Michael Jordan called his iconic 63-point playoff performance against the Celtics after losing a round of golf to Danny Ainge the day before

Meredith Cash

Apr 20, 2020, 11:15 IST

Michael Jordan called his iconic 63-point playoff performance against the Celtics after losing a round of golf to Danny Ainge the day before

Alan Mothner/AP Images

The first two episodes of "The Last Dance" — the 10-part docuseries about Michael Jordan and the 1997-1998 championship Chicago Bulls — aired on ESPN Sunday night.
During a look at the Bulls' 1986 playoff series against the star-studded Boston team, then-Celtics guard Danny Ainge revealed that Jordan warned him prior to his legendary 63-point Game 2 performance.
Ainge and Jordan golfed the day before Jordan's on-court eruption, and after Jordan took a beating on the golf course, he told Ainge "tell your boy [Dennis Johnson] I got something for him tomorrow."
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Michael Jordan has a very well-documented competitive streak and, apparently, that comes with a knack for predicting his own explosive performances.

During the second episode of "The Last Dance" — ESPN's highly-anticipated 10-part docuseries about Jordan and the 1997-1998 championship Chicago Bulls — a look back at the Bulls' first-round playoff series against the star-studded Boston Celtics in 1986 provided yet another example of his ruthless mentality as a competitor.

Jordan and then-Celtics shooting guard Danny Ainge went golfing together the day prior to Game 2 of the series. Jordan — a notorious gambler — bet Ainge throughout the affair and, unsurprisingly, was quite unhappy after performing poorly and ultimately losing.

To add insult to injury, the now-Boston GM and president of basketball operations — whose team already owned a one-game lead over the Bulls — admitted to smack-talking throughout the day on the links.

"I talked some trash to him that day," Ainge said during a sit-down interview for the series. "That might have been a mistake."

Not to be outdone, the future six-time NBA champion issued a warning to Ainge and the rest of his Celtics teammates before they parted ways.

"Tell your boy [Dennis Johnson] I got something for him tomorrow," Jordan said.

Johnson — a six-time all first-NBA Defensive Team selection and now-Hall of Famer — was tasked with containing Jordan throughout the series, including the game that following day. And, as promised, Jordan had something for him that game — an iconic 63-point performance that still holds the NBA record for most points scored in a playoff game.

In a series debut full of memorable moments, Jordan's early-career antics stood out to many. Twitter had a field day reacting to Jordan's and Ainge's exchange.