Magic Johnson Says He Had Some Of His Fondest Memories With Michael Jordan

From playing cards to Olympic practices, Jordan and Johnson were very extremely competitive but they were also good friends.

Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan respected and enjoyed each other but that didn’t stop their relentless competition as teammates on the Dream Team at the 1992 Olympic Games.

There was a legendary practice for the men's national basketball team in Monte Carlo that perhaps was more competitive than any game that summer. 

Johnson and Charles Barkley were on one team during a scrimmage playing against Jordan. In episode five of "The Last Dance," Johnson said his team was up by about eight points, when he decided to trash-talk Jordan. 

“I went over and tapped him and said, ‘Look man, if you don’t turn into Air Jordan we’re going to blow you out,‘” Johnson said in the documentary.

Johnson immediately regretted those words.

“Man, what did I say that for?” he asked. 

Jordan went on a scoring tear, eventually taking the lead over Johnson's team. Jordan has long called that scrimmage the “best game I ever played in.” 

Tensions flared after Johnson became so enraged about a foul call that he launched a ball into the stands.

The documentary showed the players silently getting onto the bus to go back to the hotel after that tense practice. No one spoke for a couple of long minutes. 

Johnson then broke the ice.

“Hey Charles, I guess we shouldn’t have pissed the man off,” Johnson said, according to Rod Thorn, the former Bulls general manager who drafted Jordan and was with the Dream Team as the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations.

Everyone laughed. And the Dream Team went on to win the gold medal. 

Johnson and Jordan also had a major competition going on off of the court during that time.  

“Man, I had some of my fondest memories just hanging out with Michael,” Johnson said in the documentary. “We played cards every night against each other. And if I had the upper hand, he wanted to play another hour. [And] another hour. And then he never wants to just beat you. He wants to put his foot on your neck and just --."

Johnson then made a growling sound and picked up his leg as though he was going to step on something.

“You’re not satisfied with beating me?” Johnson said. “You want to crush me too? Yup.”

Jordan gave Johnson a tough time, but that was because he always deeply admired his greatness.

“To me, the best point guard of all-time is Magic Johnson," Jordan said in the documentary.