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George Karl, as a former Tar Heel from North Carolina, should have known better than not to upset Michael Jordan. However, during the 1996 NBA Finals, that was exactly what he did. When the two met at the same restaurant in Seattle, Karl I didn’t even recognize it Jordan’s presence. The Bulls beat the Sonics in six games, with Jordan citing Karl’s slight as an extra motivation in “The Last Dance.”
But Karl supports the decision. In an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Karl claimed that he told his entire team not to socialize with Jordan, and that he was only keeping his own word.
“We brought the team that we don’t want to socialize with Michael Jordan,” said Karl. “I have Sam Perkins on my team who played with Michael. I said to Sam, I said ‘Sam, if you want to socialize with him, do it before the series starts and it ends at once, and then from the first game until it ends We are SOB competitors just like him. ” So I advised not only Sam, I advised my entire team, we have to compete with Michael’s intensity and Rodman’s madness and the physicality of the game, and we have to be the team most aggressive possible.
So after that speech, I meet Michael, and I’m sitting here saying, ‘If I’m going to see Michael, I’m breaking the code with my team. If I’m not going to see Michael, I’m probably going to wear it, which I got. I didn’t know it would be a big problem, but I think I made the right decision. I had to follow the code I gave my team. “
In truth, there was probably nothing Karl could have done from the ground that would have changed the outcome of this series. If he had socialized with Jordan, not only would he have betrayed his team, but he could have softened him up. During the 1993 NBA Finals, Jordan bought Charles Barkley a $ 20,000 diamond earring for that exact purpose.
The actual fit should have hit the court. Karl did not allow Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton to defend Jordan until Game 4, when the Sonics were already 3-0 behind. Payton’s defense of Jordan was exceptionalAnd if he had made the change earlier, Seattle might have been able to pull off the surprise. As he did not, moments like these are recorded in history as one more instance of an opponent who motivates Jordan.
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