Anyone who remembers watching Michael Jordan hoop knows that the dude had absolute ice in his veins, as he was as cold-hearted and ruthless an athlete that has ever played a sport. But in his early days, before the multiple NBA titles and defining moments, it seems like even Jordan succumbed to pressure from the outside.
That’s what Jordan’s former North Carolina and ’84 U.S. hoops teammate Sam Perkins said today on SiriusXM, recounting the time Knight—the former Indiana Hoosiers legendary coach—got MJ to cry following an Olympics game in which Team USA actually beat Germany.
Per FOX Sports:
“Bobby Knight, he got after us,” Perkins said. “He told Michael that’s the worst he ever played. Now Michael’s going to deny this, but he cried. He cried after the game, because of the fact that Bobby Knight told him, ‘You should apologize to everybody in here.’ I waited for my apology because I thought he was going to actually do it. But he actually cried.”
Jordan, who usually used any hate, taunting and/or trash talk as motivation to perform even better, must not have discovered that internal gene of his at this point yet, because, holy hell, Michael Jordan doesn’t cry from fear, dammit!
All this confirms is two things:
- That Bobby Knight was one of the nastiest and temperamental coaches ever—especially if he could get the GOAT to swell up in the eyes.
- The whole Crying Jordan meme craze is even more appropriate after this news.
You can hear the entire Perkins interview below:
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