Michael Jordan ‘crossed the line’ with Bulls trash talk

Michael Jordan’s practice trash talk really was on another level. “He was an a—hole,” Bulls center Will Purdue said during Episode 7 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” on Sunday night. “He was a jerk. He crossed the line numerous times.” The docuseries highlights one particular practice — after the Bulls escaped with an overtime win …

Michael Jordan’s practice trash talk really was on another level.

“He was an a—hole,” Bulls center Will Purdue said during Episode 7 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” on Sunday night. “He was a jerk. He crossed the line numerous times.”

The docuseries highlights one particular practice — after the Bulls escaped with an overtime win against the injury-riddled Nets in their 1997-98 playoff opener — along with other clips. That day Jordan continuously taunted forward Scott Burrell. Jordan advised him to guard someone else that day, maybe Jud Buechler as Burrell continually smiled and gave it back to the Hall of Famer at first. The rest of the Bulls were always “on alert” about Jordan after a bad game, Toni Kukoc said during the show.

“People were afraid of him,” Buechler said. “We were his teammates and we were afraid of him. There was just fear.”

During that practice, Jordan would hit Burrell on the arms under the basket and after Burrell didn’t score, Jordan called it “garbage” and told him “don’t bring that bulls—t.” He called teammates on the floor at one point “nine bitches.” Burrell noted that you wanted to live up to Jordan’s challenge and “tough love.”

Jordan said he tried to get Burrell — who is portrayed as a consistent punching bag for His Airness — to “fight me a couple of times” to try to ignite something in him. Jordan wanted to see if he’d snap back at him. Burrell was “such a nice guy” and never did.

“If you don’t get on the same level, it’s gonna be hell for you,” Jordan said after noting his goal was to win at all costs.

Steve Kerr explained Jordan’s theory as “if you can’t handle pressure from me, you’re not going to be able to handle the pressure of the NBA playoff.” Scottie Pippen called the methods — Jordan being the “bad guy” — something he and the teammates needed.

“As time goes on and you think back about what he was actually trying to accomplish, you’re like ‘Hey he was a hell of a teammate,” Purdue said.