Magic Johnson shares the untold story of "The Shrug" by Michael Jordan

Magic Johnson spills the beans on the iconic shrug of Michael Jordan.

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Michael Jordan's competitiveness is the stuff of legends. Whether it was basketball, ping-pong, pool, or cards, the Chicago Bulls legend did not want to lose. Jordan was already steaming mad heading to Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, and fellow NBA legend Magic Johnson shared the story behind that.

Losing at cards

According to the former Los Angeles Lakers great, he was playing cards with Jordan the night before the series-opening game, and he was beating His Airness badly.

"The night before he hit all them threes against Portland, we're playing [a card game] at his house. His dad and I, we tore him up. I'm running six nos and five specials on Michael. So, we played, and I said, 'Michael, I got to go home. You got a game.' Because remember, I was working for NBC at that time," Magic said.

However, Jordan was not having any of it and continued to play until Magic could no longer put off going back to his hotel room to get some rest. This apparently placed Jordan in a sour mood, as he wasn't able to get back at Magic, which meant bad news for the Blazers.

Game 1 shooting spree

In game 1 of the NBA Finals, Jordan came out shooting the lights out from beyond the arc, making five in a row. After making his sixth triple of the first half, Jordan turned to Magic, who was courtside, and gave him the famous shrug.

"So, remember, he shot and made like four, five in a row. And remember, when he made that last one and turned to the scorer's table, he was turning to me. He was so hot that night, so he owes me a lot because I'm the one he was mad at. That's why he took it out on Clyde Drexler the next day in the game."