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I know there was a thread on the general discussion board but i can't find it. was jordan a jerk to his team mates? if so how? thanks.

I've always heard yes, but I can't site any specific examples. I remember getting that impression reading Bill Wennington's book, though he didn't call Jordan a jerk per se, just that he was exceptionally hard on his teammates.

He called Will Purdue "Will Vanderbilt" because he said he didn't deserve to be named after a Big 10 school.

"We're beating a lot of poor teams. So what? We won a lot of games last year, too. Will Horace and Bill still be playing at this level in the playoffs...Can Pip keep it up?"

"I hate being out there with those garbagemen. They don't get you the ball."

"They've got no idea what it's all about. The white guys, they work hard, but they don't have the talent. And the rest of them? Who knows what to expect? They're not good for much of anything."

"I know what's gonna happen. We'll wait until the last minute and then they'll say something like they couldn't get a deal done because of the cap or somebody pulled out at the last minute. It happens here all the time. I don't know why I'm surprised every year."

"He can't do anything with the ball. Don't give it to him." - Michael yelling at Paxson who passed the ball to Perdue

"You ever hear of a guy, six-eleven maybe and two hundred sixty pounds, a guy big and fat like that and he can't get but two rebounds, if that many, running all over the damn court and he gets two rebounds? Big guy like that and he gets one rebound. Can't even stick his **** into people and get more than that...Big, fat, fat guy. One rebound in three games. Power forward. Maybe they should call it powerless forward." - Michael ripping Stacey King a new one

"He was scared in there and panicking. He just lost it when Stockton scored." - Michael on B.J. Armstrong's mental fragility

I'll let them stand up and take responsibility for themselves."

"We have to do some things. We need to make some changes."

"...I call them 'the Looney Tunes.' Physically, they were the best. Mentally, they weren't even close."

"He's scared. He's got no heart...Nobody told me that. If I had spoken up, he wouldn't have been here."

"I know I can recognize what to do, but I'm not sure they can."

"It's a hell of a lot easier to make Earl Monroe look good than it is Brad Sellers."

"I hope there's a jumpshot in there." - Michael to Stacey King who was walking into the locker room with a box

"They don't need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that." - Michael to Charles Davis who was sorting through his tickets for his family and friends

"Give me the ******* ball." - Michael to Doug Collins who drew up a play for Dave Corzine

"I hate when I have to read that in the papers the next day, that I couldn't do something. It wasn't my fault."

"You're an idiot. You've screwed up every play we ever ran. You're too stupid to even remember the plays. We ought to get rid of you." - Michael to Horace Grant

"If you [pass the ball to Bill Cartwright], you'll never get the ball from me."

"We're not winning because of talent. We're just beating bad teams."

"Headache tonight, Scottie?" - Michael asks Scottie, while showing him his 2-for-16 line

"It's probably a twelve-day. He needs two days to wake up." - Michael on a ten-day contract teammate

"Five more years and I'm out of here. I'm marking these days on a calendar, like I'm in jail. I'm tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone."

"They're not interested in winning. They just want to sell tickets, which they can do because of me. They won't make any deals to make us better. And this Kukoc thing. I hate that. They're spending all their time chasing this guy."

"If I were a general manager, we'd be a better team."

"Will Vanderbilt. He doesn't deserve to be named after a Big Ten school." - Michael on Will Perdue

"I want to prove the critics wrong...I want to see some serious moves from management, which I really haven't seen that much of yet, and I want to see more serious attitudes from my teammates this year when it comes to the playoffs. In the past, it's been more or less a joking thing, sort of a 'Well, we're here, so let's have a good time.'"

"I'm sure everything will be fine if we win, but if we start losing, I'm shooting."

"I know what I would do if I were coach. I'd determine our strengths and weaknesses and utilize them. And it's pretty clear what our strength is."

"Your boy doesn't want to play. I'm tired of bailing his ass out." - Michael yelling at Jim Cleamons about Dennis Hopson

"I don't know about trading a 24 year-old guy for a 34 year-old guy." - Michael questioning the Oakley trade

"He's causing me too many turnovers." - Michael on Cartwright's inability to catch

"Why the hell don't you ever set a pick like that in a game?" - Michael yelling at Perdue after also hitting Perdue upside his head (led to the institution of the private curtain for practices)

dougthonus wrote:I've always heard yes, but I can't site any specific examples. I remember getting that impression reading Bill Wennington's book, though he didn't call Jordan a jerk per se, just that he was exceptionally hard on his teammates.

Let's see...

He punched Steve Kerr in the face.

He ragged on Cartwright to the point where he had to threaten to break MJ's legs.

I've heard Ho-Grant still holds a grudge over the treatment he received from Mike.

And there were other incidents that I can't recall right now.

Anybody mad at him, though? It ain't show-friends.

based on the stories/books, seems so

6 titles

If being a jerk to your teammates wins you 6 titles, then I hope Derrick Rose is the biggest a-hole on the planet.

Okay, seriously. Michael was demanding. I think that's a better describtion. He didn't walk around with a vendetta against anyone, but he demanded perfection. At times that competitive nature swong out of character and he did something stupid (punching Kerr), but I don't see Steve holding a grudge these days. IMO, everyone were on board the title train and knew they had to deal with Mike in order to get a ring. I'd call that fair and square.

"Will Vanderbilt. He doesn't deserve to be named after a Big Ten school." - Michael on Will Perdue

When your that competitive, your going to come across as a jerk at times. It's just the way it is, and if your fragile or soft, Michael probably seemed the biggest jerk that you'd ever met. I expect it was extremely challenging playing alongside Mike at times, but at the same time it was obviously incredibly easy.

Sounds like most of his jerkish quotes were pre-title days.

i know it was in that list but still, the best (and funniest!) example of jordan being an ass to his teammates is stacey king walking into the locker room with a box and jordan saying "hope there's a jumpshot in there"

also he threw a ball at will perdue's face when he was in the process of laying the ball up in practice i'm pretty sure

sonny wrote:


"I hope there's a jumpshot in there." - Michael to Stacey King who was walking into the locker room with a box

"They don't need a ticket to watch you sitting on the bench. They can go to your house for that." - Michael to Charles Davis who was sorting through his tickets for his family and friends

"Headache tonight, Scottie?" - Michael asks Scottie, while showing him his 2-for-16 line

Mike was the man.

Here's an ESPN video about his relationship with teammates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq6avQRL37Y

Jerk or not, he gave them rings.

dougthonus wrote:Sounds like most of his jerkish quotes were pre-title days.

That's what it seems like to me also.

Many of them are just downright funny to me.

Great leaders don't become great by becoming buddies with all the soliders. Was Patton a jerk? Probably. Was Alexander the Great a jerk? Probably. Was Genghis Khan a jerk? Probably.

Now look at Kirk. He's Mr. Happy go luck goofball with his slumped shoulders and he's a terrible leader of men. I bet he's nice to his teammates though.

[quote="dougthonus"]Sounds like most of his jerkish quotes were pre-title days.[/quote]

Something amazing happens when athletes transcend a sport and become a global celebrity. All their negative quotes seem to not make it to the front page of the newspaper. I seriously he doubt he stopped saying anything. He just probably kept it in the locker room and out of the papers.

Was Mike hard on his team mates I would say yes but the Bulls did win six rings.

Without Pippen raising the level of his game the way he did(leading to the 6 titles), the way Jordan treated everyone around him would not be looked at so favorably. I hope you guys don't believe that just because you're competive, you have to treat your teammates like s**t.

Magic was just as competitive and Russell too(and way more successful), and I don't recall hearing them treat their teams with such disdain.

I personally think Jordan is just a miserable human being, and maybe Cartwright should revisit that threat he made.....Rant over.

A few of those statements were pretty funny though.

Yes.

Michael Jordan doesn't seem to me to be a particularly nice person. Between the way he treated some of his teammates and the fact he cheated on his wife left and right, plus the possibility that he may have gambled on basketball games while still a player (one rumored reason for his baseball playing sabbatical), he doesnt come off well at all.