an understatement. Jordan’s anger with Thomas goes back to when the Detroit Pistons didn’t shake the Chicago Bulls’ hands after they won the 1991 Eastern Conference Final.
Jordan even called Thomas an “a-hole” in The Last Dance. Neither seem to be in a place to forgive the other at the moment.
Charles Barkley
This may come as a surprise to some but Jordan is not a fan of the Chuckster. Barkley and Jordan used to be friends until he questioned whether Jordan would be a successful executive of the Charlotte Bobcats, now Hornets. Of course, Jordan didn’t like that, and they basically haven’t spoken since.
Scottie Pippen
The issue with Scottie Pippen is apparently jealousy, not on Jordan’s part, but Pippen’s. While Jordan is praised as the greatest basketball player of all time, Pippen in a lot of cases is seen as an afterthought, which has upset him over the years.
The Last Dance really upset Pippen too but despite that, Jordan to this point hasn’t said too much about his current relationship with his former teammate.
Karl Malone
Probably one of the funniest moments in The Last Dance was when MJ admitted that he was upset when Karl Malone won the MVP award over him one year and says that motivated him in the 1997 NBA Finals. Jordan also famously admitted that he “took offense” to be compared to Clyde Drexel back in 1992 during the NBA Finals.
“I’m not saying he wasn’t a threat but me being compared to him, I took offense to that.”
– Michael Jordan on Clyde Drexler #TheLastDance
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 30, 2020
As you can see, Jordan still has a chip on his shoulder at times when it comes to his former rivals.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.