Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player the World has ever seen, and 'Space Jam' is the greatest movie of all time. These are commonly accepted facts.
Jordan's opponents in the NBA were consistently embarrassed due to the astonishing ability of the former Chicago Bull, but they were often made to feel far worse thanks to his legendary ability to talk trash.
A story has emerged from an actor who played a minor role in Space Jam (and almost every other basketball movie, it seems) that suggests Mike's fondness of verbal humiliation was not restricted to the courts of the NBA as even on the set of a children's film, nobody was safe from His Airness' jibes. When Keith Gibbs talked to Grantland, he was asked if he was unfortunate enough to have been on the receiving end of Jordan's famous trash talk:
Oh yeah, nonstop. [Laughs.]
He didn’t give a shit who you were. When I was doing Space Jam, we played three days. I thought it was over. I had to go out of town. I get a phone call, they’re like, “Why aren’t you here?” I was like, “Oh, they’re still playing?” I had no idea.
I walk in, and it’s Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning, Charles Oakley. Grant Hill shows up. Jerry Stackhouse shows up. Now, all of a sudden it’s an NBA All-Star pickup game. Every night. I did that for about a month and a half, two months. Then the UCLA kids came in, and they had just won a national title — Ed O’Bannon and those guys. Just phenomenal. Best pickup games I’ve ever been a part of. It was unreal.
Yeah, so Jordan … I had to guard Reggie Miller and Michael Jordan in back-to-back games. It was so bad. I was friends with Chris Mills and Tracy Murray — we had been to some camps together. One play, I got switched onto Jordan, because Chris was like, “Keith, you take him.” Jordan hit a 35-footer on me. I mean, it was ridiculous: leg out, tongue out, all that stuff … hit a 35-footer on me and goes, "GET THE F*CK OFF THE COURT".
Amazing.
Although we're sure those who come up against him wouldn't want it either way, as to be able to say that Michael Jordan told you to "GET THE F*CK OFF THE COURT" is quite the badge of honour for any would-be baller out there.
via Uproxx.com
