27 examples of Michael Jordan's extreme competitiveness

Johnson told Jimmy Kimmel that his team was beating Jordan's in a scrimmage, and Johnson told Jordan, "If you don't turn into Air Jordan, we're going to blow you out today."

Jordan proceeded to lead his team to a comeback, hitting consecutive three-pointers and staring down Johnson. The coup de grace was a 360 dunk around David Robinson that blew Johnson away.

Read more: Magic Johnson has a fantastic story about paying the price for trash-talking Michael Jordan >

Shaquille O'Neal says Jordan told him:

"I'm coming down. I'm going to dribble it between my legs twice. I'm going to pump fake, and then I'm going to shoot a jumper. And then I'm going to look at you. And that's exactly what he did."

Source: Dan Patrick Show

In his book "Dream Team," author Jack McCallum hinted that no one was allowed on the team unless Jordan wanted him on the team.

Magic Johnson even echoed the sentiment, telling McCallum: "Michael was all about who was going to be on the team. It was more important ... no, make that just as important, for Michael to have a good time as it was to play games."

Jordan denied having a say, specifically on not including Isiah Thomas on the team, in "The Last Dance."

Read the full story here >

From ESPN's Amin Elhassan:

"[Jordan] would show up really early to get his shots up on gameday. If you show up to an arena early enough, you'll see the gamehouse people basically doing a dry run through everything. Everything from the national anthem to the … One of the things they have is that thing where it's like the three Bulls flying, and it's like 'Who's gonna win?' So Mike is watching this and is like, 'Oh, so you guys already know [who's going to win]?' And the guy says, 'Yeah we know; it's all pre-recorded.' [Jordan says] 'So you know who's gonna win tonight, right?' And he says, 'Yeah, the red one.'

"Fast-forward to the game. Timeout. Phil is drawing up a play. Mike goes to Scottie and says, 'Hundred bucks the red one wins.' And then proceeds to do this for the rest of the season and Scottie never catches on."

Source: ESPN

Source: New York Times

Source: "The Last Dance"

They two were playing golf together when MJ forced the former president to play from the farthest-away tees.

"You're going to play from the little girls' tees?" Jordan asked him.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Rick Reilly reported that Jordan lost to Daly in golf in Monte Carlo. The next morning, he pounded on Daly's door at their hotel until Daly finally agreed to go play him again. Jordan won.

Source: Sports Illustrated

Read more: Charles Barkley says Michael Jordan used to wager 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' on rounds of golf >

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Worthy said he was better than Jordan for about two weeks before Jordan surpassed him as a player.

Source: "The Last Dance"

Source: ESPN

Watch the whole thing here >

Jordan said that at his peak, in 1991, he would have beaten Bryant during his respective peak. Bryant said he politely steered the conversation elsewhere.

Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live

From Deadspin:

"On the biggest possession of the game, Mugsy had the ball with the Hornets down 1. Jordan backed off of him and told him: 'shoot it you f---ing midget.' Mugsy shot it, didn't come close. A year later Mugsy actually told Johnny Bach that he believes that single play ruined his career. His shot never recovered."

From NBA star Chris Webber told Dan Patrick that Jordan walked into the Bullets locker room with a cigar and asked, "Who's going to check me tonight?"

Later on in the series, the team went back to Chicago. When the Bullets got off the bus, Jordan and Scottie Pippen were in a car, smoking cigars together.

"We get off the bus and we have to pass them with a lit cigar," Webber said.

"You want to talk about posturing? Forget Phil Jackson. You got Michael Jordan there behind the scenes smoking a cigar before the game, letting us know that he's the Red Auerbach before the game even started."

Source: Bleacher Report/Dan Patrick Show

ESPN's Rick Reilly wrote he witnessed Jordan eviscerate McCray in practice in 1993.

A source told him: "MJ is in Rodney's face, screaming, 'You're a loser! You've always been a loser!' Rodney can hardly put up a jumper now."

It was the pivotal game of the 1997 NBA Finals. Jordan had a nasty flu, but he dropped 38 points and the Bulls won. They won the series two days later. "The Flu Game" is considered one of Jordan's defining moments.

Source: ESPN

His trainer, Tim Grover, said: "I would give him a certain amount of reps to do, but he would never stop at that number. If I asked for six, I knew he was gonna do 12."

Read more: Michael Jordan once added 15 pounds of muscle in one summer to prepare for a rival and changed the way athletes train

"He did, and I wasn't the only one," Perdue said. "That's how competitive our practices were. That wasn't the only fight, that was one of numerous. But because it involved Michael Jordan, and it leaked out, that it became a big deal. And the funny thing was, in that practice that it happened, we basically separated, regrouped and kept practicing -- it wasn't like that was the end of practice. Stuff like that was common, because that's how competitive our practices were."

Source: CBS

Kerr said he talked back to MJ during training camp, and then:

"He punched me in the face … It was one of the best things that ever happened for me. I needed to stand up and go back at him. I think I earned some respect. But, we have a great relationship ever since … you gotta prove it, and then once you prove it, you're fine."

Source: Dan Patrick Show

As it's told in "The Last Dance," Jordan and his teammates' mocking of Krause was a result of feeling like Krause didn't appreciate their work and success as a team. They often tried to prove points about their talent over other players to make a point to Krause.

Watch the video here >

"Mike will compete with anything, though. If we're drinking water, Mike will be like, 'I'll race you!'"

Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live