Michael Jordan Shows Rare Emotion While Discussing Treatment of Teammates

In Monday’s Hot Clicks: Michael Jordan explains why he was so tough on his teammates, Gary Payton overestimates his defense and more.

“Break”

One thing we haven’t seen much in The Last Dance is an emotional Michael Jordan. Even in the beginning of Episode 7, which covered the murder of Jordan’s father, MJ remained composed. But at the end of that episode, we saw Jordan overwhelmed and needing to take a break. 

The final portion of the episode dealt with Jordan’s reputation as a domineering teammate. Practice footage showing him berating his fellow Bulls and interviews with players painted an unflattering image of Jordan. 

“Let’s not get it wrong,” former Bull Will Perdue said. “He was an asshole. He was a jerk. He crossed the line numerous times.”

Jud Buechler said teammates were “afraid” of Jordan, and it would be hard not to be after he punched Steve Kerr in practice. 

The whole sequence paints Jordan as a bully and makes you wonder whether all the success the players enjoyed would be worth having to deal with Jordan’s abuse.

Jordan’s response is one of the most interesting portions of the film thus far. He says he was just holding his teammates to the same standard he held himself. 

“You ask all my teammates, the one thing about Michael Jordan was, he never ask me to do something that he wouldn’t f---ing do,” Jordan said.

“Look, I don’t have to do this,” Jordan continued. “I’m only doing it because it is who I am. That’s how I played the game. That was my mentality. If you don’t wanna play that way, don’t play that way.”

And then Jordan, fighting back tears, asked to excuse himself.

The end of Episode 7 ... WOW.#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/N3c5lN0mLI

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 11, 2020

The story behind that moment is also quite interesting. Director Jason Hehir said on ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby Aftershow that the scene occurred just 45 minutes into his first interview with Jordan. It was only the beginning of the process, but Hehir knew right away that this moment would be an important part of the film.  

They would eventually speak on camera for a total of eight hours, and Hehir saw Jordan’s vulnerability there as an indication that nothing was off limits in the rest of their conversations.

While the film has been criticized for its cooperation with Jordan, the display of emotion on MJ’s face is the clearest indication we’ve had yet over the course of eight hours that what we’re seeing is 100% honest.

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“I had no problem with The Glove”

Gary Payton thought he found a way to get to MJ ... Mike wasn't sweating the Glove 😂 #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Z8NG7qN5hW

— ESPN (@espn) May 11, 2020

I think I agree with this

Look at the bat speed this kid has!

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A post shared by Vinny (@vinny_potsnpans)

Rookie mistake

ESPN just can’t get the MNF booth right

105!

“BIG Little” @Luke_L23 just dropped another PR with 🔥🔥🔥 off the bump at @SBATheShow in Charlotte NC - ‼️105 MPH‼️ @PocketRadar @PitchingNinja @MLBPipeline #MLBDraft @barstoolsports @FlatgroundApp pic.twitter.com/uKyhC4CYoJ

— JAKE ROBBINS 🇺🇸 (@jakerobbins49) May 8, 2020

That’s one way to get loose

.@RakutenMonkeys pitcher Chen Yu-Hsun (陳禹勳) is warming up by.... DANCING???? @Cut4 how do you rate that?#CPBL #CPBLwithFans #BaseballwithFans #LiveBaseball pic.twitter.com/GqJj8illPY

— CPBL 中華職棒 (@CPBL) May 9, 2020

Zombie Deadspin is baaaaad

ESPN aired Trevor Bauer’s phone number by accident

So @espn has just leaked my number to truly the entire world lol in honor of this...shall we call it...massive screw up...I’m doing a giveaway! I’ll be giving away a pair of signed cleats and an autographed baseball over the next 48 hours. Rules are in my voicemail! Good luck! pic.twitter.com/luEqvwGtxW

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) May 10, 2020

Not sports

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Even the kids are reaching a breaking point

I have two godchildren, brother and sister, that are in quarantine together. My godson (who is six) made a scavenger hunt for my goddaughter (who is nine). This was the treasure that she found at the end of the scavenger hunt: pic.twitter.com/cCo0junRVP

— Mike Mitchell (@BDayBoysMitch) May 9, 2020

I stumbled upon this video again yesterday and I almost forgot what a masterpiece it is

A good song

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