Back in Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals, Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan famously silenced anybody who thought Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Clyde Drexler was his equal.
Jordan improbably drained six threes in the first half—still tied for a Finals record—and followed the final triple up with an iconic glance and shrug towards the sidelines.
Jordan's good pal and Dream Team teammate, Magic Johnson, was in the booth for that game—and also happened to be out with His Airness the night before Game 1.
The Los Angeles Lakers legend shed some light on MJ's “savage” mindset heading into that showdown with Drexler, via FOX Sports.
“I’m working for NBC. I’m covering the Finals…So, the night before Game 1, we’re at Michael’s house playing cards and he says, ‘You know what’s going to happen tomorrow; I’m going to give it to this dude'” Johnson recalled.
Jordan finished the game—a 122-89 Bulls victory—with 39 points, on 16-of-27 field goals, and 11 assists. Over six games, Jordan would average 35.8 points, 6.5 assists, 4.8 boards, and 1.7 steals on his way to his second Finals MVP and ring.
“Michael didn’t want anybody to have nothing over him,” Johnson said. “Every time he hit a three, he’d glance over at me at the NBC table…And he was like, ‘I’m killing this dude.’”
“Based on the way I was playing at that time; it wasn’t even close,” Jordan says about the comparisons between him and Drexler. “So I attacked him every night.”
Episode 5 of ESPN's “The Last Dance” docuseries will expound on Jordan's 1992 vanquishing of Clyde the Glide.
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