NBA legend Michael Jordan was already a big sensation while still in college. Although he was already very good despite still being young, he lacked in some areas. Physicality was an issue for MJ in his initial years and it seems he had problems with dribbling too. Houston Rockets legend Kenny Smith has had numerous encounters on the basketball court and the two know each other’s game very well. Moreover, Smith also studied at Jordan’s college.

According to Smith, Jordan lacked dribbling skills and had terrible handles. As a result, he sometimes taunted the six-time NBA champion which backfired once after a year.

Michael Jordan once got his revenge on Kenny Smith

Former NBA champion turned eminent media analyst Kenny Smith recently joined four-time NBA champion Draymond Green on The Volume podcast. During the podcast, Smith revealed some interesting stories revolving around Michael Jordan.

While Smith studied at the University of North Carolina, he played basketball with Jordan. Interestingly, Smith would trash talk and mess around with MJ because of his handles. 

Smith said, “The one thing that I thought that he didn’t have when I was a freshman was his ball handling, he was good at darting to the rim, Dray but he couldn’t shake you so I used to be like, I got Mike, I got Mike. He’s like, ‘oh, you’re gonna guard me?’. I’m like yeah, you can’t dribble, back then we used to say handles, you ain’t got no handles.”

It seems His Airness took the taunts personally. After a year or so, Smith and Jordan met on the court again. The Inside the NBA analyst recalls the incident and said, “He’s like, I got a handle now.”

He further added, “He probably don’t remember saying it but he came back a year later and the first thing he says, I got a handle now.” Jordan ended up making one of his weaknesses his strongest attribute as the former MVP’s ball handling improved immensely.

Jordan was bullied during basketball tryouts in college

MJ was quite skinny in college and also during his initial days with the Chicago Bulls. This was naturally a roadblock for the NBA legend. 

Detroit Pistons legend John Salley recalled how people underestimated Jordan during tryouts. He said, “I said, ‘Can you believe the way they treat Michael? He goes, ‘Yeah, Skinny little Michael.'” This was obviously a mistake on the part of the onlookers and the scouts as the young kid would go on to become one of the greatest athletes ever.

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