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“The Last Dance” has provided viewers with plenty of meme-able moments. From Scottie Pippen pointing at the sole of his shoe, begging Michael Jordan to come back to Michael Wozniak, the longtime Chicago Bulls security, pulling off “the shrug” after winning a bet over Jordan.
Yet none were more legendary than Jordan having a hearty laugh after hearing Gary Payton's comments about his own defense on the GOAT.
Jordan looked amused and responded:
“The Glove. I had no problem (dealing) with The Glove. I had no problem with Gary Payton.”
No person, in the history of human kind, has ever said anything with more confidence than Michael Jordan saying "The Glove, I had nooooo problem with the Glove." pic.twitter.com/dHkGYglKT3
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) May 11, 2020
This sparked some controversy for George Karl, who coached that Seattle SuperSonics team in 1996 when they faced against the Bulls in the NBA Finals.
Michael says he had no problem with The Glove. But Michael averaged 23 points on 36% shooting w/GP on him in the last 3 Finals games. Not a problem?
What isn’t a problem is winning this signed Sonics jersey from @GaryPayton_20 Enter today to win! :https://t.co/blLXstaWcb
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) May 13, 2020
Karl pointed out that Jordan scored only 23 points in the last three games — a pair of losses in Games 4 and 5 and a win in Game 6 after the Sonics went down a 3-0 hole in the series.
Jordan indeed shot 36.7% in the last three games of the series and Payton had his way with him in Game 4, limiting him to 6-of-19 shooting.
Game 6 was Jordan's worst shooting game of that postseason, making only 5-of-19 from the floor. Though one can argue that adding nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals to his team-high 22 points was enough to wrap up the series in a low scoring 87-75 win over the Sonics.
Payton might have been able to slow Jordan down, but he wasn't able to stop him. To go as far as saying the Defensive Player of the Year was “a problem” for Jordan comes as a bit of an overstatement, even if he did made his life harder through the latter part of the series.
